Tiger Woods has, deservedly, been through a lot of drama lately. The wreck, the ass whoopin' by wifey, that ridiculous press conference and every seemingly scripted one thereafter, and having to endure non-stop headlines and late night talk show jokes at his expense regarding his scandalous infidelity with a bevy women all over the world...none of whom were Black women.
None of this, of course, has worked to help endear Tiger Woods to the Black community. In fact, there are scores of Black women who take great offense at the fact that the world's greatest golfer – and richest athlete – seemingly has a penchant for all women EXCEPT Black women. So by the time the number of mistresses got in the double-digit range - with each successive mistress being either White or otherwise non-Black - Tiger's already shaky status with the Black community was administered a critical dose of ether.
As a whole, the Black community is very possessive. We love to embrace celebrities and athletes and other people of fame close to our hearts and proclaim them as OUR own, as being of us and from us, even if those famous people are of mixed race births (because, as most Black folks tend to believe, if you got ANY significant Black in ya, then you're Black). As such, the Black community tends to get pretty rankled when the love isn't reciprocated. If Black folks feel “slighted” by one they initially embraced, they'll turn against that person viciously.
Therein lies the problem for Tiger. He has steadfastly refused to identify himself as Black, and in fact famously created the term "Cablinasian" (Caucasian, black, Indian and Asian) to describe the racial heritage derived from his Black daddy and Thai momma. Justifiably or not, this is what has caused so many Blacks to develop a resentment towards him. Factor in his scandal with a gaggle of White women and suddenly Tiger Woods is the new O.J. Simpson (in fact, there's this ideology that, had Tiger Woods cheated with a gang of Black women instead, the whole thing wouldn't even have made headlines). For the record, a lot of folks in the Asian community don't fully embrace Tiger, either, reportedly harboring similar suspicions towards the apparent pattern in the race of his partners, and in the way he views himself.
Still, and true to that possessive quality of some Black folks, there are a lot of Black folks who accept Tiger as “one of our own.” As such, it also opens Tiger up to the cultural scrutiny associated with that acceptance. While certain Black women recognize that Tiger isn't 100% Black, it still offends them that he would favor dating so many White women. In fact, Black women have long felt slighted by the propensity of famous Black men to get with White women, or other non-Black women. They get offended at the notion that they are not the first choice amongst their own men...and in this regard, Tiger Woods is no exception.
However, in Tiger's case overcoming the “Blackness” issue is clearly his biggest obstacle. The Black community forever measures its famous figures by their level of “Blackness”...especially regarding the color or race of their spouse or partner. Tiger is married to a Swedish blonde and cheated with over a dozen women of either White or other non-Black ethnic origins. To a wide majority of Black folks, particularly Black women, that's not exactly “proving your Blackness”....and it's not that Black women frown on Black men engaging interracial dating. It's that they frown on Black men dating non-Black women because they (Black men) somehow think those types of women are BETTER than Black women. Many Black women, honestly, harbor this ideology about Tiger Woods.
This isn't to say, however, that Tiger couldn't win over the Black community at some point. We're very forgiving. I mean, if Marion Barry can get the gang of second chances, for crying out loud....
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