Charlie Sifford, a symbol against apartheid

Although racial discrimination is unfortunately at the root of the conflicts that continue to plague American society, the situation today has nothing to do with what people of color suffered not many decades ago. Golf, of course, was no stranger to apartheid.

Fortunately, things were changing and African-Americans were conquering -sometimes literally shedding their skin- their civil rights. One of the protagonists of the peaceful struggle against apartheid in those hard years was Charlie Sifford, the first black golfer to get a card to play on the American Tour. It was 1961.

Now 92 years old, he has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was presented to him by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, in a solemn ceremony. Sifford is the third professional golfer to be awarded this honor, after Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

Sifford, who was forced to play in the National Negro Opens because of the PGA Tour’s policy of admitting only white (“Caucasian-only”) players to the tour, won six of those titles before he could play on Tour. He was systematically harassed, threatened and excluded from golf clubs because of the color of his skin. The golfer who broke the barrier of racial discrimination in golf won twice on the PGA Tour and was finally inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.

“I wasn’t trying to do that for me, I was trying to do that for the world,” Sifford said.

Tiger Woods, who took to Twitter to express his admiration for Sifford when he was nominated for the award, posted a message on his Instagram account that read “History has been made for my grandfather. Thank you Charlie for inspiring Pop, who in turn inspired me and others like us. It was a heroic fight and you won it.”

At the ceremony, President Obama referenced a story in which Sifford’s ball was sent into the rough with a kick by tournament spectators.

“Charlie’s laughing at that,” because my ball is always in the rough,” Obama said, as attendees at the event also laughed.

Sifford smiled humbly as, amidst the applause, Obama placed the medal around his neck.