WEBVTT - Ep. 153 - Damon Hack 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.640 Welcome to the Clubhouse with Shane Bacon, a production of 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:15.360 I Heart Radio. Welcome to the Clubhouse with Shane Bacon. 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:21.120 I am your host, Shane Bacon and um AS for everybody. 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:29.280 Been a very um down week, strange week, depressing for society, 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:33.640 for our country, and I wasn't gonna do a podcast 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.680 this week. I I do get a grip with Max Homa. 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:39.120 We barely post one on Monday. We didn't really know 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:42.280 what to say. A couple of guys, you know, speaking 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:44.840 speaking just from our heart is all we could really 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.120 do there. And uh and I reached out to Damon Hack, 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.800 a golf channel, a friend of mine and and somebody 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.320 that posted an unbelievable piece this week on golf channel 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:55.840 dot com that I urge you to read. Will Well, 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:57.880 we'll post that on on social media along with the 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.440 link to this podcast if you haven't had that yet 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:02.720 or you hadn't seen it. And Damon was kind enough 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:05.240 to join me, and we just had a conversation about 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.160 you know, what's going on and what we can do 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:12.240 and and golf and and moving forward and moving upward. 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.639 I mean, I feel like not just forward, moving upward 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:18.440 as a society. Um AS a golfer, as golf fans, 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:26.160 just trying to improve as people, as listeners, as humans, 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:28.680 as friends, as strangers, all the things we can try 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:31.440 to do to be better. So I hope you enjoy it. 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:34.360 I enjoyed talking to them. I always enjoy it obviously. 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.800 You know, it's a pretty heavy conversation because it's a 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.479 heavy time right now, and I think heavy conversations are needed. 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:44.520 And and just all I ask for you, listener, friend 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.080 of mine, person that I respect because you downloaded this podcast, 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:50.120 I'll ask for you is if there's things in your 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.960 life that you're doing that you don't love. There's stuff 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:57.880 you've said, or jokes you've made, comments, all of those things. Listen, 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:00.920 those are in the past, and and there's nothing you 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:02.920 can do about them. All I ask in all errorges 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.720 that you try to change those things that maybe you 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.880 aren't happy about with yourself or maybe you know, disrespect 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:13.240 or make people uncomfortable. And that's all we can do 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:16.240 moving forward, is just trying to improve his people. You know, 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:18.960 I always go back to the Einstein quote, you know, 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:22.160 I mean, what's the definition of insanity? It's doing the 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.480 same thing over and over again and expecting a different 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:27.440 result if if that's who you are, if you're a 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.600 person that that feels like they're on a track they 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.200 don't like, all I say is just make changes. And 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:37.280 if the changes mean you lose friends, or maybe your 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:40.160 golf groups not the same, or you're gonna get yelled 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.480 at by certain people on social media, for goodness sakes, 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:46.799 you know, God forbid. I just say, those uncomfortable moments 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.720 will be worth it when you get to a point 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:52.000 where you're happier with who you are and where you 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:54.680 are in society and how you feel about yourself. And 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:56.480 I've had to do that the last six seven eight 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.760 months personally about some things. And you know, you there 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.920 are moments as a narcissist where being proud of yourself 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.560 is hard to do and uh, and there's been some 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.919 moments where I felt proud of the changes I've made 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:13.160 about myself and this is a great time to do that. 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:16.000 So that's all for me. I I want to get 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.320 to Damon as soon as possible. Just the last thing, 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.959 Damon was on Shack Jeff Shackford's podcast, The Shack Show, 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:23.919 also a part of My Heart and my Heart Radio 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.280 and i Heart Network. Um so listen to that if 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.000 you can, because they're they're conversation, they've worked together for 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:30.880 a long time. I just felt like it was as 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.680 a very lovely conversation. It was a powerful conversation. And uh, 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:36.040 and I feel like if you if you're gonna listen 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:37.640 to this and like this, I urge you to go 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.240 listen to that podcast as well. And uh, and let's 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:43.040 do it. Let's get to Damon and we welcome back 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.240 into the clubhouse Damon Hack of Golf Channel Morning Drive. 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.080 You guys all know, Damon he penned a piece this week, 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.440 a very impactful piece on golf channel dot com titled 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.640 Can I Be Both Thankful and Horrified? And Damon, it 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:59.560 was a piece that you know, universally I can only imagine, 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:04.280 you know, universally massively accepted. And I know you've mentioned 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:05.760 a few times, I've I've listened to a couple of 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.480 things you've done over the last few days. Just how 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:11.360 many people have reached out to you about the piece 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.120 you wrote. Used to be a writer, man, this is 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:15.640 what you used to do all the time. Now you're 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:19.360 on TV US TV folks, we don't write that much anymore. Um, 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:21.560 How was it to to sit down and and why 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.520 were you so inclined to put something up kind of 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.400 about some personal stuff that you've gone through throughout your 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:31.000 journey in this sport, in and around golf. Yeah. I 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:34.479 don't write much anymore, Shane, And it's it's always great 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:36.599 to visit with you when when we have some time. 