Courtesy: Golf-Babes.blogspot.com

Kelly Tilghman, a long-time commentator and host on The Golf Channel has been suspended by the specialty channel for two weeks.

This comes, as many know, after her very badly chosen remarks on air in the wake of the Mercedes Championship.

In conversation about Tiger Woods' domination of the game with Nick Faldo, Tilghman said that the young PGA players should "lynch him in a back alley".

Tilghman and Woods have known each other for 12 years apparently and are friends, although not likely close friends.

The Golf Channel host has apologized to Woods personally and on the air and Woods has accepted unequivocally, saying the matter is over and no ill intent was intended by the comment.

But that didn't stop black leaders, specifically the Reverend Al Sharpton, from calling for the termination of her employment.
Sharpton rightly stated that "lynching" is not just a general term for a kind of murder but a specifically racial term.

And I agree with him. However, whenever an on-air personality, sports figure or TV star says something that could be construed as a racial slur in some circles (there have been many examples over the years: Howard Cosell, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, Fuzzy Zoeller and so forth), is that proof the individual is a racist?

I suppose the bigger question is how much each of us is racist rather than if we are or not.
And we are all prejudiced to some degree or other about something or someone.

Every case has to be examined on its own and blanket condemnation has to be avoided. "She said therefore she is" is not the point unless there is further evidence of other occasions when racist remarks were made.

Racism is found in patterns of behavior, not a single comment. As one who has spent many years on air and on camera, my take is that Tilghman was simply looking for what so many in the media unconsciously look for in commentary: the glib quip. Express a thought in a street-wise sound bite.

It can backfire badly and in Tilghman's case, it did. It was a stupid thing to say about anybody, let alone an African-American. But I can tell you that in television especially, the philosophy is the faster the tongue wags, the better.

But is she a racist? No way. Should she be fired for saying it? First, prove she's a racist and then can her. Otherwise you deprive an individual of a livelihood for making a mistake. She's going to be paying for that error for a long time to come as it is.