Golf Channel anchor suspended for remark

grh · Post by **grh** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:53 am

HONOLULU - Golf Channel suspended anchor Kelly Tilghman for two weeks on Wednesday for saying last week that young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should "lynch him in a back alley."

But the comments became prevalent on news shows Wednesday, and the Rev. Al Sharpton joined the fray by demanding she be fired immediately. Golf Channel didn't know who would replace Tilghman in the booth this week at the Sony Open or next week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

"There is simply no place on our network for offensive language like this," Golf Channel said in a statement.

Tilghman became golf's first female anchor last year when the PGA Tour signed a 15-year deal in which Golf Channel broadcasts the first three events of the year, weekday coverage of all tour events, and full coverage of the Fall Series and opposite-field events.

The suspension ends in time for the Buick Invitational on Jan. 24, when Woods will make his 2008 debut.

Faldo and Tilghman were discussing young players who could challenge the world's No. 1 player toward the end of Friday's broadcast at Kapalua when Faldo suggested that "to take Tiger on, maybe they should just gang up for a while."

"Lynch him in a back alley," Tilghman replied................................

........Before her suspension was announced, Sharpton spoke earlier on CNN's "Prime News" and continued to push for her firing, saying he wanted to meet with Golf Channel because the comments were "an insult to all blacks."

"Lynching is not murder in general, it's not assault in general," Sharpton said. "It's a specific racial term that this women should be held accountable for. What she said is racist. Whether she's a racist ... is immaterial. She's a broadcaster. The channel has to be accountable to the public."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080110/ap_ ... fHSmZ8FxkF

What we need in this country and at this time is one person, comfortable enough in their own skin, to call bullsht on this type of thing. I want to see the story happen, of folks not just 'not getting upset with someone for something said that was obviously NOT said with the intent to offend' - but of folks offended with folks that assign offense to those remarks, for their own self aggrandizement.

We need one executive with the moral balls to NOT cave on this kind of crap and then maybe it will finally stop. Just one, who is willing to say to the attention grabbers that 'hell no I'm not meeting with you, go find a real job!'

:D

grh · Post by **grh** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:07 am

jimbo;756146 wrote: i dont know why your getting your panties in a twist floppy its only a joke for crying out loud :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Hey wait!

Was that a sexist remark?

Post by **spot** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:09 am

Just so I get a better idea about the word, was lynching applied to anyone other than blacks? Or are the two words (lynching and black) closely associated?

grh · Post by **grh** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:45 am

spot;756150 wrote: Just so I get a better idea about the word, was lynching applied to anyone other than blacks? Or are the two words (lynching and black) closely associated?

You don't watch cowboy movies spot? Someone is always getting lynched, or at least someone is trying to lynch them...:wah:

Then there was The good the bad and the ugly, i think... it's been so long, now:o Clint eastwood scares the 'ugly' guy i think into telling him where the goods are by setting him up to hang himself if he falls off the tombstone.

But no, I've never closely associated the two. And since I accept that I am not always mainstream, I looked it up in a couple of online sites and see no reference to blacks being singled out.

Post by **spot** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:17 am

grh;756221 wrote: But no, I've never closely associated the two. And since I accept that I am not always mainstream, I looked it up in a couple of online sites and see no reference to blacks being singled out.

Here's some numbers. Finding numbers usually helps clarify what happened.Lynching was not a crime committed exclusively against blacks. Tuskegee Institute records show that, between 1882 and 1951, some 4,730 people were lynched in the United States, including 3,437 blacks and 1,293 whites. The whites were mostly Republicans who supported the cause of the freed slaves, while those who committed those atrocities were, almost without exception, Democrats - some members of the KKK, and some not.

[...] The accusations against persons lynched, according to Tuskegee Institute records, were: 41% for felonious assault, 25.3% for rape and attempted rape, 4.9% for robbery and theft, and 1.8% for "insult to white persons." 22.7% were for miscellaneous or trivial offenses, such as "disputing with a white man," "asking a white woman to marry," "attempting to register to vote," "peeping in a window," "testifying against a white man," "self-defense," and that most heinous of crimes that only a Democrat could invent: "unpopularity."

And although local officials often knew the identities of the guilty parties, few Democrat elected officials would ever admit that a crime had been committed or that the identity of the perpetrators was known. Tuskegee Institute records for the years 1900-1930 reveal just twelve prosecutions in which a total of sixty-seven individuals were convicted. Only about eight-tenths of one percent of the lynchings in the United States since 1900 resulted in trial and conviction.

I think those figures suggest there's an association between being non-white and being lynched.

Few professional US golfers are non-white.

Tiger Woods is popularly considered to be non-white.

Lynching is an unfortunate choice of words when joking that the only way to "take Tiger on" is to kill him. I assume that "Shoot him in a back alley" wouldn't have sparked the same response. How do you stop Phil Mickelson from winning? Shoot him in a back alley. Lynch doesn't apply to Phil Mickelson, he's a white guy. How do you stop Tiger Woods from winning? Lynch him in a back alley. It's a racist joke.

