Maurice Allen On "Being Black In A White Sport"

Maurice Allen, the 2018 World Long Drive champion, shared his thoughts in a GolfDigest.com guest piece on “being black in a white sport.” The thoughts are jarring and upsetting but well worth your time to digest.

Allen also goes pretty deep into some of the bizarre psyche’s permeating parts of the game and which we all have possibly sensed, but maybe tried to not think about.

Of course there are things like this…

In my part of the game, the long-drive arena, we’re supposed to be flashy, to be entertainers. Except white long drivers are praised for being colorful and flamboyant, while I’m called a showboat.

But this is the paragraph that proved most unnerving and applicable to way too many elements of the sport.

That’s what breaks my heart about golf. It’s supposed to be a game of integrity. I’ve found it to be anything but. I’m not talking about it being elitist. I’m talking about its entitlement. To me, that word means something different. Because when you’re entitled, you have a responsibility to use that privilege in a meaningful way. Instead, golf acts as a club. It’s often hard to get in, or it makes excuses for the errors of those in the club. We have given so many excuses for foolishness that you delay change. You’re not dealing with the actual situation. If we have a problem, we have to address it.