Woods' achievement can't be viewed without
reference to its racial significance
By John Smallwood
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
SICKLERVILLE, N.J. - Michael Daniels always listened when his
father told him how the family used to gather in the living room
to listen to Joe Louis fights on the radio.
He knew that when his father, David, was growing up, African-Americans
- or coloreds, as we were known then - took tremendous civic and
social pride in their sports heroes.
Michael Daniels understood why a cultural icon like Louis was
important; still, he always found it difficult to visualize how
the radio commentary of one of Louis's fights could literally
make a day stand still.
"I couldn't understand that concept," Daniels said.
"Not until today."
I don't golf - at least not yet. I'm what you would call a
casual golf fan.
But Sunday, I sat in the smoke-filled lounge at Freeway Golf
Course - also known as the Greater Philadelphia Golf and Country
Club - with a room filled with African-American golf enthusiasts.
I was glued to the television screen, watching Tiger Woods destroy
the course at Augusta National, win the Masters and become the
first black man to win a major golf championship.
Like Daniels, I now understand what it must have been like
to gather in front of a radio and hear about Joe Louis flattening
someone or Jackie Robinson stealing a base for the Brooklyn Dodgers
or Larry Doby mashing a home run for the Cleveland Indians.
"The significance of Tiger Woods is the significance of
the 'Brown Bomber,' " Michael Daniels, 34, who started playing
golf 12 years ago, said in reference to Louis. "I couldn't
understand the concept of my father's family sitting in front
of a radio listening to a Joe Louis fight because I couldn't fully
appreciate what it meant to them.
"I've seen so many African-American athletes achieve in
so many sports. It's become everyday for me. But Tiger Woods winning
the Masters is different. To the white golfer, the Masters is
the major of the majors. It's their pride and joy. Now this kid
has shattered all its records. Now golf has no choice but to recognize
the potential of black golfers. That's what Joe Louis did."
Considering how close we are to the next millennium, I wish
it wasn't so significant that a 21-year-old kid with beautiful,
bronze skin earned the right to slip on an ugly green jacket.
If the PGA Tour hadn't had its Caucasian-only rule until the
early 1960s, and if the bigots at Augusta National had deemed
it appropriate to invite black-pioneer golfer Charlie Sifford,
who won PGA events in 1967 and '69, maybe the racist history of
the tournament wouldn't be such a big deal.
Only after Sifford's fight for inclusion was Lee Elder finally
invited to become the first black to play in the Masters in 1973.
He declined, preferring to wait until he qualified, which he did
in 1975 by winning the 1974 Monsanto Open.
"This was a historical moment, to win a major championship
with a course record," said Tom Kite, who finished second,
an astonishing 12 shots back of Woods's record total of 270. "I
don't care what race he is, that doesn't matter to me."
But 30 or so people who gathered at the 19th hole at Freeway
to watch Woods shoot a tournament-record 18-under par and vaporize
the record for widest margin of victory know differently.
Golf's history of institutionalized discrimination doesn't
allow Woods's achievement to be viewed without its racial significance.
"When my father was growing up, the only way he could
play on a private golf course was if he was a caddie at the golf
club," Daniels said. "The only way a black could play
was if he caddied all week. Then he could play on Monday - on
caddie day.
"You have to realize there were hundreds of blacks who
could've been great golfers before Tiger if they had been given
the chance to play and excel. So many in the 1920s, '30s, '40s,
'50s and '60s were lost simply because they weren't allowed to
play. How good could some of them have become? We'll never know.
"They gave this kid a chance, and he proved there are
great golfers black and white."
Woods won the Masters two days before the 50th anniversary
of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in major league
baseball. Augusta National didn't invite a black man to play there
until after Robinson died.
There are still country clubs that choose not to host PGA Tour
events rather than invite minorities to join.
But a lot of people believe minority kids will see Woods play
golf and then say, "Why not me, too?"
They think Woods is the catalyst who will help to fully integrate
the PGA Tour.
That's why this group gathered at Freeway, which in 1966 opened
as the first black-owned, 18-hole championship golf course in
the country.
By Saturday night, when Woods took that commanding, nine-stroke
lead after three rounds, they knew what Sunday would mean.
They wanted to be with others who would fully appreciate watching
it happen.
"I didn't come to Freeway to golf today," said John
Baker, a 54-year-old Philadelphian who has golfed for 22 years.
"This is a monumental event. Freeway Golf Course is the mecca
of black golf in the Delaware Valley. This was the only place
to be to watch Tiger Woods win the Masters.
"They talk about the Masters with its tradition and history,
and I'll give them that. But this is a new day and time. There's
been a lot of black golfers who could've played well in the Masters
if they had been given the chance. Tiger made a statement for
all of us."
Ten to 15 years from now, if Woods actually does set off this
golfing revolution, a black man winning a major won't be compared
to Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier.
Hopefully, by then, there will be a solid core of African-Americans
playing and winning regularly on the PGA Tour.
"We just need to get more kids interested in playing golf,"
said Billy Blythe, a 60-year-old retired undersheriff in Camden
County who caught the golf bug 18 years ago and now plays almost
every day. "There's a lot of untapped talent out there, but
it has to be exposed to the game."
That's the key.
When there are other blacks on the PGA Tour regularly doing
what the Kites, Corey Pavins and Phil Mickelsons do, that's when
Woods's accomplishment will mean the most.
Fifteen years from now, when I tell my kids about how I sat
in a smoky golf lounge with 30 other African-Americans just to
watch Tiger Woods become the first black man to win the Masters,
I want them to understand why, but I also want them to have a
difficult time comprehending the concept.
(c) 1997, Philadelphia Daily News.
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