Letter to Tiger Woods
By PJ Rain
Someone once said, “If we don’t learn from our history, we’re doomed to repeat it….”
Dear Tiger,
As I have seen you struggle through this difficult time for you and your family, I can’t help but be reminded of another great champion who defied both the odds and the conventional etiquette of his sport on his way to becoming one of the most prolific figures of his time.
His name was Jack Johnson, and in 1908, he defeated Tommy Burns in
I also believe that your “I’m going to beat you anyway” insolence in the face of such racial opposition propelled and fueled the competitive juices of each of you in and out of the ring, and on and off of the course.
Johnson often taunted his opponents in the ring and displayed no humility after he beat them.
In fact, he angered White boxing patrons to the point that they began the original quest for the “Great White Hope” during his reign.*
I remember similar rumblings when you first appeared on the major stages of the golf scene.
There was tremendous criticism over your fist pumping and your animated displays of emotion.
It was as if they were saying, “Okay, we let you in, but know your place. This is still our little club.”
With Johnson, the resistance was much more extreme.
After Johnson soundly defeated Jim Jeffries in what was then hailed as “The Fight of the Century,” many cities and states promptly banned the showing of film from the fight to prevent “race riots” (which were actually hostile interruptions of prideful celebrations by Johnson’s supporters).
In fact, a couple of years later Congress even passed an act banning prizefight films from 1912-1940.**
Yet, neither you nor Johnson relented to the attempts to keep you in your place because your respective places in this world can be defined only by you and your Creator.
Your places are as champions, the best in the world at your craft during your time.
The two of you possessed just the right amount of arrogance to proclaim that conformity to someone else’s impositions would not be an option, and eventually an adjustment would have to be made for you.
During his championship run, Jack Johnson frequently graced the front pages of both Black and White news publications, surpassing the likes of Black civic leaders, scholars, and entertainers.
Similarly, over the years, your once controversial fist pump celebration was eventually embraced by many as your signature gesture, and today you are considered one of the most recognizable faces in the world.
However, we all know that inherent in every glorified rise to fame and fortune, there is the potential for a painful tumble into infamy and shame.
While Johnson reveled in all aspects of his notoriety flaunting his passion for fancy cars and fast women, you wisely attempted to draw a line separating your personal life from your public image.
Unfortunately, when fame reaches a certain height that line between the private personal life and the public persona becomes indiscernible, and the media manage to convince the public that the right to intrude is correlated to an individual’s bank account – when in fact, it is probably actually correlated to the amount of media revenue that will be generated by such an intrusion.
Jack Johnson earned an unprecedented $100,000 for his 1910 heavyweight title defense against “The Great White Hope,” Jim Jeffries, and there were reports of your initial $40 million deal with Nike swirling around before you even competed in your first professional tournament.
As the prize money and endorsements of today continue to become more lucrative, the resentment of those who envy the wealth, power, and influence that accompanies great talent also intensifies.
Having grown up in the deep south of
In 1910, Congress enacted the Mann Act (also called the White-Slave Traffic Act) which had the original intent of preventing human trafficking by prohibiting the transport of women and girls across state lines “…for the purpose of prostitution, debauchery, or any other immoral purpose…” Yet, it was not long before White prosecutors began attempting to unjustly and unfairly use language in the law to punish Johnson for his sexual exploits with White women.
Although they were basically unsuccessful in fulfilling the law’s original purpose of neutralizing interstate prostitution networks, federal prosecutors managed to have Johnson arrested and charged with kidnapping a White woman named Lucille Cameron after her mother complained that he “exercised hypnotic powers” on her daughter and that she would rather see Lucille “spend the rest of her life in an insane asylum than see her the plaything of a n----.”
Lucille would not cooperate with authorities, and the evidence did not support her mother’s claims, so the case eventually fell apart and Johnson ended up making Lucille his sixth wife.***
Still given the vigorous quest to prosecute and convict Johnson by charging him with a violation of the Mann Act, prosecutors eventually found a prostitute named Belle Schreiber who was willing to cooperate.