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.880 And I'll tell you, I was kind of moping around 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:42.640 the house, to be honest with you, I've been watching 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:44.280 some of the coverage in the last week and a 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:48.520 half about the murder of George Floyd and it's just 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:51.040 it kind of hit me and I was like, Okay, 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:53.000 I'm going on television while this is going on, and 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:56.760 I'm smiling and enjoying my job in my life, but 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.080 but there's just a pardon right now that is absolutely 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:03.279 broken and hired of a storyline that's happening in our country. 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:05.320 And my wife said, well, why don't you write? And 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:07.960 so the first thing I did was like, I didn't 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.880 Instagram post that I wrote these words down. And I 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:16.039 don't usually delve into anything, you know, beyond the ropes. 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.400 It's it's you know, Tiger and Phil and the Shambo 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:21.680 and Rory, and that's kind of been it for me, 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.720 But I just I couldn't keep doing what I've been 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.400 doing and be true to myself or the viewer for 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:33.000 that matter. So I attend this little Instagram post and 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.719 next thing, you know, you know, my Folks and Golf channel. 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:39.799 Some colleagues were like, why don't you write a longer piece? 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.360 Can you do you mind expanding that for for dot com? 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:44.919 I was like, I'm sure I'll do it. That's fine, 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.440 and um it was really appreciative of the comments I 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:53.200 got on Instagram page first of all, and then um comments. 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:57.040 I received phone calls from Folk seven talked to you 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.800 for twenty years, nice notes from people who said, man, 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.159 I never would have known you got pulled over a 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:05.599 couple of times for doing nothing, that Christ in front 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:09.039 of your house, for standing in front of it. Um, 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.720 all true, all painful, and that that that pain, those 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.240 memories were just stirred up. So I'm watching a a 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:20.679 grown man, uh you know, be choked out of his life, um, 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:25.080 on television. And you know, but for being on television. 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:28.760 You know, I go jogging in a predominantly white neighborhood. 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:31.800 I've been in elevators with strangers and seeing the looks 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:35.120 on faces and um, I got a bald head, and 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:39.040 and stereotypes are are deep seated in our country, so 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:43.560 I know what looks of discomfort looked like. Um, I 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.839 tighten up. If I ever get pulled over for any reason, 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.000 if even if there's a cop driving behind me, I 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:52.000 get I get nervous and tight. And this is having 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:55.479 a cousin who's retired FBI and my wife's cousin is 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:57.400 active with the n y p D. So it's just 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:00.120 that just really a collision of emotions. I want that 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.320 put tend to paper. I didn't expect the response that 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.240 it's received, but I'm glad it's had the response that 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:09.080 it's received. Yeah, it's something you wrote in the piece, 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.200 and it it's something that I've continued to think about 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.000 over the last few days since I read it, and 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.880 and it's it's something a different experience that I had 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:21.160 about something that was very similar. You said you don't 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.440 want to talk to your boys about the same thing 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.320 that your dad talked to you about. My buddy of 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.400 mine had made kind of a I guess, for lack 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:31.400 of a better term, kind of a woke playlist. He 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.480 makes playlists all the time and sends him to friends 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:35.960 and he made a playlist of just you know, some songs. 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:39.240 Is as we all kind of sit around wondering, you know, 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:41.240 what the hell we can do? You know, he just 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:42.840 sent a thing out to some friends and it was 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:45.360 some songs about you know, I mean, just you know, 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:47.280 the you know, the common song from the movie. And 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:49.480 there was a lot of those types of songs, and 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:51.760 there was some Tupac on it. And as I was 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:53.800 listening to the music, I was I was hiking the 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:57.280 other day listen to this playlist, and I was shocked 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:02.480 at how similar a song from Tupac and what the 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:06.320 early nineties sounds like all of us now in two 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.119 thousand and twenty. And it goes back to your point. 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.880 You're speaking to your sons about the same stuff you 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.480 got talked to about when you were a child, and 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.800 you're two years away from being fifty years old. I 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.880 just feel like, you know, my level of frustration with 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.520 all this just you know, it has continued. I've been 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.600 very frustrated with the golf world over the last little bit. Anyway. 