Posted to Burmaoil@yahoogroups.com by Edith Mirante
The Nation (USA magazine) May 22 08
When Tiger Met Chevron
Dave Zirin
Woods is a trailblazer and already a legend for his ability to perform
when the spotlight is at its hottest. But he has also established a
reputation for reticence when confronted with the real world off the
greens. For all his cultural capital, Woods has refused to take stands
on issues that should hit close to home, such as restricted golf
courses, or even when the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman suggested young
PGA players “lynch him in a back alley” in a “joke” about how they
might overcome his dominance. Tiger has largely maintained the tight-
lipped silence of a Benedictine monk.
After the lynching comment, ESPN’s Scoop Jackson became so frustrated
with this disciplined quietude he wrote, “Because of who he is, Tiger
Woods has the power to make people listen. Not just hear his words–but
embrace what he has to say…. It’s a stand he needs to take because
people who change the world eventually have to take stands. Whether
strong or silent, good or evil, they take stands not to prove their
beliefs, but to rectify a situation or condition.”
His defenders have always said that behind the scenes Woods has been an
agent for change, and that he shouldn’t be criticized just because he
does his good deeds without media fanfare. They say he wields that
influence through his nonprofit Tiger Woods Foundation. Go to the
website, and a virtual Woods walks right onto your screen and welcomes
you to a place where “kids can achieve anything.” The site boasts:
“more than 10 million young people have benefited from the Tiger Woods
Foundation since its inception in 1996. What started out with limited
access throughout America, now reaches out to young people around the
world.”
Yet now the Foundation is “reaching around the world” in a way that has
human rights activists concerned about a business partnership that
smells like sulfur.
The Tiger Woods Foundation has entered into an extensive five-year
partnership with Chevron Corporation, with the oil and energy giant
becoming the title sponsor of the Tiger Woods Foundation World
Challenge Golf Tournament.
“Chevron has a track record and a commitment to bettering the
communities where they operate,” Woods said in a press release on April
3. And Chevron’s executive vice president chimed in, “Chevron, Tiger
and the Tiger Woods Foundation share similar values…as well as a deep
commitment to make a difference in local communities.”
They have certainly “made a difference in local communities,” but it’s
nothing they should be bragging about, and certainly nothing with which
Woods should want his name attached. Chevron is in full partnership
with the Burmese military regime on the Yadana gas pipeline project,
the single greatest source of revenue for the military, estimated at
nearly $1 billion in 2007, nearly half of all the country’s revenue.
These are the same people who are blocking international aid workers
from assisting the victims of Cyclone Nargis. The death toll has been
estimated at 78,000, but this number can explode as disease spreads and
help isn’t allowed through the military lines. Even the US State
Department has called the actions of the government “appalling.”
Ka Hsaw Wa, co-founder and executive director of EarthRights
International, wrote in an open letter to Woods, “I myself have spoken
to victims of forced labor, rape, and torture on Chevron’s pipeline–if
you heard what they said to me, you too would understand how their
tragic stories stand in stark contrast to Chevron’s rhetoric about
helping communities.” ERI’s request to meet with Woods or someone from
the foundation has been met with silence
But while the Burmese junta’s crimes are localized in Southeast Asia,
Chevron is global. Lawsuits have been issued against Chevron’s toxic
waste dumping in Alaska, Canada, Angola, California. Then there’s the
matter of 18 billion gallons of toxic waste the company has been
accused of dumping in the Amazon.
In a US District Court in San Francisco, the case of Bowoto v. Chevron,
Nigerian plaintiffs have accused Chevron of actually arming and
outfitting Nigerian oil security forces to shoot and kill protesters.
Judge Susan Illston has refused to dismiss the case because, as
Democracy Now! recently reported, “evidence show[s] direct links to
Chevron officials.”
When pressed for comment, Tiger Woods Foundation President Greg
McLaughlin issued this statement to The Nation: “The Foundation’s
vision is to help young people reach their full potential. All our
partners share in this vision, allowing us to make a positive impact in
millions of young lives.” That response, to very serious and very
direct charges, is the golf equivalent of a triple bogey.
President McLaughlin should think more seriously about what Chevron is
and what they do: they pollute, they destroy, they conspire with
dictators, and heaven help anyone who gets in their way. Now they want
to burnish their “brand” by partnering with Tiger Woods. Tiger’s late
father Earl, once said of his son, “He will transcend this game…and
bring to the world…a humanitarianism…which has never been known
before. The world will be a better place to live in…by virtue of his
existence…and his presence.”
The partnership with Chevron makes a mockery of Earl Woods’s hopes.
To use an analogy from a different sport, the ball is now in Tiger’s
court. Will he allow himself to be tamed by corporate interests, or
will he roar?
About Dave Zirin
Dave Zirin is the author of Welcome to the Terrordome: the Pain
Politics and Promise of Sports (Haymarket) and the forthcoming A
People’s History of Sports in the United States (The New Press). and
his writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Sports
Illustrated.com, New York Newsday and The Progressive. He is the host
of XM Radio’s Edge of Sports Radio.
