The instant the allegation was made that Tiger Woods had a mistress the predictable happened. The media and public gloat over the tumble of a superstar was on with a vengeance. His name, image, the derailing of his march to golf immortality, the back peddle of sponsors from him, and the pompous, self-serving hand wringing over his supposed sully of the pristine game has been fair game for incessant mass tongue wagging.
The mean spirited cracks, digs and barbs about Tiger haven't been endless fodder solely for print and talk shows. In a survey of golfer opinion about Tiger's plight on golf.com, a fair number of his golf peers and so-called friends also got in their licks at him. Tiger has managed to do something that seemed humanly impossible. He's momentarily replaced Sarah Palin as the favored butt of comics and pundits.
At first glance this all seems pretty heady stuff for a young black guy who totally dominated a sport where a scant few years back the only thing black on a major, private golf course was the tires on golf carts. Golf for most of the past century was a game in which blacks were systematically barred from tournaments and competition.
But lest anyone think it's a vindictive public and gossipy media that's feasted on Tiger's woes, the Tiger gloat has also burned through black websites, chat rooms, and on black talk shows. The rap is that Tiger got what he deserved for supposedly thumbing his nose at blacks by bestowing the ridiculous, nonsensical racial designation of calibanasian on himself, rarely appearing at black events, for marrying a white woman, and for his scandalous lust for white porn, cocktail waitresses, and attendants. The Revered Al Sharpton even took a tongue in cheek slap at Tiger for not having the decency to toss some of his mistress action at black women. That way they could've made make a few bucks peddling their weird mix of sex laced truth, exaggerations and lies about romps with Tiger to the celebrity gossip gorged tabloids.
None of this should have surprised. Tiger brought record numbers of fans, and viewers, sky high TV ratings, packs of sponsors, and mountains of hard cash to the sport. This only fueled the latent envy and jealousy of many spectators and some golfers at his skill, talent, and unprecedented success. The whispers and grumbles were non-stop that Tiger was arrogant, smug, egoistic and a plastic marketing creation. The Tiger bash just needed the requisite misstep to explode to the surface in all its ugliness.
Tiger did two things that assured that the gloat over his fall would spread far and wide through out much of the media and the public. He miserably failed to live up to his front of the Wheaties box Madison Avenue contrived image. The second was that he miserably failed to be the second coming of Jackie Robinson.
Tiger in a sense was a victim of his innocence and naiveté. He just wanted to play golf, make money, chase titles, and, in his secret world, chase women. That was impossible. The media and public expectations, demands, and the myths that trapped him were just too grand. It was a prescription for disaster. And now that the predictable disaster has happened, the gloats at his fall are just as predictable.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His forthcoming book, How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge (Middle Passage Press) will be released in January 2010.
And on the so-called privacy issue. He earned 90 per cent of his fortune from things he chose to do off the golf course. He put himself out there. Now he's saying, leave me alone. You can't have it both ways.
The issue at heart is "Does the punishment fit the crime?" If Tiger Woods was white, and had cheated, would the coverage be the same? If it was a different sport - oh, say, basketball (a sport that blacks are "expected" to excel at) - would the coverage be the same?
I don't condone what he did. But I'm not going to give him the electric chair over it, either. And that's essentially what the media is doing - systematically slaughtering him in a way that I haven't seen for any other famous person in quite some while.
I mean, seriously. You mean to tell me that Tiger Woods is the first famous golfer to have had an affair and get caught at it? Because I haven't heard of anyone else.
It's the same thing with the Williams sister. Not only are black athletes in certain sports held to a different standard, but they are punished significantly more severe when they behave poorly.
THAT is the issue here. Go ahead and say I'm baiting, but anyone who can't see the double standards is wearing blinders. The fact that Tiger Woods is actually at fault here ends up allowing some folks to feel self-righteous about expressing their decidedly unrighteous feelings about him.
I've never quite understood how referring to oneself as African-American denotes race in the first place. White people don't call themselves German-American, Italian-American, Russian-American, etc. in order to specify their race. And, by the way, are white people from the country of South Africa also considered to be African-Americans?
This issue has nothing to do with Tiger Wood's color. It seems every time a black person is involved in controversy the "Race Card" is played in an attempt to trump all the underlying issues. The days of white guilt are over. The guy is a dirt bag plain and simple. Get over it. You can't White Wash over this one.
Tiger is not a victim, he is selfish and now must face the consequences of his actions.
I sure hope the World Series of poker winner (whomever that may be) doesn't let me down with his personal behavior like Tiger Woods has.
But Tiger will prevail in the long run, I am sure of this. Let him without sin cast the first stone. My prayers for him, Elin, his children and his family that they may find peace and healing.
It is Tiger's fault, and no one else.
Also, Rush did not suggest that this was Tiger's "AA side" coming out. You may want to check a source for that one, because that simply isn't true.
Since we haven't see such a media firestorm with regards to an athlete "at his level" I suppose then that the following is true - there are no athletes at his level in any sport who have ever been caught cheating on their spouse. If you believe that, I've got some is oceanfront property in Wyoming waiting for ya.
Americans have a strong sense of ownership of those they elevate to celebrity - and a major component of the "rich and famous" compact is that the worshipers reserve the right to tear down whomever they elevate - and kick them mercilessly when they are down. This provides a glimmer of balance to those who will never be rich, never achieve exalted accomplishments, and who are kicked mercilessly year in and year out by the difficult circumstances of their lives. Instant Karma, as a great poet wrote, dispensed by the otherwise powerless...