Volume 67, Issue 7

Just Read the Sign
by Binyamin Muschel

The case of the women of the United States (if not the entire world) vs. Hootie Johnson and his cohorts at Augusta National Golf Club has taken on a universal significance that clearly transcends sports.  In fact, the issue has gone so far as to stray into the realm of childhood memories.  Yes, Augusta National reminds me of those children’s clubs we knew of – maybe even belonged to – that shared the same slogan: No Girls Allowed.

While Augusta National is obviously a large step up from the clubs of children, presumably with a greater maturity level and more consistent rationality in its members, the fact remains that the two clubs’ members share an important connection.  Just as those proverbial boys are well within their rights to post their “No Girls Allowed” sign, so are the members of Augusta National.

Growing up Jewish in America in the last part of the twentieth century, I have lived my life relatively free of the infamous anti-Semitism that has plagued the Jewish people throughout their existence.  Nonetheless, even in 2002, I am subjected to anti-Semitism; there are golf clubs in America where I would be denied membership for the sole reason that I’m a Jew.  Does it bother me?  The better question is: should it?  People, usually with the same interests, form a club, and the club members have the right to allow new membership only to people who share those interests.  So there are people who don’t want to play golf with Jews.  It bothers me somewhat, but it’s easily understandable; people have their prejudices, prejudices that are not easily undone.  So I can’t join their club.  It would be counterproductive for me to push them to let me in, for I’d then find myself surrounded by people who didn’t want me among them in the first place.

There are many golf clubs, tennis clubs, swimming clubs, fraternities, or other organizations in America that bar new members based on religion, race, or sex.  America’s freedoms help these clubs succeed in this mission – a privately organized, privately funded club can’t be subject to discrimination issues.  And then there’s Augusta National, which is being held to a higher standard because it just happens to be a popular club that hosts a prestigious tournament.  Martha Burk, head of the National Council of Women’s Organizations, has been leading a campaign which is fundamentally flawed: Augusta National is a club like any other, and it is within its rights to reject members based on anything.

This entire issue is, in fact, a crusade being stretched to outrageous limits, from going after sponsors (who are left with the choice of getting nice ad time at the Masters or being boycotted by women everywhere) to suggesting that Tiger Woods should stay home for the Masters.  This crusade is finding support in the media, most notably in The New York Times, that is driven by the desire of its executive editor to push his agenda using his prime position in the opinion business.  And the whole disagreement is sadly rooted in the false notion that Augusta National is somehow obligated to admit a woman.

Equality is a sensitive issue (just ask Trent Lott), but it is an idea that needs to be applied in the proper setting.  Title IX is the most famous instance of enforced equality in sports, and its justification lies in its existence at government-funded universities.  Universities are not private clubs.  Augusta National is.  So even though I might not like it, and Martha Burk might not like it, the sign Augusta National has always lived by should continue to remain rooted firmly in the grass: No Girls Allowed.♦

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