How do you stop Phil Mickelson from winning? Put him in a competition up against Tiger Woods.

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:37 am

He is half asian too. She should have said "Intern him".:wah:

Wolverine · Post by **Wolverine** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:45 am

YZGI;756235 wrote: He is half asian too. She should have said "Intern him".:wah:

HA!!

sunny104 · Post by **sunny104** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:01 am

from reading that it sounds like one of those things that just sort of slipped out but still it was a stupid thing to say! :rolleyes:

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:02 am

Wolverine;756238 wrote: HA!!
Whew, I was wondering if anyone would get it..

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:04 am

sunny104;756241 wrote: from reading that it sounds like one of those things that just sort of slipped out but still it was a stupid thing to say! :rolleyes:
Tiger himself said it was no big deal and that he has known her for years and knew she didn't mean anything racist.

sunny104 · Post by **sunny104** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:06 am

YZGI;756244 wrote: Tiger himself said it was no big deal and that he has known her for years and knew she didn't mean anything racist.

yeah, that was my first impression. I'm sure we've all said stuff without thinking....

:wah:

LilacDragon · Post by **LilacDragon** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:10 am

Would someone please lynch Al Sharpton already! Or shoot him in an alley. Or what ever.

LilacDragon · Post by **LilacDragon** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:19 am

jimbo;756252 wrote: i take it you are a tiger fan :-3:-3

I love Tiger Woods! I think he is a fabulous golfer and seems like a real nice guy.

I hate Al Sharpton. When I was on the fence about Obama, it was Al's endorsement that was the deciding factor of who I would NOT vote for.

lemon_and_mint · Post by **lemon_and_mint** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:31 am

spot;756231 wrote: Here's some numbers. Finding numbers usually helps clarify what happened.Lynching was not a crime committed exclusively against blacks. Tuskegee Institute records show that, between 1882 and 1951, some 4,730 people were lynched in the United States, including 3,437 blacks and 1,293 whites. The whites were mostly Republicans who supported the cause of the freed slaves, while those who committed those atrocities were, almost without exception, Democrats - some members of the KKK, and some not.

[...] The accusations against persons lynched, according to Tuskegee Institute records, were: 41% for felonious assault, 25.3% for rape and attempted rape, 4.9% for robbery and theft, and 1.8% for "insult to white persons." 22.7% were for miscellaneous or trivial offenses, such as "disputing with a white man," "asking a white woman to marry," "attempting to register to vote," "peeping in a window," "testifying against a white man," "self-defense," and that most heinous of crimes that only a Democrat could invent: "unpopularity."

And although local officials often knew the identities of the guilty parties, few Democrat elected officials would ever admit that a crime had been committed or that the identity of the perpetrators was known. Tuskegee Institute records for the years 1900-1930 reveal just twelve prosecutions in which a total of sixty-seven individuals were convicted. Only about eight-tenths of one percent of the lynchings in the United States since 1900 resulted in trial and conviction.

I think those figures suggest there's an association between being non-white and being lynched.

Few professional US golfers are non-white.

Tiger Woods is popularly considered to be non-white.

Lynching is an unfortunate choice of words when joking that the only way to "take Tiger on" is to kill him. I assume that "Shoot him in a back alley" wouldn't have sparked the same response. How do you stop Phil Mickelson from winning? Shoot him in a back alley. Lynch doesn't apply to Phil Mickelson, he's a white guy. How do you stop Tiger Woods from winning? Lynch him in a back alley. It's a racist joke.

How do you stop Phil Mickelson from winning? Put him in a competition up against Tiger Woods.

i could see that people would still say that shoot is a reference to drugs battles, which are mainly carried out by the nonwhite community.

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:34 am

How do you stop Phil Mickelson from winning? Put him in a competition up against Tiger Woods

Or, give him another doughnut.

Post by **spot** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:38 am

lemon_and_mint;756263 wrote: i could see that people would still say that shoot is a reference to drugs battles, which are mainly carried out by the nonwhite community.

Lynch is a dirty word. Lynching's what white folks do to uppity niggers who don't know their place. I expect there's people who'd like to lynch Al Sharpton too.Sharpton sees much of the criticism as a sign of his effectiveness. "In many ways, what they consider criticism is complimenting my job," said Sharpton. "An activist’s job is to make public civil rights issues until there can be a climate for change. So when people get angry at me for raising these issues and making them public, well, that’s my job! That’s what I’m supposed to do. If I could not get the public’s attention on an issue, then I’m not a good activist."

lemon_and_mint · Post by **lemon_and_mint** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:46 am

jimbo;756275 wrote: if some one said to me a lynch mob , i would only think of they are going to hang a cowboy .... and a white one at that spot

why is it jokes about white people cannot be considered racist mate .. just wondering

round here the word lynch doesnt have racist connotations at all.

we quite often say, "don't do that, if they find out they'll lynch you"

i wasnt even aware it meant to hang - it's just a word meaning gang up on, rough about a bit.

