“America is the country of second chances.” This statement was made by Orin Starn, an anthropologist, writer, and journalist who focuses of society, culture, and sports and the intersection of those topics. However, this is a very flawed statement. While our society is willing to give second chances out, we only give out those chances to people we deem worthy, by a very skewed set of standards.
Tiger Woods is one such example. Woods spent his career living outside of any racial category. He was so exceptional at his sport of choice – and so willing to put on a smile and never criticize racial politics in American society – that he never faced the racial scrutiny that many minority athletes face in the media and society in general. However, after his sex scandal in 2009, he was almost immediately written off as finished, and society only viewed his injuries and his feeble attempts at a comeback as proof of that.
If we look at Arnold Palmer, however, we see a man who was well known as sexually promiscuous, and yet faced next to no scrutiny for it. To this day he is still regarded as one of the greatest men’s golfers of all time.
It is easy to point to different eras in society and say that has an impact on the way people are perceived. However, setting aside differences in society, there is still a very apparent double standard, where a white male was able to continue in his ways and be successful, but when a black man was exposed for very similar acts, he fell from society’s graces.
Even outside of race there is still a double standard in society in regards to who we’re willing to give second chances to. After Woods’ scandal, he lost many endorsement deals and his name, and in turn his brand image, was highly scrutinized in the media. He was not able to make money for the sport anymore, so he wasn’t deemed worthy anymore, thus written off as a failure by society.
If we look at someone like Michael Vick, also a black, male athlete, we see that since his personal brand image is not held in as high regards as his team’s image or the NFL’s image as a whole, he is worthy enough to get a second chance because he is able to make money for the league and team he plays for.
This double standard is not fair for society as a whole, because it tells people that unless you can make money for us or fit into our mold of what the ideal person/athlete/celebrity/etc. should be, then you are not worthy of a second chance. America is a country of second chances, but only for those who are deemed worthy enough by shoddy double standards in society.
It's A Small World, After All. 