Not Even Tiger Can Mestizofy Golf

Tiger Woods made a frantic run on the last round of this weekend's PGA tournament. This has become common place over the last ten years, as he has won 9 major tournaments including last weeks British Open.

What has not become more common in the last 10 years is more African-American golfers on the tour. While there is no one as popular, or has had a greater impact on the world of golf and beyond (just ask Nike, that sells out of every outfit Tiger wears on TV), pro golf is still a predominately White sport.

Over the years I have gone to the Western Open here in the Chicago area, and have always seen a good number of Blacks and Latinos (we are always the loudest cheerers) following Tiger, but the system and the availability of course time, expense, etc. all but make it impossible to make golf a thriving sport amongst the poor(er) folks of our land.

This has caused me to wonder that if the greatest golfer in the world, being Mestizo/mulatto, cannot bring about more diversity in his sport, what will it take to create a mestizo movement in any sphere of North American society? In baseball, poor Latinos from Latin American abound, because these players are being developed and trained on their turf and in turn, they are making great profits for their teams, which usually get them for a steal (once they get to Manny Ramirez or Pedro Martinez status this begins to change).

How about in the church? Is there opportunity for African-American and Latino and other leaders to lead? Are we serving on boards and making the short lists of major Christian organizations? With the rise of Latino leaders throughout our society in other venues like politics and media, will we see the same in Kingdom work?

It is not enough to see one 'Tiger' doing well, what we need is to see hundreds of young men and women who love Christ and are gifted ministers, speakers and leaders to get to use their God given gifts and abilities for the advancement of His purposes. If my vision for a Mestizo Future becomes a reality, that is exactly what we will see very soon!