What Is Tiger Woods' Ethnicity? He Calls It 'Cablinasian'

Like many Americans, Tiger Woods' racial and ethnic background contains multitudes. Which is another way of saying, Woods is multiracial. Woods has described himself as "Cablinasian," a word he made up during childhood to try to capture and convey his multiracial heritage.

Woods' Parents Both Multi-Ethnic

Woods' mother, Kultida, is a native of Thailand whose own ancestry includes Chinese and Dutch. She once referred to herself as "half-Thai, one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter White."

Woods' father, Earl, was an African-American whose heritage included White, Asian and Native American ancestors. Earl Woods once called himself, "half-Black, one-quarter American Indian, and one-quarter Chinese."

So Tiger Woods' racial and ethnic heritage is predominantly Black and Asian, but also includes White and Native American ancestry.

Who Cares About Woods' Ethnicity?

Many people, apparently, and this was especially true when Woods first gained prominence, still in his teens, within the golf world. Tiger was young, gifted and Black in a sport that was almost entirely made up of athletes (and media members and fans) who were old(er) and White.

And golf's history with matters of race and ethnicity is not a good one, particularly when it comes to African-Americans. These things are in the past, but into the 1960s the PGA of America had a "Caucasians-only" clause written into its charter. The first Black golfer at The Masters didn't play until 1975 and Augusta National didn't allow its first Black member until 1990.

There were many public and private golf courses that excluded Blacks from playing during the Jim Crow era; some private clubs continued that practice until relatively recent times. In an early commercial for Nike, Woods said, "There are still courses in the United States that I am not allowed to play on because of the colour of my skin." He received (from some quarters) criticism for that, but it was clearly a true statement at that time.

When Woods first burst onto the pro golf scene in 1996, he was the first victorious Black golfer on the PGA Tour in many years. As seen above, Woods has a multiracial, multi-ethnic family background, and he received repeated questions about race.

Woods was clearly uncomfortable being put in that situation. In 1997, he revealed to the world a word he said he invented years before to describe himself.

Tiger Woods Coins the Term 'Cablinasian'

Woods' first full year as a pro golfer was 1997 (he turned pro late in the 1996 PGA Tour season), and that's the year he revealed the word "Cablinasian."

Appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Woods explained that in his early school days he was asked to put a check mark on forms next to his race. Today, such forms, if they are presented to a person, are likely to include a "multiracial" option. Not back then.

It was as a child, Woods explained to Oprah, that he created the portmanteau Cablinasian:

Caucasian Black Indian (Native American) Asian

Ca + bl + in + Asian = Cablinasian

Woods' appearance on Oprah, and his comments revealing "Cablinasian," were made in 1997, in the aftemath of Woods becoming the first Black golfer to win The Masters.

Some observers felt that in bringing up "Cablinasian," Woods was rejecting the identities of Black and African-American. But Woods has explained over the years that was not his intent. Rather, he felt that "African-American" was too restrictive a term, given his multiracial background; and that, in particular, it excluded his Asian mother from the picture. Therefore, during childhood, Woods invented the term "Cablinasian."