Kevin P. Chavous: College Readiness Is More Than Academics
Elin Nordegren, the estranged wife of golfing star Tiger Woods, has decided to speak out about her ordeal. In an interview with People magazine, Nordegren describes her life as "hell," after she found out about her husband's numerous affairs. The scandal shocked the nation, leading to months of speculation about the nature of their relationship.
Nordegren didn't divulge the details of her divorce settlement, but there are reports that she received more than $100 million after the split. She also says that she had no idea Tiger was having so many affairs with various women during the five years they were married.
Nordegren denies attacking Woods with a golf club on the night of his car crash. She is sticking to the story that she was using the golf club to get him out of the car, in spite of the fact that there appears to be substantial evidence to the contrary. For example, some have wondered how a tiny woman would bash out the back windshield of a truck when the man she is trying to pull out of the vehicle is in the front seat. Also, the fact that Tiger and his wife evaded local police interviews, with Tiger refusing to show his face for several weeks, adds further fuel to the fire of speculation.
My study of the experience of black athletes in America makes it impossible for me to not draw parallels to the O.J. Simpson incident 14 years ago. Like Simpson, Tiger was once the golden boy of corporate America. He could do no wrong and had the good, honest, trustworthy image that is incredibly rare among black male athletes. After the incident, Woods has come to be defined as an unethical demon and bad human being who deserves whatever he gets. Welcome to the club, Tiger. You are now considered to be one of the angry and undisciplined black male athletes of America. That's what happens when you are accused of hurting a pure, sweet, innocent damsel in distress.
Nordegren, like the late Nicole Brown Simpson, is America's blond-haired angel. No one wonders if she might have attacked Tiger with that golf club, but to me, that would make her a domestic abuser. While we might laugh about the possibility that she could have been trying to seriously hurt her husband, there is almost nothing she could have done that would justify Tiger chasing her in to the front yard with a golf club. If the incident had been reported the other way around, the focus would not be on Nordegren's cheating but Tiger's violence.
Another interesting aspect of Nordegren's "Tour of Innocence" is that we are somehow convinced that she deserves $100 million because she was hurt in a relationship. Sure, all's fair in love and divorce, but many of us would be more than happy to get nine figures of compensation every time we are disappointed by someone we love. Don't get me wrong, Nordegren's experience was certainly tragic, but she gets to walk away with $100 million for her emotional distress, and all of that money was earned by someone else. I know a lot of people who'd love to deal with a bad husband for a $100 million.
At the end of the day, this is just another broken relationship. It's not some kind of riveting dramatic tale that makes Elin Nordegren a hero for abused women everywhere. This situation has caused us to trade one facade for another: First, we spend 13 years believing that Tiger Woods was far more pristine and perfect than he truly was. Now, we're starting to believe that the former nanny who spent five years in Tiger's bed was completely innocent in the breakdown of her marriage, deserves $100 million for her heartache and also had no idea that her husband had a propensity for sexual deviance. Perhaps it's time we let go of all the illusions.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here. 
Comments: (29)
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By: Baltasar D. Cruz on 8/31/2010 3:16AM
This is a pretty disgusting and irresponsible article which contains nothing but libelous innuendo that Elin Nordegren might have done something wrong. The author suggests that she is somehow at fault for not knowing that her husband was a cereal philanderer and insinuates that she should have known "that her husband had a propensity for sexual deviance". (How exactly should Elin have known that Tiger had sex with women everywhere he went? Is there a sexual technique which reveals this?) He speculates about the amount of her divorce settlement and suggests that she got too much money. He speculates that she hit Tiger after finding out Tiger was cheating on her and that she might, therefore, be a domestic abuser. Does he seriously believe Elin was a habitual domestic abuser or that her stronger, bigger, professional athlete husband was ever in any danger from her (or that clobbering him would not have been understandable under the circumstances)? This article is especially disgusting in that it manifests a troubling resentment against white women and even trivializes the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson! The author actually seems to suggest that sympathy for Nicole Brown Simpson -- a battered spouse who eventualy had her throat slashed by her estranged husband -- was somehow misplaced! Does he think he is doing Tiger Woods a favor by comparing him to O.J. Simpson? And if Tiger Woods didn't have a prenuptual agreement, whose fault is that anyway? If the author doesn't like the concept of community property or the family laws applicable to divorce settlements, that is no reason to harbor or inflame resentment against Elin Nordegren. Who says divorce settlements have anything to do with what someone "deserves" anyway? That is not how divorce settlements work. In a community property state half of your spouse's earnings during your marriage belong to you, whether you deserve it or not. This is a spiteful, ignorant, libelous, poorly reasoned article which reflects very poorly on the author.
