GolfWeek has recently found itself in a little bit of turmoil. On Friday the Editor and Vice President of Golfweek was fired as a result of the latest cover which had an image of a noose. The image, according to GolfWeek was to invoke conversation about race after The Golf Channel’s announcer, Kelly Tilghman made a lynching reference when talking about Tiger Woods. In response to Nick Faldo’s comment that the younger players on tour would have to gang up on Tiger, Tilghman replied jokingly that they should “lynch him in a back alley

The comment in my mind was not a bad comment. Mind you I am not black so I cannot speak to the emotions that might be conjured up when speaking of lynchings, but the context of the conversation was not racial. It was a comment made without regard to the race of Tiger, sure it was maybe a poor choice of words, but racially motivated? Tilghman apologized to Tiger and apologized on air, almost immediately. The Golf Channel suspended her, some comments of indignation were made on behalf of the Tour and the comments should have died. That is until the GolfWeek cover came out.

GolfWeek made the statement that they had hoped that the cover would provide an opportunity for a discussion on race. But quickly, with Commissioner Finchem from the PGA TOUR leading the charge, an uproar was made, advertisers threatened a pullout and the Editor was fired. Let’s be serious though, the cover was made to sell magazines, it was an attempt to sensationalize a brief moment in golf.

However this could have been a great opportunity to discuss race in golf. We could have had great discussions of why there are such few blacks playing the game. We could have talked about how golf, by nature of cost, is an exclusionary sports, and heck, the Tour could have talked about ways that they were addressing these issues. Instead we got knee jerk reactions, advertisers making empty threats and someone getting fired. But here is the funny thing about race in America, proven by the actions of those involved in this incident; we really don’t want to talk about it. Sure we say we do, but what we normally get is grandstanding and big statements such as we had in this case. We get political or social figures making names for themselves, capitalizing on opportunities but we rarely get actual discussions. We rearely get reasonable assessments of where we stand on issues of race, why people feel the way we do and to what extent steps are being made.

Sports is the perfect arena for these conversations to be had, and to be had relatively freely, because for the most part sports is still largely about being the best person in between the lines and being able to prove that you can do the job. Race is largely eliminated in actual competition because it is about who is the best, not about where you come from. So, the Tour could have used this opportunity to discuss race in a relatively neutral environment, but they didn’t. Maybe they were afraid of the can of worms it would have opened up, or maybe they were afraid to really look deep into a sport where for many years the only blacks were the shoe shine guys and the caddies. A sport where for so often not only blacks but women and other minorities were excluded. Maybe they were afraid because although the future of golf seems to be better for racial equality, its past still haunts it.

So the commissioner’s comment …”It was a naked attempt to inflame and keep alive an incident that was heading to an appropriate conclusion” spoke to exactly what most people want to happen when the issue of race comes up, for it to go quietly away, for people to forget about it without too much discussion and without too many issues really being discussed. And that is sad because we had a great opportunity to get real and talk about an issue that at times still needs to be talked about, but we didn’t, and now this too will “head to its appropriate conclusion” until of course, it surfaces again.