Should "Lynch" Remark Cost Anchor Her Job?

Golf Channel's Tilghman Suspended For Crack Regarding Tiger Woods; Some Want Her Canned

(CBS/AP)  The Golf Channel is doing its broadcast of the Sony Open from Honolulu without anchor Kelly Tilghman, who was suspended 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."

Tilghman was laughing during the exchange with analyst Nick Faldo at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, and Woods' agent at IMG said he didn't think there was any ill intent.

But the comments became prevalent on news shows Wednesday, and at least one civil rights activist, the Rev. Al Sharpton, joined the fray by demanding she be fired immediately.

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

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Before her suspension was announced, Sharpton spoke On CNN's "Prime News" and pushed for her firing, saying 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."

Sharpton told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith Friday this is "a big deal. Either you're going to have standards or you're not. I think if you give Tilghman a pass, then who then stops the next person from saying something insensitive and saying, 'Tilghman is an example of (why) I can say this.'

"I think the problem with Tilghman's statement, regardless of the reaction of Tiger Woods -- if it was very offensive, if I had said about a Jewish person, 'Let's throw him in a gas chamber,' I don't think there would have been a question I'd have been off the radio, and I have a radio show. So I think you've gotta either have standards or you don't have standards."

But civil rights lawyer and former radio host Ron Kuby told Smith, "It's incredibly difficult to do live broadcasting every single day and not say something stupid or offensive. And when people get into trouble, it's usually this kind of place -- race, gender, making some sort of joking reference to Hitler or the Holocaust, lynching or nooses -- this is how hosts always get themselves into trouble. But it's very, very common. If you fired everybody that made a stupid, offensive comment, you'd fire everybody. And it was well intended in the sense that she was trying to pay Tiger Woods a compliment: 'He's so good, the only way you're going to be able to beat him is to kill him.'

"Nobody's saying the comment was OK. It was ugly. It was hurtful. It was offensive. And it was totally uneducated. The issue is, what should the consequence be? For her to lose her job -- hey, look: This is the Golf Channel. It's not as though there's a zillion opportunities for this woman, given the fact she didn't intend harm and given how easy it is to say stupid things, let's have a discussion, but let's not hound her off the air."

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.

"While we believe that Kelly's choice of words was inadvertent and that she did not intend them in an offensive manner, the words were hurtful and grossly inappropriate," Golf Channel said in its statement. "Consequently, we have decided to suspend Kelly for two weeks, effective immediately."

Woods and Tilghman have known each other 12 years. She was picked to host a club demonstration with Woods in south Florida when he talked about new products from Nike Golf.

Tilghman was helped when Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent at IMG, said it was a non-issue and considered the matter "case closed."

"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."

Tilghman had said in a previous statement she apologized directly to Woods, and the immediate support from Woods' camp was critical.

After Woods won the 1997 Masters at age 21 to become its youngest champion, Fuzzy Zoeller referred to him as "that little boy," and suggested that Woods not serve fried chicken or collard greens, "or whatever the hell they serve," at the Champions Dinner.

Woods, who had a different management team in his first full season, did not respond for three days to Zoeller's apology, and it took Zoeller years to recover from the fallout.

Tilghman's comment made the rounds Wednesday on TV shows such as CNN's Headline News, and it was prominently discussed on blogs and message boards on the Internet. It also was a topic on the practice range at the Sony Open.

"I'm sure Kelly wishes she never said that," Jim Furyk said. "I haven't spoken with Tiger, but I've been told that they've had their talk and they've discussed it. Anything I say is kind of just like pouring salt in the wound at this point. Obviously, she would love to not have said that and for it not to be news. I'm glad that her and Tiger spoke."

Fred Funk only heard about the comment Wednesday morning.

"There was no ill intent at all," he said. "I think it was just a slip, and they said that Tiger has already forgiven her. I think when you're in the TV tower for that many hours, you're going to wish you didn't say some things probably, and that was one thing that slipped out. I think you've got to give them a little grace.

"Her integrity, how Kelly is respected out here, is pretty good. I think Tiger really likes Kelly, so that helped squash it. Because Tiger could have run off with that if he took it the wrong way. But he didn't, so that was good."

