Tiger, Tiger, Burning Blight
Tiger Woods is perhaps the most famous, and most dominant, athlete in the world today. The 32-year-old golfer with the multicultural background he once proudly described as "Cablinasian" has somehow accomplished the impossible: made golf on a Sunday must-see TV.
Woods is a trailblazer and already a legend for his ability to perform when the spotlight is at its hottest. But he has also established a reputation for reticence when confronted with the real world off the greens. For all his cultural capital, Woods has refused to take stands on issues that should hit close to home, such as restricted golf courses, or even when the Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman suggested young PGA players "lynch him in a back alley" in a "joke" about how they might overcome his dominance. Tiger has largely maintained the tight-lipped silence of a Benedictine monk.
After the lynching comment, ESPN's Scoop Jackson became so frustrated with this disciplined quietude he wrote, "Because of who he is, Tiger Woods has the power to make people listen. Not just hear his words--but embrace what he has to say.... It's a stand he needs to take because people who change the world eventually have to take stands. Whether strong or silent, good or evil, they take stands not to prove their beliefs, but to rectify a situation or condition."
His defenders have always said that behind the scenes Woods has been an agent for change, and that he shouldn't be criticized just because he does his good deeds without media fanfare. They say he wields that influence through his nonprofit Tiger Woods Foundation. Go to the website, and a virtual Woods walks right onto your screen and welcomes you to a place where "kids can achieve anything." The site boasts: "more than 10 million young people have benefited from the Tiger Woods Foundation since its inception in 1996. What started out with limited access throughout America, now reaches out to young people around the world."
Yet now the Foundation is "reaching around the world" in a way that has human rights activists concerned about a business partnership that smells like sulfur.
The Tiger Woods Foundation has entered into an extensive five-year partnership with Chevron Corporation, with the oil and energy giant becoming the title sponsor of the Tiger Woods Foundation World Challenge Golf Tournament.
"Chevron has a track record and a commitment to bettering the communities where they operate," Woods said in a press release on April 3. And Chevron's executive vice president chimed in, "Chevron, Tiger and the Tiger Woods Foundation share similar values...as well as a deep commitment to make a difference in local communities."
They have certainly "made a difference in local communities," but it's nothing they should be bragging about, and certainly nothing with which Woods should want his name attached. Chevron is in full partnership with the Burmese military regime on the Yadana gas pipeline project, the single greatest source of revenue for the military, estimated at nearly $1 billion in 2007, nearly half of all the country's revenue. These are the same people who are blocking international aid workers from assisting the victims of Cyclone Nargis. The death toll has been estimated at 78,000, but this number can explode as disease spreads and help isn't allowed through the military lines. Even the US State Department has called the actions of the government "appalling."
Ka Hsaw Wa, co-founder and executive director of EarthRights International, wrote in an open letter to Woods, "I myself have spoken to victims of forced labor, rape, and torture on Chevron's pipeline--if you heard what they said to me, you too would understand how their tragic stories stand in stark contrast to Chevron's rhetoric about helping communities." ERI's request to meet with Woods or someone from the foundation has been met with silence
But while the Burmese junta's crimes are localized in Southeast Asia, Chevron is global. Lawsuits have been issued against Chevron's toxic waste dumping in Alaska, Canada, Angola, California. Then there's the matter of 18 billion gallons of toxic waste the company has been accused of dumping in the Amazon.
In a US District Court in San Francisco, the case of Bowoto v. Chevron, Nigerian plaintiffs have accused Chevron of actually arming and outfitting Nigerian oil security forces to shoot and kill protesters. Judge Susan Illston has refused to dismiss the case because, as Democracy Now! recently reported, "evidence show[s] direct links to Chevron officials."
When pressed for comment, Tiger Woods Foundation President Greg McLaughlin issued this statement to me: "The Foundation's vision is to help young people reach their full potential. All our partners share in this vision, allowing us to make a positive impact in millions of young lives." That response, to very serious and very direct charges, is the golf equivalent of a triple bogey.
President McLaughlin should think more seriously about what Chevron is and what they do: they pollute, they destroy, they conspire with dictators, and heaven help anyone who gets in their way. Now they want to burnish their "brand" by partnering with Tiger Woods. Tiger's late father Earl, once said of his son, "He will transcend this game...and bring to the world...a humanitarianism...which has never been known before. The world will be a better place to live in...by virtue of his existence...and his presence."
