The Noose That Broke the Camel's Back

In what may rank as the dumbest and most irresponsible move of a young 2008, Golfweek Magazine came out firing on all cylinders of stupid by releasing its latest magazine with a lone noose on the cover, blowing in the wind.

In a time when America just can't seem to put a lid on its unrelenting racial issues, Golfweek thought they had the solution, breathing new life into the widely publicized noose cases that died out over the holidays.

The magazine's cover was in reference to the Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman's comment that young golfer's should "lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley," as a way to stop his dominance. Tilghman was suspended by two weeks and has issued two apologies to Tiger Woods, who brushed it off as a "non-issue."

"Was it an arresting image? Yes, it was," Golfweek editor Dave Seanor told USA Today. "We chose it because it was an image we thought would draw attention to an issue we thought deserved some intelligent dialogue."

Intelligent dialogue is one thing, but when you knowingly feature such a polarizing symbol on the cover of your magazine, just to sell copies, that's irresponsible. The Jena six controversy sparked a domino effect revealing a litany of idiots 'rediscovering' the noose as across America, hanging them everywhere from offices to teacher's lounges.

Sadly, there have been so many noose incidents, that DiversityInc.com has been able to populate a national "noosewatch."

Despite the fact that the magazine's parent company has made a swift move to replace the editor of the magazine, the bigger issue is that the editors of a national publication thought it would a good idea to even put nooses on the cover in the first place.

"We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country," Turnstile Publishing Co. president William P. Kupper Jr. said. "We were trying to convey the controversial issues with a strong and provocative graphic image. It is now obvious that the overall reaction to our cover deeply offended many people. For that, we are deeply apologetic," according to to the Associated Press.

Hmm, that's apology number? Black America seems to be losing count of people making these public faux-pas' and then recanting only after realizing that they said or did something inappropriate.

It's a forgone conclusion that a serious dialogue on race needs to take place in golf as well as America, but a noose on a golf magazine probably isn't the best starting point.