Angered and bitter about Johnson’s treatment of her, Schreiber served as the perfect witness in the federal case that charged him with transporting her from
By this time, you may be wondering what any of this has to do with your plight.
While it’s clear that there are some significant differences between the chronicle of Jack Johnson’s life and your continued journey, there are some notable parallels to be drawn with regard to the societal reactions to your behavior.
Those who choose to completely dismiss the comparison will argue that Johnson was from an earlier time, and that things aren’t like that anymore.
They will emphasize the passage of time by pointing out that Johnson’s father was a former slave while your father was able to retire as a high ranking official from the United States Army.
Maintaining that nowadays race is not such a major factor, they will proclaim that there are plenty of interracial couples in America today and that such a thing just does not matter any more.
Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that my purpose in writing to you is not to address the issues of your interracial marriage or widely reported interracial indiscretions.
I truly believe that we should all be free to love and marry whomever we choose, and whomever loves us back.
I also believe that you are a very intelligent person, and will deduce your own conclusions from the pattern of events that have been described.
What I will say is that I found it quite odd that almost immediately after your car accident, there was an assertion raised in the media that your multi-million dollar endorsement portfolio was in jeopardy.
With just a smattering of any factual information, it was already determined that one of the most influential athletes in the world should be stripped of his fortune and social standing.
I also found it eerily familiar that there appeared to be a desperate search for women throughout the hospitality industry and
This is not to say that your marital infidelity or your irresponsible behavior should be condoned or excused.
We all know the difference between right and wrong, and a man should be given an opportunity to address a personal matter with his spouse and family without being completely derailed by the judgments and opinions of those who are not directly affected.
John Edwards, a public official, who used public money to cheat on his cancer-stricken wife and father a baby with a staffer, seemed to have months of reprieve as the facts of his situation came out in manageable stages.
Tiger, I truly believe that you are proud of your African-American heritage, and after seeing your world-wide simulcast a few weeks ago, and hearing your testament to return to the Buddhist centered spirituality taught to you by your mother, I believe that you are proud of your Asian heritage as well.
However, I implore you to not make the same mistake as Jack Johnson.
There are many people in the Black community who feel that you do not want to be identified as such, and while I understand and respect your refusal to be categorized by someone else’s flawed system, you should recognize that there is a reason that the Creator has that brown hue radiating through your skin.
Don’t let those faulty and racist associations fool you into only partially acknowledging your heritage.
You are first and foremost of African descent, and that is your source of strength, power, and wisdom.
We all have different races and cultures mixed within us, but it all ultimately gets traced back to
I hear you’ve been working on your swing again.
Good luck with your family, and good luck in the Masters or in whatever tournament you decide to make your return.
Sincerely,
One of Your African Brothers
*
“The Great White Hope” is a term that was originally developed in the early 1900s during White America’s campaign to dethrone Black heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson.
In fact, Johnson’s successful 1910 title defense against Jim Jeffries was promoted as “The Great White Hope” versus “The Galveston Giant.”
In 1967, Howard Sackler wrote a fictional play that was later adapted to the big screen entitled “The Great White Hope” based on Johnson’s story of boxing prowess.
Since that time, the terminology has transcended boxing into other sports and even into politics with some pundits in 2008 suggesting that the Republican Party has begun its search for “the great white hope” to replace Barack Obama – another powerful man of African descent.
** During the early 1900s it was commonplace to distribute and show films of boxing matches in movie houses throughout the country. However, after Johnson’s successful July 4, 1910 title defense against former champion Jim Jeffries, Whites became increasingly worried about Black viewers celebrating the image of Johnson pummeling a White hero in the ring. The initial reaction, by cities and states, was to immediately ban the showing of the film, and in 1912, Congress passed the Sims Act prohibiting the interstate transfer of boxing films. It was the first time in history that Congress had been directly involved in regulating a sports-related matter.
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In 2004, a group of politicians and entertainers that included filmmaker Ken Burns, boxers Sugar Ray Leonard and the late Vernon Forrest, Senators John McCain and the late Edward Kennedy, and former
