"DO YOU think girls have anything to offer the boy scouts? We have the right to choose and associate with who we please." These are the words of Hootie Johnson, chairman of Augusta National (the golf club where the Masters are held every April), in response to the accusation that he believes women have nothing to offer his golf club.
Johnson and his club alike have come under fire in recent days as he has responded to the National Council of Women's Organizations' demands that Augusta National admit women members. Johnson has adamantly clung to the club's right to privacy in order to fend off women's leader Martha Burke and other dissenters.
Johnson is absolutely right. His club is private. The U.S. Constitution guarantees that Augusta National has every right to choose its membership. However, the public has the right to dissent. Although Johnson is entitled to out-dated and prejudiced views, it would be a wiser, more progressive, and more moral decision to reconsider his stance on the issue, and allow otherwise qualified women membership in his club.
It has been brought to Johnson's attention that there is a strong parallel between gender and racial discrimination. In response to this claim, Johnson told Fox Sports, "Nobody accepts [these] as being the same." This claim seems somewhat hard to swallow however, when one observes the main argument that Johnson uses to defend his decision to continue the exclusion of women from Augusta National. Johnson argues, "Our club has enjoyed a camaraderie and a closeness that has served us well for so long, that it makes it difficult for us to consider change." Basically, Johnson contends, admitting women to the club would be disruptive to the order Augusta National has enjoyed up to this point.
Interesting point, especially because it is nearly exactly reflective of one of the main arguments traditionally used in the past to exclude African-Americans from the armed forces. Although the U.S. armed forces and a private golf club are obviously two different things, a comparison of their respective arguments for exclusion testifies to the fact that Johnson is wrong when he claims that there is a far distance between racial and gender discrimination. Also, this "disruption" Johnson speaks of hardly seems a legitimate reason to keep women from membership given the fact that, as even Johnson himself admits, women play on the course all the time.
It's clear that Johnson is on the defensive. Due to the recent controversy, his sponsors have withdrawn their support (though he claims he is confident they will return), and there have been murmurs of dissent from Augusta National standing membership. In response, Johnson has made clear that Augusta National will not allow women membership, "at the point of a bayonet." Though it seems that Johnson does genuinely have some aversion to the presence of female members at his club, one can also, given his increasingly hostile manner, suspect that he has taken up a personal agenda on this issue. Given the media attention this has received, in addition to the statements he has already made, he does not want to back down.
However, the reality of the situation is this: if historical trends are any indication, like it or not, Augusta National is going to admit women. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it is going to happen, and most likely it is going to happen in the next ten years. Not only would it be more morally justifiable for Augusta National to concede to admitting women, it would be wise. Johnson has the opportunity to save himself the headache of continued public scrutiny and harassment by women's organizations. He could stop picket lines before they start. Or he could stick to his position as it now stands. The call is certainly his to make, but it would be wise for him to step back from his ego and his prejudices and see the larger picture.
It is true that Augusta National has come under such (some would say unfair) scrutiny due to the fact that it hosts the Masters. It is unlikely that, were it a regular small town golf club, the nation would take such note of its exclusive membership. In the Fox Sports interview, Johnson stated, "[the Masters] is one week. 51 weeks of the year we are a private club. And we do something good for one week, for the sporting world, and we're going to be penalized." This is fair. Augusta National does not deserve to be penalized, harassed and scrutinized merely because it is an exceptional club that has risen to national prominence. However, Augusta National should seize upon its national notoriety in order to take advantage of the great chance it now has to set an example of progressiveness, egalitarianism and respect for the rest of the country.
(Laura Parcells is a Cavalier Daily
associate editor. She can be reached at lparcells@cavalierdaily.com.)
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