We've received dozen of letters, con and mostly pro, on Kenny Perry's skipping the US Open and the Open Championship. Today at Oakland Hills, on the eve of his second major of the year, Perry cordially replied to critics, not a bit defensive about the fact that the topic had yet to be put to rest.

You know what, it's just been a dream season for me. I had a goal to make that Ryder Cup team, and it all came true. It all fell into place. Then, all of a sudden, I solidified my spot to make the British, but I wasn't going to bail out on Milwaukee. I had eight top-10s there and a win, so now I went there; I finished sixth, so now I've got nine Top 10s and a win there. It's a great golf course I dearly love; it's been huge in my career, keeping me going. It means a lot to me, that little course, and the fans were terrific. They welcomed me with open arms, and they showed me a lot of support that week.

Perry said he won more unforgettable moment during the Milwaukee event. Asked if he'd watched the British, Perry said:

It was pretty funny. When I turned it on Pat Perez was in an interview. He had just shot 82. He said it was blowing sideways and sleet was hitting him. He said, "Kenny Perry's the smartes man in the world." I kind of chuckled then. But I still couldn't win the Claret Jug where I was at...."

--Bob Carney

It seems fitting, on this Martin Luther King Day, that we publish a few of the many letters we've received on the Kelly Tilghman affair.  To suggest that you're not in agreement on the matter is an understatement. To some of you it's just political correctness run amok. To others, a sober reminder of a vicious American past. These letters reflect that division. But before we get to the first, let me recommend a column by Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post. Michael hits it squarely on the head, as far as I'm concerned.

Many of you were sympathetic to those who applauded Tilghman's suspension and some of you to Pete McDaniel's column that demanded more. One was Robert Legg of Greensboro, Georgia:

Pete McDaniel asks us to let the word "lynch" linger in our minds and see the image it evokes. Having seen the Without Sanctuary exhibition I can tell you that it evokes far more than a poor soul hanging from a tree: The photographs of gleeful whites, men and women, looking on as though it was mere entertainment, are sickening. How blacks can view the same photographs without experiencing something close to uncontrollable rage is beyond me. And I am left with this question: is Kelly Tilghman simply ignorant or is she stupid? As McDaniel says, there is nothing remotely humorous about the word "lynch."

Many others were not. One, Earl Faulkner, Sr., contrasted the moving Golf World cover story on Bill Spiller, with what you saw as "political correctness" in the Tilghman affair:

On the one hand I finished reading Barkow's, "The Tragedy of Bill Spiller" with tears streaming down my face and on the other hand, frowning and grimacing as I struggled through McDaniel's, "Another Painful Lesson".

Al Barkow's cover story is so very appropriate, timely, and perfectly positioned for the progress America has made relative to race relations, while Mr. McDaniel seems bitterly absorbed in the ugliness of a past from which most of us have moved on.

Rather than drag society's progress backward a hundred years by agitating about lynchings, why can't Mr. McDaniel be encouraged to assume the attitude of Tiger Woods who chose to make little out of the comment by Kelly Tilghman.  Woods no doubt realized Ms. Tilghman has probably no intrinsic understanding of the "L" word; however, the same can not be said for Mr. McDaniel; that guy sounds as though it is still 1882.

And many of you were outraged that so much was made of Tilghman's comment.

MORE.....

I was searching for something to say about the Tilghman affair when I saw this post by reader Emily Brown of Sparta, MI, elsewhere on this blog. She responds to Pete McDaniel's piece in the new Golf World. Pete's piece, the accompanying piece by Bill Fields and Emily's letter are all worth a read. I excerpt here:

I cannot agree more with what he said. It seems that we forget our terrible past and tend to give a pass because "it is just a word". What is even worse than the incident is some of the blogs and things I have read in support of Kelly that say it wasn't a problem, nothing was wrong - why the fuss? Well they should read Pete's column. The very use of the word is a grave indication of at best a lack of racial sensitivity.

I am currently studying William Grant Still as I will be giving a recital this spring with the second half devoted to his work. He is considered to be a great American composer but because he was an African-American he did not receive a proper hearing. One of his works is "And they lynched him on a tree" for double chorus (one black, one white), narrator and orchestra. It is an amazing and disturbing work that tells of a lynching from the people closest to the incident - mother, townfolk,etc. A great recording of this is William Grant Still: Skyward My People Rose by Vocalessence Ensemble Singers. Golf Channel should be required to do a show featuring this or a similar work!

I emailed the Golf Channel and chastised them for their slow and inadequate response. I suggested that both Kelly and their management should receive racial sensitivity training. I just read a news note where they commented that their email was turning in favor of Kelly. I really feel that they just view this as a publicity problem and only gave the suspension because they had to. They are not truly remorseful. Their responses are inadequate and self-serving. They should do what I suggested plus plan a major series on the history of golf and racial discrimination - with the assistance of Pete.

Again, Pete has hit the nail on the head. Please tell Pete to keep his voice strong. The world needs the unvarnished truth!

Emily, thank you.  I happen to disagree that the Golf Channel sees this simply as a publicity problem or that Kelly does. I believe they take it very seriously.  But without arguing that, your suggestions at least take us beyond the "she should be fired because he was fired" level of debate and address the issue of changing behavior.

I'd recommend another exercise, one I happened on a long time ago in researching a history of Bessie Smith. Read through the Chicago Defender archives for stories on lynchings. They aren't hard to find, from the 1920s to the 1950s. They were, as Pete says, far more frequent and far more recent than most of like to believe.

---Bob Carney