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Why Trump’s comfortable honoring his ‘token Black guy’ Tiger Woods

Bruh May 7, 2019
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Yesterday Tiger Woods was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump, making him the fourth golfer in history to achieve the prestigious acknowledgment.

Tiger’s name is synonymous with golf. Still, it wasn’t until recently winning his first major in nearly 11 years at last month’s Masters Tournament that people remembered just how special he is.

At a young 43, Woods has won 15 majors. Only Jack Nicklaus has won the most majors at 18. Thus, making it more than feasible for Tiger to break the all-time record. It made that Masters win that more significant, especially seeing what he’s come back from.

The reason Trump said “Tiger was back on top” during the Rose Garden ceremony yesterday wasn’t just because of the injuries he’s had to endure. But because of the very public cheating, divorce, DUI’s and even having to check in to a sex addiction clinic.

Every sports writer and talking head on every platform wrote him off. No one saw this happening for him. Now, they admittedly all have their own foot in their mouths.

Tiger undoubtedly deserves the honor. It’s just a shame it also comes at Trump’s benefit.

Trump has historically spoken down to and gone out of his way to address Blacks like second class citizens. It so happens that Tiger is MAGA and Trump’s ‘token Black friend’ who will now be a pawn used to defend how Trump can’t be racist.

I’d like to believe that Trump really likes Tiger — he probably does — but it’s all too perfect. Here’s Tiger, a Black man and former disgraced champion who bounced back after decades to reclaim glory, receiving the nation’s highest civilian honor.

It doesn’t mean he cares about Black people nor does it mean he won’t leverage the optics with Tiger to pander to the Black vote.

He’s done it before and he’ll do it again.

Hell, just a couple of weeks ago when Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray was the first overall pick in the NFL draft Trump went out his way to congratulate the number two pick instead — some no-name white kid from Duke.

Trump also said, “both sides” —  both the counterprotesters and those members of the alt-right who did Nazi salutes —  were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville in 2017. Additionally, he used the death of Dwayne Wade’s cousin to highlight the gun violence in Chicago the year before.

This man even sent a tweet declaring her death as more evidence that African-Americans would vote for Trump, clearing playing her passing for political gain.

Look, shout-out to Tiger and his historical honor but it doesn’t move me in the slightest bit. If I may borrow the words of Mr. West, “Donald Trump does not care about Black people.” I’ll be damned if I let him honoring his favorite of ‘us’ deter me from that fact.

We can’t expect every great Black athlete to skip the White House but we can demand more from our President. Until then no one’s going for the troll or playing into his politics.

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