Still, with the Fried Chicken Jokes?

As most of us already have heard, the infamous "fried chicken" reference that often is used to stereotype black people has made its way back into the headlines. Sergio Garcia, a.k.a The Choker, recently was asked if he and Tiger would bury the hatchet, in regards to their long running spat. Apparently, the person asking was joking and Garcia responded:

"We'll have him 'round every night. We will serve fried chicken.''

If you are keeping count, folks, this is the second time a rival golfer has referenced fried chicken when attempting to "joke" in regards to Tiger Woods. In 1997 golfer Fuzzy Zoeller said this, in part:

"...tell him not to serve fried chicken next year...or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve."

Zoeller was referring to the tradition of the Master's Champions Dinner, where the defending champion picks the menu. Tiger was playing well at that point and Zoeller referred to him as "that little boy" when commenting on his play. Tiger would go on to win the '97 Master's and later would accept Zoeller's apology for the comment. There was no fried chicken served at the following year's dinner, but there was grilled chicken sandwiches on the menu.

It's just jokes, right? The fried chicken line, when referring to Black people, has been going on for decades. If it's said in jest, it should be ok, right? No, not at all. I've been on the back end of a few fried chicken jokes myself and I've laughed most of them off. I've had white friends and friends of other nationalities ask me to make them some fried chicken because they knew I could cook and assumed I knew how to make it. While those particular instances weren't offensive to me, I felt a certain way before I shrugged it off and fried up some chicken for my friends. But everyone knows what it means when a white person "jokes" about Black people and fried chicken. And it's not funny.

Sergio Garcia wasn't "joking", as in just trying to get a laugh. He doesn't like Tiger, he has said so numerous times. I'm sure he reveled in Tiger's misery while the world's no. 1 golfer was losing tournaments and events left and right. I'm sure he did not feel sorry for Tiger when his business about his marriage troubles and his infidelity was all over the news and sports programs. And while Rory McIlroy took advantage of Tiger's temporary drop from no. 1, Sergio continued his 2nd fiddle act to Tiger. So, in the context of his relationship with Woods, his comments come off as a bitter rival who has never won a major event. Tiger, on the other hand, has won 14 and has re-established himself in his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus' 18 major championship victories. It's a safe bet to say that Sergio won't be challenging any of Tiger's accomplishments anytime soon. So on with the racially charged "jokes", right?

The problem with these types of "jokes" is that they are, in fact, jokes from the perspective of the person telling them. I'm sure he thought it was a funny dig at a person he has no love for. And Sergio knew exactly what was going to happen once Tiger heard about it. He knows what fried chicken means to a black person when it is used in the context that he used it in. Sure, he said he was sorry and that it was just a silly joke. But it was a racially charged joke meant to demean and intimidate. At the very least, he was looking to hurt Tiger's feelings. What he ended up doing was hurting his public image.

What bothers me is that these high profile individuals who often find themsleves in the middle of a flap regarding something that they said always back track after they get called on it. Sergio said right after the dinner, he had a sick feeling and that he couldn't sleep. It was even said that he considered withdrawing from the European Tour event. Was it because he felt guilty about his racist remark that made him look more ignorant than he already did after complaining about Tiger's fan gallery making too much noise while he was playing his shot at TPC the previous week? Was it because he knew the comment would be on all the sports shows and in all the papers the next day and that his corporate sponsers would hear about it and possibly drop him (it is rumored that Taylor Made-adidas has already threatened to do so)? If he felt so bad about it, why didn't he apologize immediately. It's because he thought he was funny and he thought it would make Tiger look insignificant, even if for only the few seconds it took to make the comment.

What else concerns me is that there are no reports that anyone at the European Tour Players Awards Dinner reacted like the comment was inappropriate. Maybe everyone there thought he was just being a dumb ass who hates losing over and over and over again to Tiger Woods (exaggerating a little, there). But there is no accountability here, except when it comes to possibly losing money and/ or looking bad when you have to apologize for saying something stupid. I'm not calling Sergio Garcia a racist, even though he does not seem to be the type pf person that has black friends. If he did, he'd have known how that comment would've been perceived by Tiger or other Black or mixed people (for the record, Tiger doesn't consider himself to be Black, if you didn't know this already). One of my favorite journalists, Jemele Hill, mentioned in her article on espn.com that people of all ethnicities love fried chicken. I'm pretty sure Sergio isn't one of them.

Listen, it's time for the fried chicken jokes, the shuckin' and jivin' jokes and all the other "jokes" to stop. What's said in jest isn't always received as such. Tiger Woods took the high road after rebuking Sergio for his "hurtful" and out of place remarks by saying let's just move on and talk about golf. I know Tiger is not the squeaky clean young kid he was when he first hit the Tour like a wildfire, while his dad was still alive. We all make mistakes. It's just that this "fried chicken" remark wasn't a mistake, not when it has happened before. Sergio claims that he was unaware of the backlash Fuzzy Zoeller experienced when he made his fried chicken comments back in 1997, but I'm sure he knows about the joke. Maybe it's true that he didn't know how Fuzzy got reamed for it and that could be the resoning behind why he copied Fuzzy. But he had to know there was gonna be some backlash for him once he made his own particualr comment. Saying sorry doesn't cut it, Mr. Garcia. And the PGA and European Tours should let that be known.

UPDATE: Since this post was created, Euro Tour CEO George O'Grady made this statement in an effort to defend Sergio Garcia:

 "We (O'Grady and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem) spoke to Sergio and, after what was really a very full and frank discussion on the whole issue, decided to accept his really heartfelt apology and we were convinced that he was trying to be funny, that it was a lighthearted remark. We know the connotation in the United States. We accept all races on the European Tour, we take it very strongly. Most of Sergio's friends are colored athletes in the United States and he is absolutely abject in his apology and we accepted it ... All races play on the European Tour and that's how we want to keep it. He is abject in his apology and we are moving on."

Wow...I guess the Euro Tour CEO isn't aware that Black people NEVER like being called colored. They are "convinced" that Sergio was just trying to be funny. Right, and I'm sure this George O'Grady guy loves fried chicken.