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.280 I just feel like nothing really changes and and it 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:32.840 and it feels a little bit like avoid at times 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:35.160 in and around golf and we'll dive into that in 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.520 a little bit. But you know, when how do you 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.960 not get frustrated? How do you not sit there and 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:46.280 go why why do I have to keep doing these things, 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:49.600 keep saying the same stuff over and over and over again, 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:54.120 if nothing will ever change, And how do you find 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:57.200 hope in all of this that maybe see changes in 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:02.240 the future. Well, I am frush traded. Um. I'm also 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.800 mystified that I was sitting around the dinner table with 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:09.520 my wife and kids, and my wife actually initiated. My 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.520 wife from Hong Kong. Um, so we are, you know, 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:17.840 your typical twenty one century blended multicultural family, and my 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.720 wife's trying to explain, you know, this is what your 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:24.720 dad and his people have gone through. Um. You know, 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.640 we're extremely blessed and and and thankful for the gifts 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:31.920 we have, but there is president prejudice and racism in 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.880 the world. And I literally I probably said just a 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.200 few words. My wife did most of the topic. I 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:40.400 suddenly almost it was like an out of body experience 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:42.480 of like, wait a second, this this is so familiar. 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.440 But here I am almost fifty, So I'm kind of 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.880 you know, you start thinking about mortality and and and 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:54.040 where your planet is in your country and your town, 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.840 and I just was like, wow, I've lived probably more 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:01.040 than half my life and I'm having this conversation with 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:03.080 my kid that my dad ha would be and it's just, 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:07.160 it's just And this was before I wrote the story, 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.360 and I just was I was depressed. I was like, wow, 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:15.480 here I am joyful, um happy that I'm doing the 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.480 job I love. I would not want to come off 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.600 as being perceived as a whiner or a complainer, because 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:25.000 I'm not, but that my soul, something inside of me says, 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:28.880 you know what, You're not completely free, You're not completely 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:34.160 able to be yourself because of this baggage from our country. 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:38.520 And but what gives me hope because I'm an optimist 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.760 by nature. But even beyond that, I've received calls from 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:45.240 people at the U. S g A and text messages 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:47.760 from the PG of America PG two. Like I said 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.760 that there are people that want to help. What the 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:54.200 recipe is, Uh, that's that's gonna be hard, But I 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:59.599 know it's gonna be heavy lifting, dirty fingernails, uncomfortable conversations, 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:04.040 and really getting down into some tough topics to figure 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:09.560 out how to address things that are systemic, that are 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:12.800 embarrassing I think for our country, and that a lot 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:14.480 of people don't want to talk about and they're like, hey, 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:16.200 I didn't I have nothing to do with this. But 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.480 I think the time for being comfortably naive and ignorant 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:23.160 is over. And I think that thankfully, it feels like 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:27.760 a multicultural um issue and not a black issue. I 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.120 think if you look at the protests and the conversations, 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.240 and maybe it's because of COVID nineteen and most people 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:35.240 are at home anyway, that people are having some really 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.680 deep conversations, and I'm at least hopeful and happy that 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.560 that's happening. Yeah, I mean, you are someone that's going 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.679 to get approached when something like this happens. I mean, 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:49.360 you're you're a black man that is on one of 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:53.040 the most recognizable golf shows out there. I mean, I 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.400 mean a Morning Drive is on TVs and pro shops 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:59.000 and all around golf fans, you know, living rooms every morning. 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:04.080 You know, throughout the week when you see these things, 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.680 you know, these horrific things happen, and you know that 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.199 at some point you're gonna start getting requests by media 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.000 and by people like me. You know, Hey, do you 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.680 mind coming on the podcast and talking and and and damon, 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:19.120 it's such a limited group. I mean, you think about Tiger, right, 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.440 I mean, Tiger is a guy that I mean I 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:23.240 noticed there was a there was an article on golf 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.680 channel dot com and on June one, and it was 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:28.040 it was a question why Tiger hadn't spoke up yet. 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:31.120 I think Tiger that day posted something about it. But 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:35.760 we're always looking for answers from people that went through 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.040 experiences or have gone through these experiences. I think about 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.120 Dr Fauci during coronavirus. You know, if you're an expert 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.120 of the viruses at that time, you're probably phone is 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.079 ringing off the hook, right, I mean you're the guy 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.000 or the woman that's getting approached to maybe help somebody 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:53.679 try to understand this. What's that burden like for you? 