Indian Wells and the Williams Threesome

The racism that Venus, Serena and Richard Williams faced at Indian Wells in 2001 was an absolute atrocity. Not only was blatant racism on display that day, but I believe that some of fans could have been excessively harsh also because they are women. Being black women, two historically discriminated against classes, must have disturbed many of the white elitist who were probably in attendance that day.

Although the sisters have had tremendous success, that day showed that they had not reached a point where race is no longer an issue for them. Tiger Woods has achieved this status in another elitist sport with golf. Can you imagine Tiger having to withdraw from this week's Accenture Math Play Championship and then receiving a plethora of "boos" the next time he competes? I surely cannot. Even before he won the U.S. Open on one leg last year, I highly doubt fans would have received him the same way the Williams sisters were received at Indian Wells. I think this can be attributed to the fact Tiger sits alone at the top of his game. Others are close and have attempted to dethrone him, but no one can ever sustain his level of success. With Venus and Serena on the other hand, they are at the top of their profession, but they share that spot with quite a few other players. Even between the two of them, they are not as dominating at their sport as Tiger is at his.

Many people in class on Wednesday talked about their disdain for Richard Williams. While I have not followed his antics on a regular basis, it does sound like he has done some pretty ridiculous things throughout his daughters' careers. However, I feel it is unfair to judge a person before examining some of the experiences they have had in life. As a white male, I can only speculate on the racism that Richard has faced during his lifetime. Indian Wells was a very public display of racism, but I am sure that this instance was not the first time he had faced this issue. He probably has had to deal with racism on at least a weekly basis, if not a daily basis. When any person deals with something of that nature, they can become calloused to society. At first, I am sure that Williams would sit back and take much of the racism that came his way. But over time, people will become more outspoken and learn to take a stand for themselves. Going even further, people can stop caring about what people might say about or do to them, so they act in sometimes ridiculous ways. I will give Richard Williams the benefit of the doubt that he has faced things in life that I can only begin to imagine. Like my experiences have shaped how I live life, his experience have most likely helped determine how he lives his life, as well.

Almost Raceless

Very few black athletes are able to get to a point where they are simply looked at as athletes and not black athletes. In my opinion, Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, among others, have reached this level in their respective careers. However, they have each used this avenue differently in their lives.

We discussed in class how Tiger refers to himself as "CA-BL-IN-ASIAN." By doing this, he is recognizing that he is a diverse person, coming from many different backgrounds (caucasian, black, Indian, Asian). Oprah referred to him as America's son (Cashmore, p. 621) and Cashmore states that he is the new face of America and helped bring about the new racial order in the United States. This is an order where racism has disappeared (p. 622). These are two more examples where Tiger seems to allow others to help him embrace the role of eliminating racial barriers.

To my knowledge, Jordan never has been very public about being a leader of the black race, or any controversial issue for that matter. He has continually been criticized at different points for being in a position to influence racial perceptions of people but refusing to do so. He has simply kept himself away from the issue. This has been completely different than his good friend Charles Barkley, who uses his platform as an ex-NBA player and celebrity to incite conversation about any controversial topic that he feels needs to be addressed. Many times, Barkley is concerned about racial issues.

Although Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have gone about dealing with race in different matters, both have reached a point where they transcend race. People of all ages, races, genders, etc., are naturally drawn to both of them because of the successes they have had in their professions. It seems as if no one needs to bring up the fact that they are black when they accomplish one of their many feats. People do not discuss that Tiger might end up with the most majors for a "black golfer." They are just concerned that he might end up with the most majors of any golfer. The same could be said for Jordan. People only talk about how many championships he won or how he was the best basketball player of all time. This may have been easier to accomplish for Jordan because of the sport he played. In basketball, there is obviously a much greater black population in the professional ranks.

Surgery Update and Belated Super Bowl Observations

It has been nearly two weeks since I had surgery to repair my left knee. Originally, they doctor thought it was an isolated ACL tear. After an initial look at the MRI, he noticed a small tear in my medial meniscus. On the morning of the surgery, he informed me they found another tear in my lateral meniscus. So my walking time line went from 7-10 days after surgery to 3-4 weeks. I knew that I would not be able to come to class the first week (week of Feb. 2), but the second week of missing class came as a little bit of a surprise. Luckily, the knee has been getting better every day, and I will be able to make it to class on Monday, February 16.

As far as the Super Bowl is concerned, one piece of information stuck out to me. Looking back to the Super Bowl the featured the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, one theme really controlled the media attention. This theme was that each head coach, Tony Dungy for the Colts and Lovie Smith for the Bears, happened to be African-American. This obviously meant that a black head coach would finally have the title of head coach for a Super Bowl champion.

After the completion of this year's game and a Pittsburgh Steeler victory, Mike Tomlin became the second black coach to win a Super Bowl as a head coach. Almost instantly after the game, I thought about when Tony Dungy made history just a few years ago. The more amazing thought I had, was that I did not remember a single time that the media made a big deal about the color of Tomlin's skin. Now, this could be attributed to me not watching enough Super Bowl coverage, but I really feel that it just was not an important piece of information this year. I also do not remember anyone saying much about his race after the game.

To me this could mean a few things. First, the possibility is there that the media just had more important or interesting story lines this season. From Larry Fitzgerald's father in the media, to Ben Roethlisberger's injury, to Anquan Boldin's antics, this is a very real possibility. The other, and more hopeful, possibility is that race has become more of a non-issue in society. While I do not believe that to be the case (race always plays a part in perceptions, whether people realize it or not), I believe there may be another reason. Maybe the novelty of a black head coach winning a Super Bowl just wore off, so people did not care anymore. I was not around when Jackie Robinson broke the race barrier in baseball or Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the Olympics, but I would imagine that the second time an African-American performed these feats people did not make nearly as big of a deal about it. Can anyone name the SECOND black baseball player to play in Major League Baseball? I highly doubt that most people can.

While I would like to think that society has changed and does not notice race, it has only been a short few years. Change takes way more time than that.