Tournament Offers Minority Exemption
Courtesy: Afrogolf.com
When the Northern Trust Open tees off at Riviera next month, there will be one "minority" golfer in the field who will be playing by way of an exemption.
The organizers announced with some fanfare today that they had created the "Charlie Sifford Exemption".
The exemption will go to a player who "represents the advancement of diversity in golf".
How interesting that it comes one day before the inauguration of the first African American president in U.S. history.
Charlie Sifford was the first black golfer on the PGA Tour and he fought long and hard for that right. Not because he was black but because he was a good enough golfer to compete and he was denied the right to compete because of his skin color.
Now, some 50 years after he won that right, a tournament is recognizing it by allowing an African-American an exemption.
Ironically the other night, the film "The Tuskegee Airmen" was shown again on TV. It depicts the brave contribution that African American aviators made during the Second World War.
And it also documents how long it took those brave men to be recognized by their own country.
The Northern Trust exemption is like a weak handshake. And it smacks of affirmative action.
When Tiger Woods hit the Tour, everyone said it would open the doors for more African American golfers because Woods would be an incredible role model.
Has it worked? Very questionable.
Perhaps the problem is not that exemptions were lacking for African-American golfers but that the programs to encourage them to take up the game are ineffective.
We don't need one exemption at one tournament. The very notion that an exemption honors or recognizes anyone or anything is a slap in the face to the trail-blazers like Charlie Sifford and others of color.
But it looks good in a press release the day before the inauguration.
Great post Chris! You hit the nail square on the head, or should I say you split the fairway with your opinion. Cheers, Dave G.