In the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death, Golfweek reached out to a wide-ranging group of thoughtful individuals within the golf industry to further the dialogue about racial injustice in America. You’ll find pain in their voices but also courage and hope.
We hope this will serve as a reality check and a starting point for meaningful conversations and change within the golf industry.
Related words: Eamon Lynch | Harold Varner III | Tiger Woods
JuliaKate E. Culpepper and Julie Williams contributed reporting
Mariah Stackhouse, LPGA player
What’s at the forefront of my mind? The raw answer to that question is just frustration, a heavy heart and just a constant questioning of how many times does this have to happen before something actually changes? That’s the raw feeling.
But then when I sit in that for a little while and I take a step back and kind of pay attention to the national conversation that’s at play, it’s combined with a bit of, I would say encouragement, because the response is so much more widely felt this time around than I’ve ever seen, and I feel like voices are being heard, and that’s good.
I don’t experience (racism) daily, but I experience it enough. A small example of that could be when I was at a tournament once and I was going into the clubhouse to get to the player locker room and the security guy asked for my ID, and I show it, and he looks closely to see the word “Player” and then verbally exclaims “Player!” And he takes a look at me and says, “Huh,” like that’s a shocking fact.
Those experiences that I’ve had are very real, which continue to show there is more room for growth and diversity. That would just be a concrete example that yes, I do experience racism on a day-to-day, sometimes in the golf world, sometimes in the grocery store. It’s not always direct or violent. It can be subtle.
The affirmation that my parents wrote for me as a kid is huge. Now, as a grown woman, it’s mindboggling to contemplate the amount of foresight they had when they wanted me to memorize it. When I read it now, it was worded in a way that would prepare me for life experiences I would definitely have as a young black woman in America and on the golf course. While the shock of that encounter with the security guard is like woah, it didn’t sour my mood to the point where I can’t go forth and have a good round, have a good day etc., and I’ll never allow it to, because I have that affirmation to remind me of who I am, my value in this world.
An action that I think everybody could rather easily participate in is acknowledging and participating in the conversation that’s going on right now and thinking about the fact that, while the conversation is dealing directly with George Floyd, the deeper part of that is where does it come from; and why have black people had so many of these experiences; and what can I do on a small level to combat racism.
When you recognize how loud this conversation is in America right now, it’s not loud to the black community because we’ve always had this conversation with each other, and we’ve always spoken up. It’s loud because other people are speaking up with us, and that’s incredibly important.