What do they know of golf…?

To which Tilghman laughingly replied 'Lynch him in a back alley.' Not surprisingly a furore followed Ms Tilghman's quip which was seen as either ignorant or crassly insensitive - perhaps both.

The Golf Channel said that their presenter's remark had absolutely no 'pejorative connotations', but nevertheless suspended Tilghman for two weeks. The magazine 'Golfweek' then ran an edition with a noose on the front cover to illustrate the story - an action which resulted in the firing of their editor.

These events have predictably led to a stand off between those who argue that it is political correctness gone mad (like the London Daily Telegraph's correspondent who said that the Golf Channel was 'nobly holding up the right to free speech') to those who see such casual racism as the thin edge of the wedge.

I have been in Barbados over the past couple of weeks partly to do some research into a book that I am writing about West Indian cricket. Whilst on the island I was able to interview the last surviving member of the great 'Three Ws', Sir Everton Weekes. He told me about the open discrimination he suffered throughout his career both in club cricket and at international level.

When Sir Everton retired from cricket in March 1958 at the age of 33, no black man had ever captained the West Indies - Frank Worrell was to be the first two years later. In club cricket in Barbados five elite clubs were still the jealously guarded preserve of white players. I mention this not as an historical anecdote but to suggest to those who would wish to downplay the offence caused by the inane Tilghman that they should have a word with the dignified Sir Everton.

Golf's murky racist history

The sport of golf has a far from unblemished record on racial discrimination. Blacks were not allowed to play in 'The Masters' or at all at the Augusta National course until the 1970s. And in more recent times, some golf country clubs dropped off the PGA Tour roster rather than integrate.

Back in 1997 Fuzzy Zoeller made a casually racist remark about Tiger Woods - Woods has managed to be dignified in the face of such abuse throughout his career. There is an undercurrent of racism throughout American society and it is not just the golf country clubs that still, in the 21st century, operate some sort of colour bar.

Whilst I am usually doubtful about the ability of professional sport to influence public attitudes and behaviour there are some positive developments which suggest that a more enlightened attitude on the part of commentators and writers in golf might have some effect.

English football sets a good standard

When I first went to top English football back in the 1960s, black players were quite rare and those who did begin to appear on the scene could expect foul abuse from the crowd. Gradually, however, concerted campaigns by the football authorities and the clubs have almost eliminated racist chanting from the game.

This is a record of which English football can be proud and which those in less enlightened countries or sports could follow. In Spain, the national team manager Luis Aragonés made offensive and racist comments about Thierry Henry, which were widely reported - and black players from visiting teams have been routinely abused. Whilst such behavior goes unpunished and when the authorities make only feeble attempts to prevent it then it will continue to be a running sore.

In his magnificent masterwork on cricket, 'Beyond a Boundary', the great Trinidadian writer CLR James posed the question: 'What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?'

I visited the CLR James Centre for Cricket Research when I was in Barbados and this together with my chat with Sir Everton Weekes showed me there is no room for complacency where discrimination and prejudice are concerned. In his book James said that in West Indian cricket for 50 years discrimination '…was allowed to fester under the surface, a source of corruption and hypocrisy.'

I would say to those who seek to shrug off causal racist remarks by dimwitted golf commentators 'What do they know of golf who only golf know?'

See also:
Full coverage of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship