Editor’s Scratchpad
In an almanac about golf, a box singled out a statistic about golfdom and said: Half-Asian
doesn’t count"No Asian golfer has ever won any of the majors," a major being a tournament such as the Masters played in Augusta, Ga., each year. Another box noted that "Tiger Woods is the first black golfer to win the Masters."
So I wrote the editor and publisher of the book to ask: "What about Tiger Woods? His mother is Thai, his grandmother on his father's side is Filipina and and his father a combination of Asian, American Indian and black. Doesn't that qualify him Asian enough to win a major?"
The editor wrote back to say that didn't count because "Tiger Woods is only half Asian."
Even the U.S. Census Bureau is not that narrow-minded, permitting people to check off whatever ethnic or racial box they think best fits.
Corky Trinidad
Richard Halloran is Editorial section editor.
He can be reached by e-mail at rhalloran@starbulletin.com