Clinton honors Robinson, recognizes Woods'
victory
By SONYA ROSS Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - As he honors Jackie Robinson for integrating
baseball 50 years ago, President Clinton will recognize another
black American's triumph achieved a little over 50 hours ago:
Tiger Woods' victory at the Masters.
But Woods, 21, the youngest player to win the Masters and the
first black to win a major golf tournament, kept his plans for
a vacation in an undisclosed location despite an invitation from
Clinton to join him tonight at Shea Stadium in New York.
"It's no disrespect by Tiger to Jackie Robinson, who is
without question one of Tiger's heroes," Hughes Norton of
IMG, Woods' management group, told USA Today. "Nor is it
any disrespect to President Clinton. But it's a good indication
of how important off-time is to Tiger."
White House spokeswoman April Mellody said Woods was invited
to fly to New York with Clinton, "but after an incredible
week he wanted to take some much-deserved time off. The president
certainly understands."
Clinton plans to fold Woods' story into his remarks honoring
Robinson at a ceremony tonight during a game between the New York
Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Woods is the son of an African-American
father and a Thai mother,
Clinton's comments are the president's latest rhetorical foray
on race as he prepares a campaign on racial healing.
"He's not going to deliver a major speech on race relations
standing on the infield at Shea Stadium," White House spokesman
Mike McCurry said Monday. "He's going to - very briefly -
say this is an important historic moment, and it's one that we
should remember as we think about the status of race relations
in America."
Before that, Clinton will encourage an anti-smoking campaign
at a junior high school in Brooklyn and attend a fund-raising
luncheon for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The president, a passionate golfer sidelined by a knee injury
sustained at golfer Greg Norman's home, was dazzled by the skill
Woods displayed as he broke Masters records, scoring 270 to win
by a 12-stroke margin.
Clinton watched the tournament on television and telephoned
Woods Sunday night to congratulate him. He told Woods that the
sight of him embracing his father, Earl, was "the best shot
he saw all day," McCurry said.
"Which, I think, was a thrilling moment in many ways for
millions of Americans," McCurry said.
In an interview with NBC Radio News, Clinton said America owes
a debt of gratitude to Robinson, who unlike Woods achieved his
greatness in a much more hostile racial climate.
"It's all very well to talk about how there really were
always a lot of good white people who had good ideas and were
really in favor of integration and all of that," Clinton
said.
"But the truth is, if you hadn't had African Americans
willing to risk their lives and take all that abuse ... it would
not have happened," Clinton said. "Bigotry and prejudice
never give way until someone has the courage to endure the kind
of abuse and pain that Jackie Robinson did."
Clinton said Robinson, whose April 15, 1947, debut with the
Brooklyn Dodgers broke major league baseball's color barrier,
was "the ultimate trump card" in arguments about race
when the president was growing up in Arkansas.
"If you were arguing the integration side of the argument,
you could always play the Jackie Robinson card and watch the big,
husky redneck shut up," Clinton said. "There was nothing
they could say."
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