Bumpus on Tiger Woods' "apology"

"...the whole Tiger Woods “infidelity” story, is, as usual, a mass expression of personal inadequacy..."

Dear friends,

Panic fear is an old term used by certain psychologists to describe sudden frantic behavior by an individual who, for whatever reason(s), has ceased to feel emotional ties with any particular group, of whatever size, to which s/he has been connected, and is only concerned about his or her own well-being. This happens with soldiers who desert their units during war, parents who abandon their families, or people who stampede out of a movie theater or an amusement park, due to a perceived danger.

Tiger Woods experienced such a moment, a few months back, when he ran out of his house and jumped into his car, leaving begind his wife and children, along with his mother and mother-in-law.

Initially, that moment of panic led to him crashing his “hog”. However, the insatiable greed of the government- and corporate-controlled media turned the unfortunate, private incident into a “story”.

Yet, this whole mess regarding Tiger Woods’ “sex-capades” , at least to me, is a laugh a minute. After all, how is his behavior different than most men around the world who can afford to be that way? Besides, the same people pointing fingers are doing the same thing as Woods has been doing, no matter how many married women, naively, believe that their husbands are somehow different.

And what about Woods’ choice of women? In fact, perhaps, even more importantly, what about his father’s choice of women? Really.

Also, did Tiger think of doing all of this on his own, or does his behavior reflect the typical kind of cultural value judgments of someone who is part of a sexist, racist, possession-oriented, market-driven society where all economic/social relations are based upon power and sexual greed?

Moreover, American citizens swear that they have their own ideas, when, in reality, most folks are simply parroting what has been super-imposed on their minds by the various cultural institutions of education, religion, and information.

Worse yet, it is essential to the rulers of any civilization to make sure that citizens’ ideas are fairly homogenous. This, of course, helps keep down protest (and, in the US, a Homeland Security Act and The Patriot Act serve to guarantee the legitimacy of those wielding power just mentioned).

Ultimately, all of this adds up to the group (or herd) mind versus the mind of the individual. On the link below is an interesting piece by Sandy Banks of the Los Angeles Times that, at least to me, reveals how the whole Tiger Woods “infidelity” story, is, as usual, a mass expression of personal inadequacy, as folks try to come to grips with the realization that they understand so little about that to which they claim, as well as, why they must constantly attempt to assuage their consciences by finding humor in their own here-to-mentioned inadequacies.

Finally, I distinctly remember hearing, back in 2009, that soon after the inauguration of Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, for the first time, identified himself as “African American”. To be sure, such a claim was troublesome to many of the people who call themselves “white”. Even worse, the son of an African American, he is being said to only be ¼ African American. Huh? Additionally, his mother, a Southeast Asian woman, from whom he has inherited half of his bloodline, apparently, from what I’ve witnessed over the years, has no great love for African Americans, as Tiger’s father Earl obviously didn’t either. Still, Tiger’s alleged disclaiming of the idiotic moniker “Caublanasian”, and, therefore, his partial “whiteness”, was too much for the pathetic females who claim to have bedded with him, and many of his fans, as well as his corporate sponsors. Nonetheless, no matter what he calls himself, one thing is for sure: Tiger Woods now knows what it’s like to be a Black man. Eh?

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks20-2010feb20,0,5293316.column