[QUOTE=Drain Bead]
Did anyone hear the very odd remark by one of the commentators on Sunday about how Rocco Mediate looked like Tiger Woods’ pool guy? How strange that was, that someone would say that the 45-year-old white guy looked like the 30-year-old black guy’s pool boy. I guess it shows a bit of how far we’ve come, but it was still such a strange comment that I don’t know what to make of it.
[/QUOTE]
Holy cow…that commentator would be out of a job if he reversed that.
When my sister (at about the age of ten) had big Michael Jackson posters on her wall (around 1984 - for reference) my father said “this will do more for race relations in this country than anything before.”
Michael Jackson turned out to be a complete raving loon, but when you start seeing people from different races as individuals rather than stereotypes, that does break down barriers. Tiger is one of those people. So is Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, Denzel Washington. Tiger is probably a little late to the party in terms of breaking down barriers - plus since he himself chooses not to self identify as black…
Obama can thank all these people - plus people like Colin Powell and Condi Rice. Plus just a society that is so much more diverse now - where white folks are personally familiar with non-white folks in roles other than “the pool boy.”