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:57.719 Knowing that when things like this happened, when race comes up, 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:00.439 when a huge race issue blows up in our country 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.200 and now and around the world, you know that you're 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:05.040 going to be a sounding board. You're gonna be a 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.400 voice that people are gonna want to listen to, that 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.040 we're gonna want to hear from, and hopefully they're gonna 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:13.760 get some answers from because that's that's that's a huge burden. Damon. 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.560 It's exhausting, Shane, That's what it is. Um And it's 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:22.160 not the only time that this happens, whether it's being 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:26.120 the only black kid in your school or in your 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:32.080 you know, newspaper or whatever, you know, graduate school. Um, 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:37.559 it's it's it's exhausting. And it's been at least nice 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:41.040 to share the load with some other minorities in our 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.360 game and knowing that they have dealt with this their 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.040 whole lives that are dealing with it now. So part 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:48.960 of me is thankful that I can speak to it, 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:54.560 that I at least have experience and a platform to 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.880 speak and share. But it is exhausting, and I think 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.880 that it's unfair to expect black people to figure out 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.760 a problem that is an American problem. I do think 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.679 that it's going to take a collective effort. I think 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:13.680 it's gonna take deep pockets and people who are invested 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:17.079 in this game, both from a financial standpoint and an 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:21.160 emotional standpoint, to say this is a problem. Uh, some 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:25.080 of my fellow American citizens are in pain and anguish 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.120 over the state of this country. And that you can 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:32.960 love your country and be a patriot and have questions 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:36.640 and problems with the way things are going. And just 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:41.680 because you know, lebron is, you know, wealthy, and Tiger 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:44.240 is tiger, and Barack Obama has been elected and these 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:48.440 are all remarkable strides that our country has made, does 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.960 not mean that there's there's room to grow and a 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.360 long way to go. And I just think without assigning 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.920 assigning blame to to, you know, the current crop of 0:14:57.960 --> 0:14:59.560 people that I might say, hey, I didn't you know 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:04.280 owned no slaves, um, never use the N word. I'm 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:09.560 nice to everybody. Well, that's that's wonderful. But for this 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.080 to be rectified, it's gonna take some people that are 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:16.000 maybe not quite aware of the situations. Maybe it's gonna 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.600 take doing some research on your own, reading books on 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:22.360 your own. Read The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein, 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:28.400 pick up Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers Watch by Ava 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.240 du Verney. I mean, there's a lot of information out there. 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:34.960 I know people that just don't want to talk about race, 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:37.880 and and I think it's, hey, you know, I don't 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.560 see race everybody. I fee everybody the same. Well, I 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.160 do want people to see race. It's not it's not 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.800 it's not working out this way with us not seeing race. 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.160 I think we have to see it, address it and 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.680 make things better. Yeah, and and and you know, Damon, 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:57.200 it is you and I in the golf world. You know, 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:01.000 we do live in a fairly conservative, you know, very white, 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.760 very male sport. I mean, that's what golf is. I mean, 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:07.680 I can only imagine what your life was like first 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.320 starting out writing about this sport, you know, being in 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:12.960 a press ton I mean, were you the only African 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.360 American there? I mean, was there anybody else of color 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.520 doing the job you were doing? You know? I mean 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.760 I'm I'm guessing probably not, or maybe one or two 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:23.960 other people in the room. I mean, that's that's intimidating 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:27.320 just to begin with, right it is, I mean, thankfully, 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.240 you know, there are some pioneers like Pete McDaniel, Cliff 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.960 Brown from Golf Digest in the New York Times respectively, 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:39.480 Forrell Evans, who um was an editor at Sports Illustrated 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.359 and occasionally would be on the scene at golf tournaments. 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.560 But you're talking about two or three, you know, we're 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:48.840 talking height of the Tiger era. You know, they're hundreds 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:52.440 and hundreds of hundreds to have three or four African 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.680 Americans in a press room of five hundred or or 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.720 seven hundred fifty at a US open you get to 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:04.520 pick to um. So yeah, I remember having to turn 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.080 my credential around a couple of times, make sure that 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.119 the security guard knows, Hey, that's me. I'm legit. I'm 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.520 where I'm supposed to be. UM. But you know what 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:18.000 I've I've I've you know, worked hard. I've written the 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:20.920 stories and and and told the stories on TV now 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:24.119 and I feel like I feel like I'm okay, like 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.160 I've earned my keeping the game. It's fine. I don't 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:28.960 have to prove that I know about this game and 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.720 I've