The partnership with Chevron makes a mockery of Earl Woods's hopes.
To use an analogy from a different sport, the ball is now in Tiger's court. Will he allow himself to be tamed by corporate interests, or will he roar?
31 Reader Comments | Add a comment
Its so disappointing to see Tiger continuously side-stepping the issues when he has the power to reach more people than almost anyone in the world. I felt the same with the Tilghman issue. I don't expect him to comment on every attrocity in the world, but when something is directly in his path, he should say something.
Keep up the great work Dave!
Dave,
We need to start a letter writing campaign to Tiger and his foundation to get him to address this issue. At worse, we can expose his hypocrisy; at best, we can force him to stand up and be counted.
As much as I have enjoyed watching tiger woods dominate the sport of golf since that historic win at augusta in 1997, I have been equally dissapointed in his tepid attempts at "humanitarianism". This is not to discount his efforts, his recently openned learning centre is a noble endeavour, but tiger continues to believe that his money is what will change the world when in reality his words could do so much more. Unfortunately, tiger's major role model in this respect is michael jordan, who no doubt contributed millions to charities but blunted his potential impact on the lives of the disenfranchised with his "replublicans buy nikes too" modus operandi. Consequently jordan will be remembered as a great althlete and nothing more. Tiger can still join the pantheon of the ali's, the robinsons, the clemente's and the billy jean king's, but not if he continues to be blinded by dollar signs and remains in bed with corporate entities like chevron that wish to use his squeeky clean image to hide the skeletons in their collective closets.
Perhaps the fact, Dave, is that Tiger Woods is simply a great golfer. End of story. His color, his antecedants don't matter a bit. Perhaps he doesn't mind his 'values' being hijacked by Chevron and used by the Augusta Masters to promote their own interests. Perhaps old Earl was wrong and it is a good thing that he is not still around to see how wrong he was about his boy Tiger. Woods is not the first achiever to climb the ladder and pull it up after him. That's America. I don't know what the Tiger Woods Foundation is or does but it is a better way to spend tax-free money than fast cars and slow women.
Good post, Dave, and thanks for having the courage to go after Tiger's hypocrisy.
But I would disagree on your characterization of the situation in Myanmar. To say "even the State Department has called the actions of the [Burmese] government appalling" is a bit misleading. Better to say "especially" the State Department -- since the U.S. from day one has used the cyclone disaster as a political bully pulpit, even though in underhanded ways it has helped to prop up the junta -- such as by the allowing US corporate involvement in the very pipeline you mention.
Not to say that the junta is blameless or hasn't resisted some of the offers of US and international aid, but the picture is not as simple as the mainstream media make it out to be. Like all US actions, offers of aid have often been predicated on a "our way or the highway" mentality. There is a lot of hypocrisy going on. I am not an expert but others, such as at the website globalresearch.ca, have offered more trenchant analyses that you might want to check out.
Thanks for this really insightful article, Dave.
This summer Tiger Woods will also be playing at the Bridgestone Invitational PGA Tour tournament at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, OH. Of course Bridgestone/Firestone is known by Edge of Sports readers as a company which has exploited workers on its rubber plantation in Liberia for over 80 years. They use child labor, abuse workers and destroy the environment. Then they use sports endorsements to avoid any public scrutiny of their shocking abuses.
Tiger Woods needs to get real about the devastating impacts of companies like Bridgestone/Firestone and Chevron on people around the world and use his public position to call attention to the abuses of these corporations.
Readers can check out http://www.StopFirestone.org or http://www.LaborRights.org for more information about the Firestone campaign.
Talk is cheap. It's actions taken that matter.
Tiger has gotten everything this corporate society has to offer by keeping his opinions to himself.
In order to learn how he does it, they bought him, gave him a very beautiful wife, a comfortable life, and a lot of money for playing a child's game better than the rich white men who bought him can ever hope.
I doubt he's interested in losing all of that just to speak to the truth about corporate abuse of the third world!
Check out this op-ed published today in the Los Angeles Times about Chevron: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-bowoto29-2008may29,0,1637435.story.
It's by Larry Bowoto, a Nigerian who was shot by soldiers who were allegedly paid by Chevron while he was protesting how Chevron's operations destroyed the fish population and environment his community relied on for survival.
