Hmmmm?
Democratic Senator?
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., defended his family’s membership in a private Rhode Island beach club that’s allegedly all-white on Monday, telling reporters “the club has informed me that it does in fact have diversity of membership.”
Bailey’s Beach Club has “a long tradition of being a family club, and they’re working on improving diversity. I think that’s pretty fair,” Whitehouse said, elaborating on comments he made to a Providence website where he appeared to shrug off the club’s history.
Asked Friday about his family’s continued membership at the “all-white” Newport club, Whitehouse, a progressive Democrat who has spoken out repeatedly against “systemic racism” in the country, toldGoLocal Providence “I think the people who are running the place are still working on that and I’m sorry it hasn’t happened yet.”
Asked if such “elite all-white wealthy clubs” should still exist, Whitehouse said, “It’s a long tradition in Rhode Island and there are many of them. I think we just need to work our way through the issues, thank you.”…..
image….Jason Andrew / NYTimes/Bloomberg via Getty Images file
Why does the headline end in a question mark?
The facts are not in dispute. He belongs to an all white private beach club. When he first ran for Senate, years ago, he said he was quitting it, but never did.
The piece has wiggle room…
I go with that….
What wiggle room?
That there might be a Jew or two in the club, possibly? That makes them diverse? The bottom-line is that despite his rhetoric about racism, Whitehouse has continued to belong to an all-white club and defends it today by saying it is a “long tradition” that the club is all-white, which is what was said many times in the South about segregationist or discriminatory practices.
It’s there nevertheless….
The guy has been called OUT again
Unforced error on White House’s part.
No comment from Newport club as Whitehouse denies discrimination
by KATIE DAVIS, NBC 10 NEWS
Monday, June 21st 2021
(WJAR) — It’s an ugly allegation involving one of Rhode Island’s prettiest places: critics of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse say a Newport beach club where his family has a membership still doesn’t admit people of color. Whitehouse told NBC 10 on Monday that’s simply not true.
“There is no discriminatory policy, and the club has had and does have, a membership of color,” Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, said.
For years, Whitehouse has come under fire by those who say the club hasn’t changed with the times. He was asked about the allegations during a 2018 debate on NBC 10 by his Republican challenger, former Judge Robert Flanders, and said much the same thing he did this week.
“His wife is one of the largest shareholders of Bailey’s Beach Club, which is not only exclusive but doesn’t admit blacks or Jews,” Flanders said in the 2018 video.
“It’s an exclusive club. I don’t think my Republican opponent has characterized it at all fairly,” Whitehouse responded.
The senator told NBC 10 on Monday that the alleged “whites only” policy never existed in the first place.
“Never. Never,” he said.
“No Trespassing” signs all around the club meant NBC 10 couldn’t enter the property without being invited.
NBC 10 reached out to the club by phone.
A woman who answered said the club would have no comment before hanging up on a reporter.
The issue most recently gained traction online last week, after Whitehouse answered a question about it.
“It has been turning up quite a lot in far-right media outlets, right-wing talk radio and things like that, which are not exactly known for being factually precise,” Whitehouse said of the coverage.
Late Monday afternoon, the Black Lives Matter Rhode Island PAC urged Whitehouse to use his platform to vigorously push for diversity, and released the following statement:
Sen. Whitehouse declining to push to diversify the all-white Bailey’s Beach Club shows where his priorities lay. After a year of protests calling for change, Sen. Whitehouse is in a position to make it happen and has passed the buck. It’s past time that Sen. Whitehouse used his platform and make his actions match his rhetoric. Sen. Whitehouse should publicly and vigorously support increased diversity and accessibility and clubs like his, which have long held shut their doors to people of color.
Video here:
https://turnto10.com/i-team/nbc-10-i-team-no-comment-from-newport-club-as-whitehouse-denies-discrimination
Even Phillip Drummond knew to quit a club like this in the early ’80s.
But “diff’rent strokes” for Whitehouse.
Who is or was Phillip Drummond?
He was a “man of means”
Phillip Drummond
Sarna News
Phillip-drummond
Phillip Drummond
Born 20 May 2746[1]
Died 2858
Affiliation Clan Nova Cat
Profession Khan of Clan Nova Cat
Spouse Anna Rosse
Children Two sons (unnamed)
Sandra Rosse
Phillip Drummond (born May 20th 2746[2] – died 2858, aged 112 years) was the first Khan of Clan Nova Cat, founder of the Drummond Bloodline, and father of Sandra Rosse.
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Phillip_Drummond
… and now, as the late Paul Harvey would say, “… is the rest of the story”, which doesn’t seem like very much to me (except, perhaps, as it shows class disparities, and unequal access to (what are in Rhode Island) common resources like the public shoreline):
… “Recent characterizations in the press and in other commentary about Bailey’s Beach Club are inaccurate and false,” said Jack Nolan, general manager of Bailey’s Beach club, formally known as Spouting Rock Beach Association.
Kate Nagle, who is listed as blog GoLocal Providence’s news editor, posted a 53-second clip on June 19 of her questioning Whitehouse regarding his membership in the club, which is located on Ocean Avenue. She described the club as “all-white” and asked the Democratic senator whether such clubs should “continue to exist.”
Whitehouse responded that the club is “a long tradition in Rhode Island, and there are many of them. We just need to work our way through the issues.”
Whitehouse told a Globe reporter Wednesday that he was caught off guard when Nagle approached him.
“I was attending an unrelated event and wasn’t prepared for the question. At the time, I made the mistake of accepting her premise. I then checked the assertion and was assured that, first, the assertion was wrong, there is diversity in the membership and there are non-white club members; and second, that improving diversity remains a priority and an active task for the club’s new board,” said Whitehouse.
He said the recent attention to this issue has prompted him to assess all of his affiliations and to consider whether any involve “inequitable or exclusionary policies.”
“While I am not a member of the beach club, I do own a boat and belong to a sailing club in Newport. While this club does not have exclusionary rules for membership, it does lack diversity. Failing to address the sailing club’s lack of diversity is squarely on me, and something for which I am sorry. I commit to working with the club and the community to build a more inclusive membership and to better connect with the local community,” Whitehouse said.
On Wednesday, Nolan told the Globe that Spouting Rock Beach Association members and their families have included people of “many racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds from around the world who come to Newport every summer.”
“Our membership comes from all over the globe to our small club and we welcome the diversity of view and background they bring to our community,” said Nolan.
When asked if GoLocal contacted the club to confirm its membership demographics, Nolan responded, “I can’t say anything else at this time.”
Josh Fenton, the editor of GoLocal, refused to address a question from the Globe about his website’s Whitehouse story, commenting instead about the Globe’s union negotiations.
Whitehouse’s wife has been a member of Spouting Rock Beach Association for decades, and is one of the club’s largest shareholders. Whitehouse has repeatedly said that the club has “no discriminatory policy,” and his office told the Globe on Monday that the club does have members of who are people of color.
“There have been calls for me to resign from the club, which I understand,” Whitehouse told the Globe Wednesday. “However, I have no membership to resign, nor will I ask my wife or any other family members to do so. First, they are on the right side of pushing for improvements. Second, and more importantly, my relationship with my family is not one in which I tell them what to do.” …