Tiger Woods Tip-Toes On Social Injustice, Harold Varner III Shows Deep Thought

All eyes have been on Tiger Woods for the past few days.

All ears as well.

Will Tiger speak?  Will he weigh in on the actions  that led to the death of George Floyd?  Will he tell everyone how he feels about social injustice in our country?

Finally there is word from Tiger, actually, a written statement, perhaps cooked up by one of The Great Stiney’s (Woods agent Marc Steinberg) PR types.

Here’s the “official” Tiger Woods statement:

“My heart goes out to George Floyd, his loved ones and all of us who are hurting right now. I have always had the utmost respect for our law enforcement. They train diligently to understand how, when and where to use force. This shocking tragedy clearly crossed that line. I remember the L.A. riots and learned that education is the best path forward. We can make our points without burning the very neighborhoods that we live in. I hope that through constructive, honest conversation, we can build a safer, unified society.”

That’s it from Tiger, short, sweet and pretty general, uncontroversial.

Tiger’s never been one to go out on a limb when it comes to social controversy.  Tiger’s just not that guy.  He grew up in a military household where discipline was most likely a day-to-day process.  As an adult, Tiger deals in the corporate world and is highly compensated to be a brand ambassador.  Big companies don’t shell out millions to someone who might bring an air of controversy to the brand.  Tiger knows what that looks like.  Once upon a time he made north of $100 million.  His own fall from grace was costly and its taken years and more victories for him to become a viable spokesman again.

So don’t blame Tiger if he tip-toes around subjects like protests that morph into violence, looting and rioting.

Harold Varner III may be the only truly black player on the PGA Tour.  Tiger is bi-racial, once describing himself as a “Cablanasian.”  Cameron Champ is bi-racial.  Joe Bramlett is bi-racial.

Varner is very well liked on the PGA Tour.  He’s the kid from the western part of North Carolina.  He grew up in Gastonia, a burb outside Charlotte.  He attended my Alma Mater — East Carolina University.  Harold thought at length about what has transpired in our country and put pen to paper and authored this:

To whoever wants to listen, I have so much that I want to say.  Matter of fact, I’ve received more messages than ever before, mostly from people who wanted me to speak up immediately because of who I am.  I AM BLACK.  But it’s not helpful to anyone when impulsive, passionate reaction takes precedence over clear-minded thought.  Yes, I’m angry.  But I needed the time to put pen to paper and give y’all a proper message. So let’s go.

Here’s the obvious: George Floyd should still be alive.  Absolutely.  No doubt.  End of story.  This was a senseless killing—a murder—and, to me, it was evil incarnate.

There are objective truths in life.  I think that’s one of them.  But life is more nuanced than just a simple statement, and if there’s one thing that is emblematic of today’s society, I think it’s that we constrict ourselves to single-minded thought.  It’s easy to do.  But that ain’t life.  You can be against a cop savagely killing a man and also have the perspective to say that burning businesses and police stations is wrong.  You may say one is more or less severe than the other, but there again we must allow ourselves to go beyond this one-or-the-other mentality.  Otherwise, we get stuck.  We lose direction.  Sadly, I think the media exacerbate the situation—with whatever motives they have—by implicating one side of a complex story.  I will never denounce an entire race or group based off of a singular incident.  I cannot justify that.  Yes, the cop acted in the most horrific of ways.  No, not all cops are like that.  Yes, people are rightly angry.  No, we don’t need to loot to make our point. In my heart, I know we’re a good country filled with good people.  It’s time we start recognizing that.

Look, I grew up in Gastonia, N.C. I had nothing.  No nice clothes, no lights, and, hell, sometimes no buck-fifty to eat lunch in high school.  I bought my first pair of jeans when I was in college.  And you know what?  The people who pushed me to succeed were old white and black men at my local muni.  They were the ones helping me with clothes, bills, and food.  The white guys aren’t racist, and the black guys aren’t either.  I would call myself lucky, but that’d be undermining everything I believe.  I’m not insensitive to reality.  I’m realistic about the innate good I see in people.

I know how hard it is to build something.  I know it, man.  Seeing justice for George Floyd turn into destruction and theft of businesses owned by African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, and all other ethnicities is disgusting.  I will always be behind all African Americans who are subjected to racism.  I will also be behind other ethnicities in the same way. But I will never support an aggressive reaction, especially against those who have poured everything into opening this restaurant or that shop.

Sometimes life is not simple and things don’t make sense.  How can we call ourselves the greatest country on earth when our standards fall to senseless killing? That’s a tough and important question.  But I still proudly say we aren’t as fractured as it seems.

I see good people.  I pray alongside them for George Floyd and his family.  And I also pray for our unity.  We’re strong.  We can go beyond the trap of one-dimensional thinking.  Once we do, our eyes will see the righteous, our hearts will feel the love, and we’ll have done more to honor all those subjected to evil and its vile nature.

There is a lot of beauty and love in this world.  I pray for equality and social justice as we all so desperately deserve that in this day and age.  I pray for humanity even more because regardless of color, WE need each other to make that change. 

Stay safe. Love you guys.

There you have it.  Tiger tip-toed, Harold waded deep into the pool.

Where do we stand?

We stand with Harold Varner III and everyone at East Carolina University is proud of him.

You should be as well.