african-americans on the pga tour (or tiger woods)

With the Masters Golf Tournament highlighting this weekend's sports news, I think it is worth looking at the game itself and how far it has truly come from the elitist country club mentality it has adopted here on American greens.

Gary Player, one of the most successful golfers of all time and a South African, made a ceremonial putt when this year's Masters began. He was greeted on the green by several other South African golfers, as he has naturally become a role model among young South African golfers. The striking thing about this nice moment was that each of the younger South African golfers was white. Player has done a lot to develop youth golf in South Africa. In 1983, his foundation established Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg which has facilities for youth between K-8 grades.

But even though Player has hosted the Nelson Mandela invitational since 2000, how much have black golfers really gained over the years?

"Tiger [Woods] was the greatest gift ever for the PGA Tour," said Orin Starn, who heads the cultural anthropology program at Duke University. "With him as its face, the PGA Tour didn't have to deal with issues of diversity, or worrying about the tour looking like the rest of America. They could say, 'See, the problem is fixed. We have an African-American who is No. 1 in the world.'

"But the problem still exists," he said. "If anything, it's gotten worse."

In 1997, Tiger Woods became the first African-American to put on the green jacket, which represents winning the Masters Tournament. According to a timeline of African-American involvement in golf by Black Golfer Online, Woods' victory was 22 years after Lee Elder became the first black golfer to play in the Masters. In 1975, when Elder played in the Masters for the first time, there were eight black players on the tour. Now Woods stands alone, not only as the face of the PGA, but also its only African-American one.

David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan and Louisiana State Representative, has this to say about Woods' accomplishments:

Because of the emphasis many put on sports heroes, Woods ascendancy in the golf realm will simply add to myth that most Blacks are just like us. Given a certain set of circumstances, individual Blacks can excel. But society is made up not just individuals, but also of groups. The quality of the group as a whole ultimately determines the quality of the nation. A number of White men will be suckered in by a wave of admiration and emotion for one Black golf player into believing that the Black race can fit in and do well among the White race. That is simply untrue. Some individual Blacks obviously can. But, as a whole, the race cannot. For the mental abilities that go into the making and maintaining a civilization are not the same as the requirements for a great golf player. The qualities that account for the advancing and maintaining of a scientific and civilized society are simply not the same as the qualities to run a 100 meters under 10 seconds or dunk a basketball, or for that matter, break the Masters record as a rookie.

While Duke, an admitted racist, has ulterior motives to knock Woods as a racial pioneer in the sport, Woods himself has shied away from the claim as well:

Woods has coined the term "Cablanasian" to explain his racial heritage which includes African-American, Native-American, Asian and Caucasian ancestry. Duke University professor Orin Starn, who has written extensively about golf and race, calls Woods a racial visionary. "For Tiger to call himself 'Cablanasian,' he's not saying that he's not black," says Starn, who teaches cultural anthropology. "What he's saying is, 'Yes I am black and I'm proud to be the honorary grandson of Charlie Sifford, the Jackie Robinson of golf, but I'm not just black. I'm also white, and I'm also Asian, I'm also Native-American. All of these different things are a part of my ancestry.'"

Eddie Payton, Hall of Fame football player Walter Payton's older brother, has led the Jackson State University golf team for the past quarter of a century. ESPN refers to him as the Eddie Robinson of golf. Payton has had this message for Woods and his racial identity, "It would help any aspiring African-American golfer who has had to deal with stuff Tiger hasn't had to deal with. And he doesn't need to say he's proud to be an African-American golfer. What he needs to say is 'I am an African-American golfer.'"

Payton goes on to say, "It's a shame that the person who can do the most to bridge the gap says, 'I made it. Now you make it,' Instead he could say, 'Well this is what my daddy taught me. These are the drills.' I can't make him do what I feel I would do, but at some point he'll look and see no other blacks out there."

Woods' response is veiled in political correctness, "I reach out each and every day with my foundation," Woods said. "We don't focus on golf, because that's not the sole purpose of life. Life is not about hitting a high draw and a high fade. It's about being a better person each and every day and helping others. That's what life is all about. Is golf a part of people's lives? Yes, it's part of my life. But it's not the end of all things in my life."

While Woods may not be what Starn calls the "Magic Negro," a term that has also been attributed to President Barack Obama:

People have talked about this idea of Barack Obama as the so-called 'Magic Negro,' as a sort of black man who's expected to fix everything and to make everybody feel good about themselves with a magic wand to eliminate and make disappear the problems of racism, and poverty and conflict in America. And I think there's been this idea that Tiger should somehow be a kind of 'Magic Negro' for the PGA Tour, and that he should lift up his wand and somehow make golf into a more diverse and inclusive sport. I don't think this should be on him, at least exclusively.

But if Tiger Woods is not the man who is going to lead the way for African-Americans to be more involved in the game he has dominated, then there will remain the same amount of African-Americans in golf as there are in the Oval Office, one.