Thursday, 5/22/97 Athletic success of Woods can’t mend society’s
race problems Media heroize minority golfer, exploit his commercial
power
On the front page of Tuesday’s Los Angeles Times sports section,
Tiger Woods was pictured swinging a golf club amidst a collage of
historic images, including the first man on the moon, Muhammad Ali
standing victorious over Sonny Liston, and the Beatles. The shot of
Woods stood higher than the rest next to the big, bold title
"History In The Making." Inside the article, columnist Bill
Plaschke announced, "Society is slowly being changed here. Tiger
Woods is changing it … Changing attitudes, accountability,
afterthoughts. Changing the way we spend our leisure time and who
we spend it with." Several months ago, an article in Sports
Illustrated featured Woods’ father. He said that his son would have
a larger impact on mankind than anyone in history. Proud fathers
tend to exaggerate, but that comment was simply delusional.
Likewise, Plaschke’s words struck me as more than just a stretch.
Tiger Woods is a great golfer. Tiger Woods is spellbinding to
watch. But he is not the messiah, and he is not transforming
society. Tiger Woods is a man. This is not to say he is not having
a positive impact, but to elevate Woods to this position cheapens
his true value. He becomes Tiger The Icon, and he is no longer
real. In America, athletes are superheroes. Many of the famous ones
are black, and they are admired by millions. In terms of racism,
however, this means absolutely nothing. I have heard the same
person who hails Michael Jordan as a god turn to his friends and
call a group of African American people racist names. We are not
facing the real issues. And to steal a Jack Nicholson line, we
can’t handle the truth. The truth is that the sports world won’t
change race relations. The late Jim Valvano, who once coached North
Carolina State’s men’s basketball team to a national championship,
spent some of the final months of his life wondering if the
enormous amount of time he had spent devoted to the game had been
worth it. A Sports Illustrated article that appeared while Valvano
was battling cancer told of the time the ex-coach leapt out of his
chair after reading a quote by British sportswriter Brian
Glanville. "That’s why sports are important," Glanville wrote. "The
inconceivable is conceived and then it is accomplished." "That’s
it!" Valvano shouted. "All those games meant absolutely nothing,
yet they meant everything!" In short, sports demonstrate what is
humanly possible. Tiger Woods is demonstrating that it is possible
for an individual of mixed race to break down powerful barriers.
But in today’s reality, Woods’ example mostly demonstrates that
breakthrough is possible when a person has exceptional talent and
the dominant group can make money off the popularity that follows
that talent. So pardon me if I don’t take it as a sign from the
heavens that Tiger Woods is causing astronomical rises in sales for
Nike and American Express Co. I’ll be impressed when I see people
from all racial groups getting the same quality of education, the
same quality of jobs, and the same quality of life experience in
general. Until then, we need to continue conceiving the
inconceivable. Zucker is a Daily Bruin sports columnist. He can be
reached via e-mail at [email protected].