Jim Brown: The 60's called, said they're over.

[Rebel Yell]

Brown and Bill Russell, who sat for a joint interview with Bryant Gumbel.

Brown on whether he is surprised or disappointed in the lack of activism among today’s top athletes:

“There are one or two individuals in this country that are black that have been put in front of us as an example. But they're basically under a system that says, ‘Hey, they're not gonna do a certain thing.’ Yes, that disappoints me because I know they both know better.”

Gumbel: “Tiger and Michael?”

Brown: “ Yeah, I know they both know better, OK. And I know they both can do better without hurting themselves.”

Brown: “You know what’s so interesting about Tiger to me? If it was just a matter of me looking at an individual that's a monster competitor, this cat is a mamajama; he is a killer. He'll run over you, he'll kick your ass. But as an individual for social change, or any of that kind of ----? Terrible. Terrible. Because he can get away with teaching kids to play golf, and that's his contribution. And in the real world, man, I can't teach no kids to play golf and that's my contribution, if I got that kind of power.”

Russell: “We’re losing a whole generation of kids. And, I for one, would not give up on them. And Jim will not give up on them because we know that when we were kids, there were certain influences that made our lives livable.”

Gumbel: “Why did you choose to get so intimately involved with helping young black men who were engaged in gang warfare?”

Brown: “Because simply, it’s the most devastating culture to come along that affects black people in a long time. How can we act like we don’t see young black men killing each other? Rome is burning and so there can be no education, there can be no economic development, there can be no family structure. There can be nothing as long as we allow this particular culture to exist.”
http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/wa..._teribble.html

Tiger has issued a response, although more tepid than I would have liked.

"I think I do a pretty good job as it is what we're trying to do with the (Tiger Woods) Foundation," Woods said. "We have this event here (The AT&T National), the Chevron World Challenge, our (Tiger) Jam in Vegas and our Block Party in Orange County. What we're trying to do (is) not just here in United States, but what my mom's doing in Thailand.

"I want to not just do it, but do it right. And that takes time. And you have to understand, you just don't jump into something. You want to do it right. You want to have a plan, and I think what we've done so far has been very good, very efficient and it's helped a lot of kids, and taught a lot of kids how to get back and learn, learn how to lead, learn how to give back. Learn how to teach others, have confidence in themselves to be able to do all these different things, and have these attributes going forward. That takes time. And I think we've done it right."

I think I'll start a movement for the NACAR drivers to do more work to lift up children in the trailer park. Hear how rediculous that souds?

[NJCardFan]

So, in other words, it's your obligation as a black man to be a black activist? I understand where Brown is coming from when it comes to helping black kids but Tiger does things his way and Brown does things his way. It's none of Brown's business how Tiger conducts himself. Maybe Brown and Russell should turn their attention to the NBA and NFL where black athletes are being such role models like Plaxico Burris and Michael Vick. Of course nothing is said about them. They only go after the 1/3 black guy who dares to play, and excel at, a white man's sport.

[ralph wiggum]

I have the sneaking suspicion that the biggest reason that Michael & Tiger aren't more political is that they are Republicans. They're afraid of the fallout from the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton activist types who will take them to the woodshed.

Remember that Jackie Robinson was a Republican and campaigned for Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater in the 1960's.

[Molon Labe]

I have the sneaking suspicion that the biggest reason that Michael & Tiger aren't more political is that they are Republicans. They're afraid of the fallout from the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton activist types who will take them to the woodshed.

Remember that Jackie Robinson was a Republican and campaigned for Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater in the 1960's.

Yet Tiger and Michael have done far more for civil rights movement by their "actions" then Jesse or Al or dare I say, any black political activist....including Jim Brown.

[lacarnut]

So, in other words, it's your obligation as a black man to be a black activist? I understand where Brown is coming from when it comes to helping black kids but Tiger does things his way and Brown does things his way. It's none of Brown's business how Tiger conducts himself. Maybe Brown and Russell should turn their attention to the NBA and NFL where black athletes are being such role models like Plaxico Burris and Michael Vick. Of course nothing is said about them. They only go after the 1/3 black guy who dares to play, and excel at, a white man's sport.

Russell should turn his attention to the NBA players so that they don't have fistfights with other players or FANS and kick spectators. Kinda hard to do something with a player that has 6 kids and will not pay child support either.

[Speedy]

Tiger did not ask anything of the Black Community so why should he give them any?

[Gingersnap]

This is insane. Some people are called to make public efforts on the behalf of the downtrodden and some people are called to make private efforts. Quite a few don't seem to be called at all. What Woods does in terms of youth leadership and private charity is his own business.

If I won the Powerball tomorrow morning I wouldn't give one thin dime to any groups advocating women's rights but I would dump a considerable sum into the coffers of the Heifer project. If some woman thought I wasn't doing "enough" for the sisters, I'd rent her a cow.

[Rebel Yell]

Tiger woods is a better role model to all kids than Jim Brown. Tiger has shown what hard work and dedication can get you, so has Brown. Tiger has kept his nose clean, and by all accounts is a decent person, Brown has had his issues with domestic violence, and is still trying to stir up the racial tensions from the 60's because that's the only way he can stay relavent.

[Speedy]

If I won the Powerball tomorrow morning I wouldn't give one thin dime to any groups advocating women's rights but I would dump a considerable sum into the coffers of the Heifer project. If some woman thought I wasn't doing "enough" for the sisters, I'd rent her a cow.

I would give NO money to charity. The third that got taken in the form of taxes would alleveate any thoughts about "giving something back" that might creep into my conscience. I would probably help industrious young women through college though, one dollar at a a time.

[noonwitch]

I have the sneaking suspicion that the biggest reason that Michael & Tiger aren't more political is that they are Republicans. They're afraid of the fallout from the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton activist types who will take them to the woodshed.

Remember that Jackie Robinson was a Republican and campaigned for Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater in the 1960's.

Malcolm X, who of course could not vote due to being a convicted felon, sort of endorsed Goldwater, in one of the interviews he did with Alex Halley, preparing for The Autobiography Of Malcolm X.

Malcolm called LBJ a "sly fox", who was telling people what they wanted to hear to further his own agenda. He felt that although Goldwater didn't support the civil rights act, he respected his honesty about why he didn't support it and felt that black americans were better with a president who was honest about his intentions than one who would give a group of people legislation, but not really do anything to improve their lot in life overall.

Before he was killed, Malcolm had mellowed about white people in a lot of ways-for one, he went on the Haji and discovered the role black africans played in selling their own people to the slave trade. He was slowing down on all the "white devil" speech, and I'm sure that those things were what led to the Nation of Islam taking him out. If he had lived long enough, he may have become a conservative in old age.