Word: zoeller
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...nickname notwithstanding, professional golfer Frank ("Fuzzy") Zoeller saw Tiger Woods quite clearly. He gazed upon the new king of professional golf, through whose veins runs the blood of four continents, and beheld neither a one-man melting pot nor even a golfing prodigy but a fried-chicken-and-collard- greens-eating Sambo. Zoeller saw Woods, in short, as just another stereotype, condemned by his blackness to the perpetual status of "little...
...Zoeller soon paid a price for saying openly what many others were thinking secretly. K Mart, the discount chain with a big African-American clientele, unceremoniously dumped him as the sponsor of a line of golf clothing and equipment, and he abjectly withdrew from the Greater Greensboro Open tournament. "People who know me know I'm a jokester. I just didn't deliver the line well," Zoeller tearfully explained. But his real crime was not, as he and his defenders seem to think, merely a distasteful breach of racial etiquette or an inept attempt at humor. The real crime...
...Woods was closing in on his astounding victory, longtime golf pro and former Masters champion Fuzzy Zoeller referred to Woods as "that little boy" and said that he should not serve fried chicken or collard greens when he selects the menu for next year's Champions Dinner. These comments were part of an interview with CNN's "Pro Golf Weekly...
...Zoeller has since released a half-hearted apology, claiming that his "comments were not intended to be racially derogatory" and expressing his regret that "they were misconstrued in this fashion." He also said: "It's too bad that something I said in jest was turned into something it's not, but I didn't mean anything...
...Zoeller's remarks not only reflect bad taste and poor judgment, but also illustrate how some people's conception of humor is a flippant reference to a crude stereotype. It is even more discouraging to note that Zoeller does not seem to understand that he did not merely make a bad joke, but that what he said was racist. Zoeller has not demonstrated any true remorse for his statements or even expressed an understanding of why he should not have attempted to make a wisecrack about fried chicken. His "apology" could have easily been prompted by his publicist...