As I sit here and reflect on manhood and masculinity, I’m bothered once again by the double standard we still painfully have in our American society. What double standard you ask? Well, the one that says almost any man can have as much sex as he wants to and is considered a “stud;” shoot, there are even other men who might want to take classes from him. But when a woman has that same amount of sex or less, she is considered a “slut,” “whore,” and/or even a “bitch.” Even worse, that label sticks with her for almost a lifetime and unless she has a real integrated identity and knows herself well, that label can do disastrous things to the self-image, her social context, and even career.

Where might this even apply? Well, this week I watched Tiger Woods basically “come back.” He had his news conference seeming very contrite and open about what he had done. Woods appeared as though he had “learned” from his mistakes and was making a mense about the whole thing; while reports of his wife and pending divorce rumored around, Woods still seems confident about his game and life moving forward. Now, let me make it clear, I am not hating on Tiger, I think he has every right to be forgiven and “start over”…but so do women.

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The news and commentary swirling around the confrontation between Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and a Cambridge police officer is a reminder that the election of Barack Obama is not a period at the end of America’s race conversation. Though the confrontation itself may not be a case of racial profiling, the ongoing reaction to the event demonstrates the need for continued discussion.

The discussion should continue and adapt overtime to the changing dynamics of our society. For example, in Los Angeles the discussion has to adapt to the new dynamic of Hispanics becoming the majority population in historically African-American neighborhoods like South Los Angeles, Watts, and Compton. In the same way that discussion around gender continues, our conversation about race doesn’t end just because glass ceilings are being shattered. I would also point out that the last place the conversation should end is within the Church, were segregation is still a chronic problem within every denomination.

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