Hank Haney was suspend from his radio show over this exchange.
Johnson: “This week is the 74th U.S. Women’s Open, Hank.â€
Haney: “Oh it is? I’m gonna predict a Korean.â€
Johnson, laughing: “OK, that’s a pretty safe bet.â€
Haney: “I couldn’t name you six players on the LPGA Tour. Maybe I could. Well … I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right.â€
Johnson: “We’ve got six Lees.â€
Haney: “Honestly, Michelle Wie is hurt. I don’t know that many. Where are they playing, by the way?â€
For your information 7 of the top 15 women golfers in the world are Korean.
Haney is just making light of the fact that the women’s tour is dominated by Koreans. Nothing more. Anyone who has followed golf knows what a women’s leaderboard looks like… Lee, Kim, Park. One of the 6 Lees is American (of Oriental descent).
This stuff has gone too far. If I were a public figure I’d never open my mouth. It wasn’t racist or sexist. SiriusXM should be embarrassed by their decision. They had Howard Stern for goodness sake.
When he said “Korean” did he mean a citizen of Korea or of Korean descent? Because if he meant a citizen of Korea, it isn’t racist any more than saying “I don’t think an American will win Iroman anytime soon.”
If he meant to include those of Korean descent, is it racist to point out the fact that the top female golfers are of Korean descent? It does not identify a stereotypical trait associated with a race of people. It states a fact because on current stats.
Is this racist -
“Hey Bob, who’s the best soccer player in the world?”
“I dunno, but, I bet he is Portuguese.”
What would absolutely be racist is -
“Hey Bob, who’s going to win the watermelon eating contest?”
“I dunno, but, I bet he is black.”
(NOTE: This example is from an EEOC training video). In that case the speaker is perpetuating a stereotypical trait associated with a race of people. THAT is what a racist comment looks like.
When he said “Korean” did he mean a citizen of Korea or of Korean descent? Because if he meant a citizen of Korea, it isn’t racist any more than saying “I don’t think an American will win Iroman anytime soon.”
If he meant to include those of Korean descent, is it racist to point out the fact that the top female golfers are of Korean descent? It does not identify a stereotypical trait associated with a race of people. It states a fact because on current stats.
Is this racist -
“Hey Bob, who’s the best soccer player in the world?”
“I dunno, but, I bet he is Portuguese.”
What would absolutely be racist is -
“Hey Bob, who’s going to win the watermelon eating contest?”
“I dunno, but, I bet he is black.”
(NOTE: This example is from an EEOC training video). In that case the speaker is perpetuating a stereotypical trait associated with a race of people. THAT is what a racist comment looks like.
This isn’t a racist thing as much as a America - centric thing. The sport is no longer dominated by Americans. And so Americans lose interest.
The same thing happened in heavyweight boxing (and boxing in general). When the Russians, Ukrainians and others started to dominate boxing dropped off the big national interest.
If it is racist then society at large is guilty. Almost nobody interested in women’s golf in North America. Because no interest in best players.
Ill-advised in today’s bat-shit crazy world? Sure, but that’s a sign of the times.
Racist? No.
Sexist? I can’t even get close.
My initial reactions was that when he said this, “I couldn’t name you six players on the LPGA Tour. Maybe I could. Well … I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right” that he was probably over the line.
But 8 of the top 100 women have the last name of Lee. That sounds really bad in a sound bite, but he knows more about women’s golf than he pretended to and had to have known there were several Lee’s in the top 100.
It is not ill-advised in the today’s bat shit crazy world. It is stupid as hell when you are a golf commentator to disparage women’s golf. You and I can because that isn’t where we make our money.
And it is also stupid as hell in the golf world because they have a long and well established history of actual and overt racism and sexism. So anything that comes close will get flagged. And this is kind of close, especially in a sound bite.
This isn’t a racist thing as much as a America - centric thing. The sport is no longer dominated by Americans. And so Americans lose interest.
Thank goodness we’ve got the women’s soccer World Cup coming up.
Ill-advised in today’s bat-shit crazy world? Sure, but that’s a sign of the times.
Racist? No.
Sexist? I can’t even get close.
My initial reactions was that when he said this, “I couldn’t name you six players on the LPGA Tour. Maybe I could. Well … I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right” that he was probably over the line.
But 8 of the top 100 women have the last name of Lee. That sounds really bad in a sound bite, but he knows more about women’s golf than he pretended to and had to have known there were several Lee’s in the top 100.
It is not ill-advised in the today’s bat shit crazy world. It is stupid as hell when you are a golf commentator to disparage women’s golf. You and I can because that isn’t where we make our money.
And it is also stupid as hell in the golf world because they have a long and well established history of actual and overt racism and sexism. So anything that comes close will get flagged. And this is kind of close, especially in a sound bite.
Ill-advised in today’s bat-shit crazy world? Sure, but that’s a sign of the times.
Racist? No.
Sexist? I can’t even get close.
My initial reactions was that when he said this, “I couldn’t name you six players on the LPGA Tour. Maybe I could. Well … I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right” that he was probably over the line.
But 8 of the top 100 women have the last name of Lee. That sounds really bad in a sound bite, but he knows more about women’s golf than he pretended to and had to have known there were several Lee’s in the top 100.
It is not ill-advised in the today’s bat shit crazy world. It is stupid as hell when you are a golf commentator to disparage women’s golf. You and I can because that isn’t where we make our money.
And it is also stupid as hell in the golf world because they have a long and well established history of actual and overt racism and sexism. So anything that comes close will get flagged. And this is kind of close, especially in a sound bite.
You make fair points.
I admit, when I first read your post I was thinking, ‘of course the Lee comment is racist. Not every Korean is named Lee.’ Then I looked through the list, and damn there are a lot of Lee’s.
His problem is not many people are going to look through the list.