------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Dec. 12, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
EDITORIAL: TEED OFF AGAINST SEXISM & RACISM As the annual spring Masters golf tournament looms, its host--the Augusta National Golf Club--is still refusing to admit women as members of its elite fraternity. This policy is discriminatory, anachronistic and infuriating. And, adding insult to injury, on Nov. 18 the New York Times editorial board suggested that the already legendary and brilliant Black golfer Tiger Woods--who has his own battles against racism on the manicured courses of Augusta--should get the policy changed by refusing to play in the Masters, a tournament he fought hard to be eligible for as a player. This is an arrogant and conscious deflection of responsibility from the wealthy white men who run the club to Woods. Tiger Woods doesn't even have voting rights at the club. He is an "honorary" member. Black golfers were excluded from the links at the Masters until Lee Elder became the first in the 1975 competition. The Rev. Jesse Jackson rightly assailed the Times editorial: "I don't remember them saying to Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus to boycott the Masters because Blacks are not playing." Jackson vows that the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition will protest the Masters tournament in April if a woman is not a member by then. The National Council of Women's Organizations is also gearing up to protest the exclusion of women as members of this good-ole-boys club. CBS, which has broadcast this prestigious golf event for 46 years, isn't leading the charge to demand this sexist policy be upended. In fact, it has been silent on this issue, apparently hoping that "complaints of the National Council of Women's Organizations will be smothered by public indifference or backlash against what even some women shrug off as archaic feminist principle." (New York Times, Nov. 25) The demand for equal rights is an archaic feminist principle? This reminds us of the popular bumper sticker that assures, "I'll be post feminist in the post patriarchy!" There's nothing trivial about this confrontation. It's not a game. This battle for women's rights is an integral part of the class struggle, even if the issue appears to be the right of affluent women to join an all male country club. If these male bosses win the right to discriminate on their days off, the result of this struggle will have an impact on the fight for women's rights across the board. This is a battle against the bosses. Even the Times, in its later article, noted that the tournament is "one of the world's great attractions for business executives who bring along their most valued customers and clients. During the tournament the city airports are awash with corporate jets, and limos line the streets." Of course this class clarity by the Times appears to have been rendered more lucid after seven days of outrage against its editorial singling out Tiger Woods, in which it had written: "A tournament without Mr. Woods would send a powerful message that discrimination isn't good for the golfing business." Golfing business is big business. And Augusta is the clubhouse for the scions of financial and corporate kingdoms. That's who profit from the unequal status of women, African Americans and other huge segments of the population who are burdened by the weight of discrimination and inequality. And that's where the slings and arrows of outraged protest should be aimed. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
