After reading the insidious article “Tiger Woods: Gangsta’ Golf” (April 14, 1997), I was compelled to respond in order to counter yet another attempt to devalue and minimize the accomplishments of black people.

Personally, I am not interested in the game of golf, yet I can appreciate the historic accomplishments of Eldrick “Tiger” Woods on winning the Master’s Tournament. He is the first African and Asian to have done so, and is the youngest at 21. He also shot the lowest scores (18 under 270 and won by 12 strokes, the largest margin of victory at Augusta National). Why wouldn’t any person see these accomplishments as worthy of sincere praise?

The article’s author, Sean Colclough, displays a typical pathological behavior against Africans in writing an article referring to Tiger’s father as “wacky” and stating that “jokingly, it would have made for a much better story if Tiger was a gangster.” No matter what his background poor, middle class or rich Tiger has made history. This fact is irrefutable. He played skillfully and mastered the “Masters” in his first attempt. Tiger competed, won and accepted victory graciously, giving acknowledgement to pioneering African golfers Lee Elder, Calvin Peete and others, who accepted their roles to challenge the evil racism of this country that prevented competitive access to this sport for so long.

The author again attempts to define for us how we should view Tiger, stating, “I guess we will have to take him for what he’s worth … a remarkable, yet dorky golfer.” Tiger’s accomplishments are another reminder to this society that African people can compete, accomplish and excel at anything given the equal opportunity to do so. Tiger’s excellence on the Augusta National greens already has tournament officials strategizing on how to stop, limit and slow him down by discussing whether or not to grow rough at Augusta.

When Africans excel, certain segments of our society seek to change the rules that have been set by whites in order to limit others and maintain their false sense of superiority. For example, imagine the racist behavior baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson had to deal with after breaking the color barrier of the major leagues yet he still excelled.

Tiger’s pursuit of golf excellence should be seen as an example of what diligence brings, and any attempt to minimize or devalue his historical feats should be condemned.

Mshinda Nyofu

political science senior