Yes. Yes It Was.
Asked about his ongoing verbal spat with Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia said the following: “We’ll have him ’round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”
After the inevitable backlash, he said this: “I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner.”
You’re lying, Sergio. You absolutely meant what you said in a racialized manner. Of all the foods you could have chosen, you honestly want us to believe that you picked fried chicken out of the blue, completely unbeknownst of the racist connotations of such a connection? I know that you grew up in Spain, but you’ve spent ample time in America during your adulthood. I realize you weren’t on the tour at the time, but you were 17-years-old and pursuing a professional golf career when Fuzzy Zoeller made his unfortunate remarks about Tiger Woods and fried chicken. I don’t believe you when you tell me you didn’t mean it in a “racist manner”. And I’m insulted that you would think that I would.
I don’t know if you are a racist. I don’t know what’s in your heart. I know you and Tiger are not each other’s biggest fans. I recognize you might have been attempting to make a joke. But your joke fell flat. Way flat. And pretending it was an innocent mistake just amounts to doubling down on your apparent ignorance. It is 2013, fer cryin’ out loud.
ohhh golf fight….and they drop their gloves and swining on the green.
But yeah, this was obviously a racially charged remark and pretending it wasn’t is silly.Report
“but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner.”
You’re lying, Sergio. You absolutely meant what you said in a racialized manner.
Question: Is there a distinction between those two adjectives? A difference in meaning that I am missing?Report
For me, personally, what I meant was that I absolutely think Sergio was making a racial reference in using the term. But I don’t know if he was attempting to be explicitly racist. He may or may not acknowledge that the term was “racialized” in the way that I use that term.
It doesn’t read so cleanly, I realize now.
In a nut shell, when I use “racialized”, I mean that race played a factor in the outcome.
When I use “racist”, I mean something that is explicitly and deliberately so with a clear intent to denigrate. His comment might have been the latter, but it certainly was the former.Report
” when I use “racialized”, I mean that race played a factor in the outcome.”
so…this is different from being racist *how*?
Because you clearly feel that if Woods were a white guy, then Garcia wouldn’t have said anything about fried chicken.
But you really *really* seem to *not* want to say that Garcia was being racist.
Why? Why not just say “you’re a fuckin’ racist dude, end of conversation. END. OF. CONVERSATION.”Report
Because I think people can say racist or racialized things without actually being racist. Acts versus actors.Report
“I think people can say racist or racialized things without actually being racist.”
Acts versus actors? You don’t say “You’re lying, Sergio” to someone who innocently made an inappropriate statement. You don’t say “double down on your apparent ignorance” to someone who you actually believe honestly did not know. You don’t reject their statement of “it wasn’t intended as an insult” if you think that it honestly didn’t result from intentional racism.
Why is it so necessary for you to have a way to call people racists without just directly saying “you’re a racist”?
…oh, I get it. Because if they are just doing racist *things* but aren’t actual *racists*, then you don’t have to be The Angry Guy Who Attacks Other People. You retain the moral superiority of the objective judge. And if they try to defend themselves, then *they’re* wrong, because hey–you aren’t being the angry guy who attacks, you’re just, y’know, pointing out “racialized” things. Not *your* fault they’re so dumb.Report
So your criticism is that I didn’t call him a racist? Got it.Report
The problem is that there is a distinction between racist(1) – a person who hates people of other races and racist(2) – an action or statement that has a negative effect on someone because of their race.
The two are easy to mix up but not everyone who does racist(2) things is a racist(1) even if they know there is a racial effect. When you say “You’re a racist” people hear this as “You hate everyone who is a different race to you and that is your main motivation”. They are then going to get defensive and stop listening particularly if that isn’t true. If on the other hand you say something like “That joke was offensive to more people than Tiger Woods and here’s why..” at least some people will be more inclined to listen. Especially if we move away from this particular case to all the unthinking racism(2) that practically everyone does – assumptions about which areas are dangerous, hiring based on shared interests that sort by race etc.Report
There is another problem with mixing up the two types of racist that may be more harmful than people stopping listening. If I assume that it is only possible to do racist things if you are motivated by racial hatred I am far less likely to look at my own actions and ask if I am reinforcing racial problems without realising it.Report
Obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ti-gkJiXcReport
OK that says what I was trying to much more clearlyReport
He’s also got a TED Talk that elaborates on it. It’s not the best TT I’ve seen, but if you like what he says there you should check out the longer version.
He’s a fascinating guy, as it is.Report
I support Kazzy’s distinction.
If he had said he’s inviting Phil Mickelson or Fred Couples over and then added that he would serve lasagna, nobody would be accusing him of racism, even though technically it’s the same situation of linking a player to an ethnic stereotype (those two are both of Italian heritage, btw).
But fried chicken (and watermelon) is still particularly close to the line as being an insult.Report
Well, we should also add that ethnicity isn’t the same as race. If he made an ethnic joke about Italians, there would still be room for objection, but it wouldn’t be racism or racialized. Which doesn’t mean it’s less of an issue… just not the right term.Report
If Garcia had said “we’ll have him round for chimichangas”, should we still censure him for being racist?
Because, y’know, burritos are also a racial-stereotype food of one of the parties involved in the conversation.Report
That, depending on how he put it, might have come across as self deprecating. Which is mostly more allowable.Report
I am so in love with the idea that there is “allowable speech”. That is so totally in keeping with our modern interpretation of the Bill of Rights.Report
Is making fun of oneself the same as making fun of others? I ask, because I’ve never been punched in the nose for making fun of myself.Report
Obviously haven’t been trying hard enough.
German Jews telling Holocaust Jokes.Report
I’d respond to this, but Jason Kuznicki saved me the trouble.Report
Geez, you’re not even trying.Report
One of the really nice things about the 1st is that Garcia could say these things.
And Kazzy (and anyone else who cares to do so) can hold him accountable for what he says.
The result isn’t stomping his right to say racist shit; it’s that he’s got to wear the shame of his own words after he says racist shit.Report
+1Report
Burritos are a racial stereotype of the Spanish? Weird, I’ve never had a burrito at a Spanish restaurant.Report
All those people who decorate their nouns with “el-” and “-o” are alike.Report
Jeff Lynnes?Report
And the rest of the Wilburys.Report
At first thought, I wondered if this was some kind of bad play on the whole fried-chicken Masters comment made way back when about Tiger, but given the situation, I find it hard to believe or even excuse if it was.Report
I’m not sure what’s worse… if he didn’t know that happened or if he did.
With the former, it means he’s fairly ignorant of a major social event that happened in his sport while he was on the verge of achieving his tour card and/or that the PGA hasn’t used that as a teaching moment for changing the insider culture of the golf world.
With the latter, it means he didn’t learn from that event or was doubling down on the idiocy.
Both are pretty fished up.Report
I think it’s overblown.
Either that, or blacks can only be hired at KFC, Church’s, Popeye’s, etc. as a means of continuing the Plantation.
If he would have said “Chitlins” or “Watermelon,” I would have thought that was racist.Report
Perhaps I’m ignorant but I would have not guessed that watermelon would be racistReport
yup. that and grape soda. google image search should show you why.Report
Notice that of all the ethnic backgrounds of Tiger Woods, when anyone makes this kind of comment it’s always about his Blackness?
He’s part Korean, yet nobody ever brings up Kim Chee.Report
Thai, not Korean. And no one ever brings up chicken satay.Report
Woods was a college student at the time. If Zoeller wanted to zing him, he could have simply said “Macaroni and cheese, over the sink because all the dishes are dirty.”Report