Post by **spot** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:02 am

jimbo;756275 wrote: if some one said to me a lynch mob , i would only think of they are going to hang a cowboy .... and a white one at that spot So if the reality is that "between 1882 and 1951, some 4,730 people were lynched in the United States, including 3,437 blacks and 1,293 whites", might it be that a distortion of history has happened? Possibly in Hollywood? I could give you other instances where Hollywood got things wrong. Strange but true, that.

moonpie · Post by **moonpie** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:34 am

Sometimes "being politically correct" is carried too far. The announcer did not mean to offend, and Tiger didn't take offence. She is just being made a scape goat. IMO.

grh · Post by **grh** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:35 am

spot;756290 wrote: So if the reality is that "between 1882 and 1951, some 4,730 people were lynched in the United States, including 3,437 blacks and 1,293 whites", might it be that a distortion of history has happened? Possibly in Hollywood? I could give you other instances where Hollywood got things wrong. Strange but true, that.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hJ8x ... AD8U2PR000

"Tiger and Kelly are friends, and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly," Steinberg said Tuesday night in a statement released by Golf Channel. "Regardless of the choice of words used, we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments."

_________

None of the crap you're spouting has anything to do with the facts. Or are you thinking that she and everyone else in the world needs to research every term out there for PC before opening their mouth?

Post by **spot** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:41 am

grh;756302 wrote: None of the crap you're spouting has anything to do with the facts. Or are you thinking that she and everyone else in the world needs to research every term out there for PC before opening their mouth?

What on earth have I said in the thread that's unfactual?

Surely there's a category of being unwittingly insulting? That would cover what she said quite well. I'd expect someone to apologize if they'd been unwittingly insulting once they discovered what they'd done.

grh · Post by **grh** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:04 am

spot;756305 wrote: What on earth have I said in the thread that's unfactual?

Surely there's a category of being unwittingly insulting? That would cover what she said quite well. I'd expect someone to apologize if they'd been unwittingly insulting once they discovered what they'd done.

And if you look at the facts spot, she did apologize, when she realized something she said may have been misconstrued.

So that should have finished it. Instead, you have demands for her being fired.. and 'phony moral outrage' over a comment that did not even mean the same thing to everyone hearing it.

The 2 week suspension is a farce, IMO. It's sole intent to make al sharpton go away quickly. I'd much rather have seen the golf channel say 'bite me' to the demand. I wish that Tiger or his manager would just say 'back the fk off'. But probably the approach will be to comment as little as possible to force the media to move along..

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:14 am

If you think about it, if she was a racist she never would have uttered the word. I think it shows that she is absolutely not a racist because it never crossed her mind that "lynch" would offend. It seems to me that the ones spouting racism are the ones looking for it out of their own racist eyes.

Post by **spot** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:18 am

grh;756312 wrote: you have demands for her being firedI've done no such thing! All I've done is try to clarify the implications of "lynch" in reference to a non-white guy who's inconveniently got in the way.

Chezzie · Post by **Chezzie** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:29 am

Spot the OP isnt saying YOU made demands, shes merely stating the fact thats what WE have...

This is all total crap and pc gone mad...I never even knew lynch had a racist element or was a racist remark and obviously neither does my deputy manager who's Jamaican as she often says, come on girls lets stop talking and get on with our work our we'll get lynched...Lynched to me means to be set up by more than one person, a mob.

Look here:

http://www.videosift.com/video/Top-Gear ... in-Alabama

Thats the link to the video of the top gear crew in america when they sloganised their cars and rode through alabama.

The title is Top Gear crew nearly get lynched in Alabama....All the Top Gear team are white???

RedGlitter · Post by **RedGlitter** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:56 am

I have mostly heard lynching in connection with black people. In the old west it was simply "hanging."

You know I hate PC but really, that comment was stupid to have said, not only because it sounds racist but why the hell would you suggest someone get strung up anyway?! There's no context that would package that nicely that I can see. I just think the remark was stupid.

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:01 am

I wonder if Al Sharpton will try and make them cut down all the tree's on golf courses now?:wah:

sunny104 · Post by **sunny104** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:08 am

YZGI;756364 wrote: I wonder if Al Sharpton will try and make them cut down all the tree's on golf courses now?:wah:

:wah:

moonpie · Post by **moonpie** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:11 pm

RedGlitter;756354 wrote: I have mostly heard lynching in connection with black people. In the old west it was simply "hanging."

You know I hate PC but really, that comment was stupid to have said, not only because it sounds racist but why the hell would you suggest someone get strung up anyway?! There's no context that would package that nicely that I can see. I just think the remark was stupid.

Hi, there is a commadrie (sp?) between all of these professional golfers, and Tiger is so respected amongst them. I believe it was Fuzzy Zoeller that made an off-color remark about what they were going to serve at the celebration banquet after one of Tiger's big golf tournament wins (this was about 5-6 years ago) and he said fried chicken and watermelon. That particular remark got some attention, but not enough to have him suspended from the next couple of tournaments. There were a few eyebrows raised, but for the most part it was soon forgotten, even though there was some smirking.

She may be a commentator and it was pretty stuipid of her to make that remark, but I am sure there was no racial undertones in her mind when she made it. Like I said before, they are making her a scape-goat.