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[harvick29ga]

Oh my goodness...

The reaction by Al Sharpton makes me wanna break something... the fact that anyone listens to that man... is so unbelievable. Or does anyone really listen to him and his presence is mere entertainment?

I don''t trust anyone who talks too much...

The fact that the Golf Channel put Kelly on "break" for two weeks ticks me off a little bit - but as the comment goes... sounds like a vacation and is probably good for her.

But if they ever fired her over this incident, I might just quit watching and even PLAYING golf.

It would make me THAT mad!

I agree with everything that has been said thusfar and I have to re-emphasize that Al Sharpton''s actions speak louder than words - he IS a racist - because he is so quick to be unforgiving and is so pre-disposed to react to a person whose skin color is different than his own.

He doesn''t realize that... even though racism has largely been considered to be a white vs. black thing - it can also be black vs. white.

Tiger forgave Kelly... isn''t that just FREAKING GOOD ENOUGH?!

Geesh!

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[donb60]

We as a society should not tolerate racism...period.

Yet, Al Sharpton''s most recent attack will do nothing to reduce it. In fact, it may have the opposite effect.

Rather than jumping on an innocent (albeit inappropirate) statement by someone who is clearly not racist, wouldn''t it be better to accept an honest apology with the same dignity that Tiger Woods displayed in response to the use a poorly chosen phrase?

He, Barack Obama, Colin Powell, and several others have had a much greater impact on the elimination of racism than Al Sharpton has ever had, by downplaying our differences, and emphasizing the fact that we are all just people with similar goals and ideals.... regardless of our race.

Jumping on every statement for its political correctness only focuses on our differences, and risks to counter the positive influence of those who are so valiantly trying to bring us all together.

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[soulracer]

Boo-Hoo..I am so tired of hearing about this fecal matter. Her comment was not offensive..It was not meant to be offensive. "Lynching" is not a racial word. It may be forever associate with racism, slavery, etc. but the word is not inherently racial.
When are we going to stop listening to people who are just looking to cause problems. These are the people who continue to perpetuate racism. Al Sharpton is the biggest racist in America.
Southern people have faced the same type of stereotyping all of our lives..Does anyone rush to Boo Weekely''s defense when people refer to him as a Redneck? Someone recently made a joke about him having to sign his scorecard and count his bullets. Where were his "Advocates". The only reason that is okay is because he is not a minority. If you are a broadcaster and happen to be black you can refer to me as a southern honky all you want and I will not take offense or want you fired...even if you did mean it to be offensive. Mostly because I can turn my TV off..I don''t have to listen..plus, I am proud to be white..It is not an insult to be called white..
If it gets too hard for me to be a part of this society I can always move..same goes for all of the "downtrodden" minorities. Bet you''d find that you have it made in this country.
Let''s all stop crying and grow up.

[okiebob3]

krenz4-
Forget about all the other white people in America for just a minute and deal with me. Why blame me for what a small percentage of white people did to black people in past generations? I don''t dislike people because of the color of their skin. If I dislike someone, it is because they do something offensive to me or my family. Skin color does not matter. And I can guarantee that I dislike a disproportionately large percentage of whites as compared to blacks. I also think a vast majority of white people think the same way I do because we have been educated to the feelings of black people who have been victimized by white people. The vast majority of people are kind-hearted and sensitive toward others. They will respond (and are responding) kindly to black people, as a whole, because they have been informed that blacks have been mistreated by whites in the past.
Yet, we are rewarded for kind behavior by thoughtlessly being lumped into a racist stereotype because of something caused by others in past generations. Just, I believe, as Kelly Tilghman is being stereotyped as a racist before Sharpton or any of her accusers has attempted to really determine if she actually is a racist. If black people want to be treated fairly, they have to treat others fairly, too.

[rchristen2]

testing, one, two, three, four

[krenz4]

vbnvbnvbn,
talk about mincing words! She knew exactly what the words meant. She more than likely doesnt even know who william lynch is. Pleeeeze. This is exactly what I was trying to say. Theres no way she was talking about the reveloution and the vigilance committee.
This is what happens every time. they didnt mean it, it was a joke, they were playing, blah blah!

