Tag: racism

Ungrateful Whites

By N Oji Mzilikazi

November 5, 2011

(Updated November 7, 2011)

(Published November 10, 2011, in Montreal Community Contact Volume 21, Number 23)

In the 1950s racism allowed Pat Boone to build name and make a fortune doing cover versions of “race music” – Black songs. In 2006 he returned to the genre that was so good to him and released an album of cover versions of 11 R&B hits.

In spite of Obama producing his long form birth certificate and putting the controversy of his being born outside America to rest, in a September 2011 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Boon insisted that Obama was born in Kenya.

Tiger Woods winning ways made his caddie Steve Williams a multi-millionaire.

An April 2008 Espn Magazine article about Steve Williams mentioned that “50 framed photos of Williams and Woods in every pose imaginable” are in Williams’ trophy room, as well “the flags from the 18th green of every tournament he and Tiger have won together. Every flag, dating back to the Deutsche Bank in May ’99, is signed by Tiger.”

Those one of a kind autographed flags are so valuable, they could feed Williams’ future great grandchildren for a number of years.

In nothing but a display of bad mindedness and ungratefulness, Williams publicly dissed Tiger Woods on Sunday, August 6^th, 2011.

Tiger had terminated their relationship of twelve years. Williams became Adam Scott’s caddy. Upon their first pairing and the outcome of Adam Scott winning the Bridgestone Invitational, Williams declared Scott’s victory was “the best win I’ve ever had” and the tournament “the greatest week of my life.”

Williams was on the bag for 13 of 14 of Woods’ major championship titles. Tiger won the Bridgestone Invitational 7 times with Williams as his caddy. Greg Norman, José María Olazábal and Craig Stadler are the only golfers with multiple wins at the tournament-2 each. Bridgestone Invitational is not a major. Yet bitterness and anger towards Woods had Williams elevating it, and the win by Scott to Olympic Gold.

At the November 4^th 2011, HSBC Champions pre-tournament caddie dinner in Shanghai, China, Williams took the podium.  To a crowd estimated at over 200, he explained his rational at Bridgestone : “My aim was to shove it right up that black arsehole.”

The British Telegraph newspaper reported, “The remark by Williams left the audience of players, caddies and sponsors aghast.”

Williams has his defenders. Greg Norman doesn’t believe Williams is racist, only that his comments were stupid. When has a person of African descent ever gotten away with a “stupid” comment? Jesse Jackson called New York “Hymie town” back in the 80s, and that is continually used to paint him as anti-Semitic.

In every sport, players, coaches and the like are fired, traded or don’t have their contract renewed. It’s the nature of the business.  Tiger’s ranking is currently- down to #58. He has been a non-factor in golf this past year, and still Williams couldn’t bring himself to move forward.

That Williams choose to qualify and preface his animosity to Tiger with “black” – attacking the roots of his identity, and by extension the community to which he belongs, demonstrates the ease with which recessive genes of racism manifest when persons thought of as non-racist and Blacks fall out.

A joint statement issued by the US PGA and European Tours on November 6^th made it clear that Williams will not be punished. They felt Williams’ apology was sufficient unto itself and the matter closed.

Nonetheless, those good white folks running golf had no problem fining Woods £10,000 for spitting on a green during a tournament in Dubai last year. I guess Woods saliva hitting the grass was more damaging than Williams’ racism.

Though Woods admitted being hurt by the comments of his former caddie, he doesn’t have a single Black revolutionary bone in his body.

Who can forget how easily and quickly he gave Fuzzy Zoeller a pass? Zoeller made racist “jokes” about Tiger upon his winning the 1997 Masters.

In his typical Uncle Tomism style, Woods stated at a press conference prior to the start of the 2011 Australian Open: Williams is no racist.

Here’s hoping pressure is brought to bear to get Williams suspended, if not fired.