Everyone should read the Bowoto oped. It's remarkable. And check out the work that Tim Newman is doing with the Stop Firestone campaign. Unglamorous, yet essential and devastating grass roots activism people should go out of their way to support.
Dave: Down in Orange County, Tiger is a god, second only to our rapacious developers. For you to go after him proves again why you're one of the most essential columnists in this country. Gave you some love over here:
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/sports/tiger-woods-corporate-stooge/
Dave,
Good article. I have a little different take on Mr Woods howvever. At the start of his pro career he has the advertising world groveling at his feet. He can choose to sponser anyone. He chooses Nike. To paraphrase Reggie White while playing in the NFL who said he could not in good conscience endorse a company who exploits asian workers to make shoes that are then aggressively marketed to inner city black kids, who could least afford them. When Mr Woods decides to apply his name to his first course design its in Abu Dubai ( I think), a playground not just for the rich, but for the ultra-rich- think Disneyland for billionaires only. Pity they should have to mingle with the unclean masses. And when Mr Woods gets into charity work it seems the focus is far more on PR for Woods than anything useful. We all know of his self named foundation, but aside from teaching golf to underprivledged children who will likely never see another golf course, what else does his foundation do? I'm sure I am wrong on this last point. He can't be that crass, but my larger point is that when character meets vanity where Tiger is concerned, vanity seems to win out. I have seen very little evidence of real character. There are, of course, those touching stories related by his father - since then, not so much.
I think it possible to prod Mr Woods into doing the right thing, but it will be by appeals to his vanity. And therein lies the rub. On the course he is measured by greatness. In the business and celebrity world he is measured by his brand name and his net worth, where he is either great or darn near great. But in the league of extraordinary gentlemen, where character matters most, you can never really be great. Instead all of your flaws tend to get exposed, along with your good deeds. You end up looking painfully human - possibly good, but not so great. How do you appeal to a man's vanity while ultimately getting him to accept some humility? Is it any wonder Michael Jordon has become so ordinary as a regular rich guy?
Nike paid Tiger Woods millions of dollars to be their poster boy throughout the world. When workers wanted to unionise the Nike plant in Bangkok, Thailand, Nike closed it, leaving 1,400 workers unemployed and owed back wages. When Tiger Woods came to Bangkok workers mounted street protests in front of his hotel, confronting him with the behavior of Nike. They presented him with a letter describing working conditions in garment factories throughout the region. Again, he was silent.
I also have been very disappointed with Tiger's reluctance to say anything meaningful and to accept his role as a grandiose corporate spokesman/pitchman/puppet. However, when mention was made of the Bridgestone tournament I wondered why all the participating golfers weren't chastised and only Tiger was singled out. I understand that Tiger's the biggest name in the field but everyone should be held accountable. How many players will publicly protest the Chevron sponsored event and will Dave Zirin write an article criticizing them? While those guys may not be partnering with Chevron like Tiger (but they would if they could, just check out their hats, shirts, shoes, etc.), they won't hesitate to take Chevron's prize money.
Are we really judging Tiger by his father's standards or are we just more likely to notice corporate misdeeds when they do business with minorities? It is only because Tiger is a minority that we expect him to be more sensitive to and aware of these issues. If what Dave is saying is right, he should hold Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, et al to the same scrutiny.
I've understood that the first slave to escape would go back and help the others. Likewise it is understood that any black person who finds a way to *deal* with the *system* will help the rest in the tradition of Ali, Ashe and the others Mr. Zirin mentioned. Tiger obviously is not acquainted with that tradition and, to me, abrogated his blackness with all that 'cablinasian' stuff. That Mr. Zirin doesn't level the same critique at Els, Mickelson and the others is because no one ever expects the rich white guys to do the right thing. Don't rich white guys own Chevron? Maybe it is time to put Tiger in the
'rich white guy' group and move on. Funny how the blond trophy wife fits with perfectly the 'black athlete' and the 'rich white guy' stereotype.
Dave:
I lost interest in Tiger Woods as a possible spokesman for human rights when he continued his Buick promotions in the face of the writer's strike. He seems to be going down hill even as I type
Dennis Jones
8475 77th St. S.
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Dave Zirin is the author of the book: "Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports" (Haymarket). You can receive his column Edge of Sports, every week by
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Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com
