Foofie wrote:blatham wrote:Foofie wrote:Sure Tiger Woods is Black. In my own opinion though, he has transcended his need to "live" a racial identity. He is a golfer and champion many times over. That is his life, and it has nothing to do with race. Now Obama, again in my opinion, has waltzed in and out of racial arenas. His work in Chicago neighborhoods was in context of his being a Black man I thought. At Columbia he was a bright student amongst many other bright students. But, he seems to find comfort in being a Black man, in my opinion. Tiger Woods, again in my opinion, seems to find comfort in winning at golf. I prefer people that transcend society's labels. That tells me the individual is probably more immune to society's brainwashing.
Um... if you go to the Tiger Woods Foundation site ...
http://www.tigerwoodsfoundation.org/
you'll maybe get the idea that he's not blind to color.
I see your point, in context of your link. But, we don't know what caused it. In my own case, I never had a big box of Crayola crayons as a child, and to this day I can't pass a fruit stand without looking longingly at the plums and other colored fruit, knowing how I suffered the crayon deprivation that children of small Crayola boxes may suffer.
We all grow up breathing in the prejudices of our families and local communities. Until we get the opportunity, if we do, to move outside those unthinking prejudices and see them for what they are, and then set to questioning them, we'll remain influenced by them, quite unconsciously.
Perhaps it will be a religious prejudice or a racial prejudice or a gender prejudice or a nationalist prejudice or a prejudice against folks who live on the south side of the railroad tracks, but these things are simply a given in the human experience.
When awareness does finally dawn that we (as a group or community) have been unthinkingly and unfairly holding some portion of our community in a second class status then we will begin the battle of correction of this prior injustice. And it is always a battle because such awareness will vary and because the tendencies to hold to fixed and traditional notions will vary. And because priviledge is often a part of this story, priviledge which those who fortunately possess it, will be reluctant to give it up.
That period that follows, the transition from deep inequality to real equality, will be marked by ongoing discord. Some folks will get there much quicker than others.
To imagine that the community or the culture broadly has arrived already isn't supported by a clear-sighted look at all sorts of statistics. We aren't going to finish this job if we pretend that we, as a group or culture, have got it done already. Neither Tiger nor Obama (nor others we could name) are representative. They are exceptions because they are exceptional individuals with a lot of very good fortune in personal gifts and in life opportunities.
