Fuzzy Zoeller brings certain issues to the
table
By Mark Purdy
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
SAN JOSE - Is Fuzzy Zoeller a racist?
Let me pose another question:
Does it matter, if that is all we care about?
The Kmart Corp. certainly has some "issues" with
Zoeller, as we say in these days of eggshell verbiage. Tuesday,
the retail chain fired Zoeller for his remarks at the Masters
that surfaced this week. On videotape, Zoeller referred to Tiger
Woods as "that little boy" and asked him not to serve
fried chicken and collard greens at next year's Masters dinner
hosted by the defending champion.
Well. I think we can all agree that Zoeller's sound bite does
not rank up there with "I have a dream." Fuzzy's remarks
were stupid and insensitive, and even if you assumed they were
supposed to be racist-tinged humor, it was not very good racist-tinged
humor.
And yet ... you know that old bromide about sticks and stones?
With Zoeller's remarks - as with Al Campanis' and Jimmy the Greek's
in previous episodes - the danger is that we will again focus
more on the words rather than the sticks and stones that continue
to break the bones of America's racial progress.
If words were truly the problem here, then sporting goliath
Nike should have some "issues" with its own top golf
endorser, Tiger Woods himself. This month in a GQ magazine profile,
Woods utters his own racist and sexist jokes, including a few
that insult a portion of his own multiracial heritage.
No one connected with sports could have been shocked. Dirty
jokes and snide insults are part of a locker room culture that
touches all sports. Occasionally, they escape the locker room.
The circumstances of Zoeller's foot-in-mouth statements are instructive.
Let's review the CNN video:
Zoeller is summoned from his post-round "celebration"
in the Augusta National clubhouse to say a few words about Woods.
Obviously irritated, a large cold beverage cup in hand, he says:
"That little boy is driving well and he's putting well.
He's doing everything it takes to win. So, you know what you guys
do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations
and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year.
Got it? Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve."
Zoeller, who has apologized for all this, is known as a good
guy on the PGA Tour and has friends across all income brackets.
He grew up as an upper-class kid in suburban Louisville, but preferred
hanging out at the public course in the city's African-American
neighborhood where many minority golfers played. He continues
to do benefit appearances there. The big picture of Zoeller's
life should ultimately tell us more about him than a few seconds
of idiot blather. Fuzzy will decide his own fate in that department.
No, it is the climate that created Zoeller's remarks that should
concern us. They were wrong. But a lot of things in golf are a
lot more wrong.
For example? Glad you asked.
It is much more wrong that, upon hearing Zoeller's sound bite,
certain country club golfers across America were surely ready
to slap Fuzzy on the back and echo his remarks. In our country,
there is far more racism in golf outside the PGA Tour than inside
it - and since many business deals are cut at country clubs, excluding
minorities from club membership is excluding them from part of
American commerce. But the PGA Tour guys speak up and encourage
more diverse club memberships.
It is much more wrong, also, that while golf keeps trumpeting
Woods' emergence as a door-opener to golf for ethnic youth, the
sport hasn't addressed the shortage of public golf courses available
to youngsters of all races in our larger cities. It does no good
for Tiger to inspire teenagers who don't have anyplace to play.
The PGA Tour pros keep building resort courses surrounded by condos.
How about working with cities to construct public courses for
kids and families?
And yes, it is much more wrong that Nike's evil marketing army
has "positioned" Woods as an edgy young African-American
out to shake up the world. As raised by his parents, Woods was
taught to never segregate himself. He once invented a term to
describe his varied ethnicity: "Cablinasian." It combines
letters from "Caucasian, black, Indian and Asian." By
marginalizing Woods as a "Just Do It" young black hipster,
Nike plays into stereotypes as much as anyone.
If nothing else, we can thank Zoeller for bringing these "issues"
to America's conversation table. We need more open words about
race, not fewer. But we also must address the sticks and stones.
All of us. And that includes everyone from Fuzzy Zoeller to Tiger
Woods.
(Mark Purdy is a sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury
News. Write to him at: San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park
Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95190.)
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