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By: Barbara on 9/01/2010 6:49PM
People are pretending this girl is a victim. She is no victim at all. She got what she went after of, and that was the money. She and Tiger both were committing the same acts. O.J did not kill Nicole, another trashy woman that went after money. Nicole was a drug attic killed for a drug debt. These trailer park WW grow up with nothing, running after money.
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By: mswll4 on 9/01/2010 12:37PM
Elin, she should not marry a COLORED ATHLETE what so ever. Now she see, how these people are,[ MAGIC, JORDAN AND WOODS O.J. ETC ]. Move up into your new life.
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By: KeepinItReal on 9/04/2010 10:57AM
Pamela....tsk...tsk...tsk....you ppl are so predictable. You cannot accept reality so you try to flip the script. Nobody's buying your B.S. You wish reality/HISTORY was merely an accusation. Unfortunately, white amerikkka was built on lies on your stack of cards are crumbling. Deal with it!....lol
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By: Pamela on 9/01/2010 10:11PM
Tsk tsk? Flipping the script? What are you talking about?? You go on with your angry, miserable life, sweetie. It's healthy! Really! LMAO at "keepinitreal"
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By: Pamela on 9/01/2010 10:22PM
...and what exactly do I need to deal with, anyway? Do you think I'm hurting, emotionally or even financially because your disorganized rantings or the fact that Obama is in the White House?? Fortunately, I make over 60K but under 200, so I'm flying under his radar quite nicely, thank you. Fortunately, your lack of education and class speaks for itself, and I enjoy getting you worked up.
You, and the majority of others on here, are bigots. Yes, bigots. Here's the definition: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance
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By: KeepinItReal on 9/16/2010 6:33PM
Lol...Your true colors are showing. All black ppl aren't uneducated and broke. In fact, you know black ppl with college degrees actually EARNED their degrees whereas white ppl with college degrees are "suspect". I have both my graduate and undergraduate degrees from major universities that are predominately white. So, I've seen the ignorance of white ppl up close and personal. The reality is...this country is in the toilet b/c of incompetent white ppl hired and promoted to positions where they lack the qualifications to do their jobs and the intelligence to figure it out. You see, you cannot feign intelligence and competence. Medical malpractice is up b/c dumb white ppl who cheated in medical school can't perform a basic surgical procedure. Fortune 500 companies are losing money b/c dumb a## white ppl w/ "Harvard MBA's" bought w/ slave money can't decipher the capital asset pricing models. Lazy white teachers in urban areas can't "relate" to black kids so they discard them as "troubled" and label them as educationally challenged. See...the world knows how dumb white ppl are. Food for thought....How is it that this country can accumulate so much wealth from slave/free wages for 400+ years and lose all that financial security at the hands of a few decades of incompetent white presidents and their administrations? That's a special kind of stupid. That's like a Fortune 500 company w/ 10,000 employees bringing in billions of dollars annually, NOT paying salary to any of their employees and STILL going broke. You're a fraud and the world knows it. Go on w/ your psychobabble. You are quite entertaining though.
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By: Pamela on 9/05/2010 9:35AM
Ahh, more hatred and bigotry from an angry black man. Why am I not surprised? What a healthy outlook on life and country, Angry Black Man.
Poor angry black man - spent all that time spewing opinion that means nothing more than........you're an angry black man.
Unfortunately, your opinions mean nothing, and no amount of education will ever change the fact that you're an unhealthy, angry black man. You're a dime a dozen, and your voice continues to fall on deaf ears.
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By: rob on 12/27/2010 12:44AM
good article, finally someone who will look at both sides. everyone is so quick to assume elin is innocent of all things, but as dr watkins says in this article many times, yes, she had a tragic divorce, but what exactly constitutes a 100 million dollar payday? i enjoyed this article and i cant wait for the day tiger shuts up all his critics for a short time at least when he starts to win again! go tiger!!
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