covered it and uh and have loved it and 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:35.040 given it the respect and appreciation that it deserves. For me, 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:39.120 it's about It's about the community from which not even 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:42.680 that I necessarily came from, but my cousins, my parents, 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.280 people that I know it's not enough for. People said, well, 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:48.439 Damon has made it, so why can any black person 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.239 made it? You know. It's like it's like that's my 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:55.199 parents with the Compton High School uh and moved me 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:59.640 to the San Fernando Valley, which was not Compton, which 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:03.560 was much more affluent. Both my parents, you know, dual 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:09.920 degree holding, um educated, you know, tough disciplinarians who said, 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:11.480 you know, you're gonna do things the right way. But 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.600 I'm as an outlier in my own family and outlier. 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.880 I have cousins who or who's who's experienced is much 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:23.520 more traditional in the African American sense of struggle in 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:29.119 our city, UM kind of bumping up against pillars and 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.560 different aspects of our society that are systemic and that 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:35.960 are hard to address. So this isn't about like me 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:40.560 looking for any specipathy, but it's about me sharing my 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:45.960 personal truths in my my background and trying to find solutions. 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:48.399 It feels like it's a big task. It feels like 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.640 it's multi layered, multi textured, and and that it has 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:55.080 to be multicultural in the end. And I think it's 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:58.399 it's it's important. You know, I mentioned the article about 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.679 Tiger not speaking up. I mean, I do think we 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:04.560 are now to a point where it's as you said earlier, 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.320 it's important to be uncomfortable. It's something that I battled 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:10.080 with personally Damon a lot over the last few years. 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:13.720 I mean, I mentioned not loving golf like I once did, 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.280 and I think it's because, you know, I mean, listen, 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:19.080 social media is a horrible place to begin with. I'm 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:21.320 not gonna I'm not I'm not. I'm not gonna say 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:24.480 everything in this world is the same as social For 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:26.720 goodness sakes, I don't think anybody should ever do that. 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.159 I've actually taken a step away from social lafter the 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:30.600 last couple of months, and let me just tell you, 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:34.760 way happier. Like I believe the correlation there, but you know, 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:39.240 I do think that personally for me, and I want 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:43.399 to hear your thoughts here. You know, I I feel 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:47.000 and I felt at times that there were things I 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:51.160 wanted to say, there were things I wanted to support, 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.600 you know, something like Black Lives Matter, for instance, and 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:59.800 I felt really uncomfortable a putting something out there to 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:04.000 the world about that and be understanding that there were 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.720 going to be a lot of those really tough guys 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.800 social media people that we're going to yell at me 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:12.760 and curse at me. And again, I mean, what does 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:14.800 it matter to me? Right? I mean? What? Why? Why 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:16.800 am I scared of this? But I am scared. I 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.919 am scared of what's gonna come from that? And you know, 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.719 one of my commitments over the last week is I 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.800 can't be scared of supporting people I want to support, 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:31.320 and I believe I should support ideas I want to support, 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:33.760 and also the other thing I want to do, and 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.200 and and again, I don't know if this is right 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.119 or not. This is why I wanted to have you on. 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:41.240 I just wanted to ask you some questions. Is the 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:44.960 people that yell, the people that cuss, the people that 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:48.640 come after me and say horrible stuff because I posted 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:51.879 a black Lives Matter hat, I want to talk to 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:54.240 the people. I don't want to avoid them. I want 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:56.640 to discuss it. You know. I want to explain that 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.800 saying black lives matter doesn't mean other lives don't matter. 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:05.200 It's a focus on on a race and a people 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:07.560 that have been oppressed for hundreds of years, and it's 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:12.199 it's giving them, it's it's supporting their movement. That's the 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:15.120 idea here. It's not saying I don't care about white 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:17.960 people or I don't care about police officers. It's that 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.840 right now, black lives you know, statistically do all the 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:24.960 work and all the dive in into online. You want 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:29.080 to do. Life isn't the same and that's screwed up 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:32.920 and that sucks. And so it's on me, and it's 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:35.240 on you know, some of these golfers you saw, you know, 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.000 Justin Thomas, guys like that, they were posting, you know, 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:40.520 blackout Tuesday. They were joining in. I'm not sure that 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:43.159 would have happened ten years ago, Damon and and and 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:46.520 at least the conversation. It's not just on you, you know, 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:48.880 it's not just let's get Damon Hack on the phone 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:50.920 to talk about this for three minutes in the B block. 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:55.919 It's on white people and white women and you know, 0:21:56.320 --> 0:21:59.479