Tiger has put into question the one thing no man can afford to lose, his reputation.
I am Tiger Woods! I am TIGER WOODS! I AM TIGER WOODS! Personally I don’t get the point of Golf, or am not moved enough by the game to appreciate why it is considered to be a sport. My bias aside, as an artist and writer who obviously have great appreciation of words and such, I understood the point of the advertisement the very first time I saw it. For as much as race plays a part in our culture here in America, one thing has always been a common thread, no matter what other group was being considered for any props or respect here in America, the Caucasian culture would always be recognized as the most superior on the planet, no equals, no questions asked. This is a known fact all throughout history and time, whether or not it be the reality or perception of the moment. Whatever race Earl Dennison Woods was, he was not of the Caucasian persuasion by anyone stretch of the imagination. He was Tiger Woods father.
He was a person of color who like many of us people of color who loved this country, he served it by becoming an officer in the military. It was in the infantry at that, which is the most dangerous job and hardest job in the United States military second only to becoming a US Marine. He served proudly and with distinction and still knew that would not be enough to guarantee his only son success in this place called America if you were not Caucasian. Fortunately for his son, Tiger, the second thing he loved most was golf. As is known to be an American tradition (one can’t much help but to do as the Romans do when that is where you live), he shared his passion with his son and I hope for the love of Andre Agassi and his feelings about tennis, we don’t find out after Tiger’s pursuit of perfection of going after the records of Golf greats like Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and the Golden Bear; Jack Nicholas, that he also hated the sports that gave him everything he has. Earl Dennison Woods gave unto this world his son, a man who thought as many do when put upon the lofty pedestal of being on top of the world in a game mostly reserved around the world by and for men of privilege and position, someone to worship who didn’t come from lofty circles and who wasn’t white who sought perfection and achieved it.
I, as a Black Man here in America, am most certain when Earl Dennison Woods realized that his son had risen to the top of a game formerly only mastered mostly by men of the Caucasian persuasion because somehow everyone thought it was so cute when Tiger was presented as a little kid who could swing a mean golf club at an early age, it quite possibly blew his mind for a moment what exactly he had accomplished here in America. He, as a Black Military Man as I was, and a Black Military Officer, as I wasn’t, he was moved by his son’s accomplishments even more. The pride and the fear had to be enormous, he had to wonder if Tiger would be truly accepted or would the fact that there was always a separate, but mostly unequal situation when it came to the game of Golf and the average man. Be reminded here in America, black is less than average. His son had leaped over all kinds of restrictions. Entered clubs with true ‘black lists’ to go to places where no ‘black had ever dreamed of going before’ all over America. I can just imagine how many arguments went down ending with “I don’t give a *&^-$#@! who he is, he’s still a n*&^er , and I’m not having him in my club! (Please feel free to use your imagination to fill in with whatever possible, for no low level would meet our reality here in America). But Tiger played there anyway. Why, because no wanted the world to know, and more importantly greed. If these clubs could just go along this one time, there was some serious money to be made because that boy was that damn good at the game of golf! Earl Dennison Woods left at what appears to be the time Tigers “transgressions began to fester in his life according to all the press, if it is to be believed. Proof or pudding will ultimately be revealed as time goes on and fortunately he is not here today to bear witness to his son’s transgressions. Or how America’s perception of him will change now that he has been found publicly not to be perfect. I was never impressed with him as a man. When the noose on the golf magazine issue arose, he didn’t seem to think it had anything to do with him at all. I felt there was something missing in there.
I am who I am, and I am Tiger Woods, and that I sit upon this lofty throne as the best man in the environment previously only controlled and participated in by the men of the Caucasian persuasion and still is when it comes to the owners and membership of participants in grand golf clubs across this country called America. I am above any and all responsibility to the fact that “I am Tiger Woods, I am TIGER WOODS, I AM TIGER WOODS, I AM FREAKING TIGER WOODS AND IT IS NONE OF YOUR FREAKING BUSINESS IF I AM HAVING AFFAIRS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND THAT I AM NOT A PERSON OF THE CAUCASIAN PERSUASION AND SQUEAKY CLEANER THAN ANY OF THE “BEST OF THE BOYS NEXT DOOR!” I AM NOT OBLIGATED TO TELL THE WORLD ANYTHING, SO DON’T EXPECT ME TO CONFESS MY SINS IN SOME TOWN HALL! This is pretty much what his statement said, and yes, I did read it. I waited to read it before I wrote this column because I didn’t want to prejudge Tiger and I felt sorry for Earl Dennison Woods though he is no longer here. That commercial was a statement making a point that golf was open to all Americans and anyone could become as good as Tiger Woods. But, the advertisement said more than being Tiger Woods, it said people of color are not all bad as previously perceived.
All of a sudden a man sitting on a pedestal has a car accident in the middle of the night, we find out it was because his vehicle hit a fire hydrant and a tree, a neighbor did the right thing and called for help. We then hear about injuries to his face and he was knocked out and possibility of rescued by wife or maybe assaulted by her. Not one, two, but THREE days of turning away police authorities doing the civic job assigned to them of following up on an emergency call for assistance with a man down. Rumors surface of celebrity rags having damaging information about Tiger Woods and affairs with evidence of emails and phone records. Tiger Woods suggested to the world that in America, if you seek excellence and that alone, it won’t matter if you are of the Caucasian persuasion or not, so seek to be like me, seek to be one with Tiger, seek excellence in something like Tiger and it won’t matter the color of your skin and you too can achieve success here in America. Earl Dennison Woods gave him what he needed to obtain that success here in America in one of the most exclusive segments of this American society. After recent events we will find out what Tiger has inside to get it back because it has just left the building! Nothing he does will ever get him back to that lofty a position in this country again, and it will no longer be a big deal to be Tiger Woods, who turned out not to be perfect after all. I am so glad Earl Dennison Woods is not around for this, it would kill him! Betrayal by a Black man does so much more damage here in America. With all whom Tiger betrayed, and the list is long, most of all he just betrayed all those kids wanting to be perceived as not that bad.
© 2009, agentleman. All rights reserved.