[krenz4]

Rowdy,
I want to tell you that have known many white people who have the same attitude as you and your family, and god bless em.. but you live in Texas and i know,if you are honest with yourself that you know many individuals who hold blacks and other minorities with pure contempt and hatred. Multiply that attitude by a several million and you have america.

[krenz4]

Rowdy, and that is the problem. You are telling Sharpton to let this one slide, ignore it, take it as a joke, she didnt mean it. All kinds of people in the public eye are getting away with doing and saying hateful things and when they get called out, they say it was a joke, a prank, a mistake, they didnt mean it. Well minorities in America know all about that old game and whites hate Sharpton because he is standing up in protest of what offends him..So? You have more americans that would riot in protest over the treatment of animals than you would have over the treament of minorities. You say we are being overly sensitive.. You d a m n right we are. There are still exposed raw nerves in this country. Its not like hundreds of years have passed since Jim Crow you know. There are people out here(white and black) who think that blacks should just allow ourselves to be called ****** because, its just a word after all. There are all kinds of excuses out there to explain away racism. Blacks have heard them all, the excuses are not working to placate us anymore,so those who think it does, they need to get over it.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by krenz4 at 06:26 PM : Jan 11, 2008

Al Sharpton draws those lines every day! Just like this one.

The woman made the remark meaning that if the other young golfers were to have a chance, then they''d have to do something to keep Tiger Woods off the golf course. There was not a racial thought in her mind when she said it.

Yes, their humor was not in good taste to some, but neither one of them meant their remarks as Al Sharpton claims is racial. Al Sharpton goes looking for racial slurs, he draws the line!

There''s an old adage...if you want trouble, go look for it and you will certainly find it.

[krenz4]

I''m sick of being told to ''get over it'' too. Why do people think they can get away with saying racist and hateful things about blacks? because they can and they do!!! This would be a nonstory only to someone who cannot relate. Look around you things like this happen only in a society that has deep rooted racist thnking. Things may look rosy from the white side of the fence, but this is far from an uncommon, isolated incident, so I say to my white brothers, get over thinking its over.

[krenz4]

What ''racial lines'' have blacks drawn? historically, we were treated in a certain way, whether or not we aspired to better ourselves or get along. The things that happen in american society show that there are institutionalized processes to ''remind'' me I am black. It is a dream to think that people are going to ''just forget the past and get along'' neither whites or blacks have done so, but it is blacks that are being asked to swallow the insults hurled at us. No, this newscaster would never lynch someone in the flesh, but she ''jokingly'' made a reference to a very hateful thing for blacks. She did not say'' they should Lynch arnold palmer, she used it in reference to a ''black'' man. Trouble is, white folks want blacks to be offended by only those things THEY feel are offensive. Everything else should be okay with us. They should realize that the days of minorities just taking it as a joke are over,I remember the sixties, when blacks, fighting for their equality went this route and it did not help them to be accepted. It just made them the joke. I would be more than happy to erase all the color lines, but white folks just arent having it. and thats how it is. If the rest of the country felt like your family, things like this would not happen, but they arent. We both know it too.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by krenz4 at 04:48 PM : Jan 11, 2008

I do know one thing. It''s going to take BOTH sides to get over this!

My family never held slaves, hanged anybody, persecuted anybody, nor treated others with anything but respect! We never called anyone *****, and have welcomed anybody into our home that asked entry into it. Nor considered anyone else on this earth better than we were. We were dirt poor farmers, that''s all we knew how to be.

Now some of my ancesters were hunted down and persecuted as witches. They were burned at the stake. Some further back were persecuted for their religion. Some on the native American side were raped and massacred and had their lands stolen.

Now why would I hold YOU responsible for all that? You weren''t there! Your parents weren''t there! It was NOT your fault!

YOU have the same opportunities I do. Your children had the same opportunities as mine!

If we keep allowing people to draw a racial line, then there will be one. BOTH sides!