Bobby Jones

[tycho32]

I was reading an interview with Charles Barkley online today. In it he said Bobby Jones was a racist. I admit freely that I know next to nothing about golf. I can name like four golfers Chi Chi Rodriguez, Arnold Palmer, Tiger, and Bobby Jones--and him only cause my grandfather talks about him. I was just curious where that accusation comes from. Again I know not much about him I was just curious and could find nothing else on the internet about it.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[ChileMass]

Bobby Jones grew up in Alabama in the early part of the 20th Century, so he was likely a product of his times and his environment. All I know is that he was a great golfer, but don't know anything about his views on race relations. He might very well have been a racist, but who knows? Probably better to focus on his golfing achievements.

As a general rule, I find it's sometimes risky to look to sports heroes to be role models. Some can pull it off, but most are just jocks, and have few qualifications to open their mouths on subjects other than their sport.........

 

[jjmcgo]

Red Sox pitcher Smoky Joe Wood, asked in the early 1960s if he too bet on baseball games before 1920, replied, "You can't judge one generation by another's standards."
Jones was born less than 50 years after most American religions held that blacks were an inferior species; 125 years after our Constitution held blacks to be 2/3 of a white person.