The future of private clubs.....
Jul. 16th, 2009 01:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1By now, many of you have heard about that swim club in/near Philadelphia, PA that initially accepted, and then refused, children from a local day camp because they were black. While the pool has invited them back, the day camp has declined to take them up on their offer. I've also heard talk of a potential lawsuit.
What concerns me is that the swim club is a private club, and few of the news outlets have mentioned that fact. While I personally wouldn't be a member of such a club, I think they have the right to determine their membership criteria as they see fit. And personally, I hope the club votes to change their membership criteria, although the attitude I 've seen conveyed by club members via the media makes me think this won't happen.
I'm gonna put on my 'Devil's Advocate' hat for this one. (I really need to get one made, complete with little horns.)
This issue is not new, and the swim club is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many golf clubs, mostly in the South, that are exclusively white and exclusively male. The golf club that runs the annual Masters golf tournament didn't accept blacks. That is, until Tiger Woods came onto the scene and broke that barrier. But the club still doesn't admit women. That may change, but it should be when the club votes to change, rather than have it forced on them by legislation.
I am also a past and/or present member of other private organizations that could theoretically, in the future, be ordered to accept people outside of their current scope of membership.
The first is the Boy Scouts of America. While I personally detest that they disallow atheists, gays, and pagans from participating -- and that is the reason I have chosen to not be an adult leader for a troop -- I would prefer that the organization change its policies on its own volition, rather than a court order.
The second is my college fraternity. In my chapter, we had quite a melting pot -- brothers from Korea, Ecuador, and Haiti, to name a few. But it's a single-sex organization. I'm scared that one day, women will not be satisfied with sororities and try to join my organization.
The third is the Mankind Project. While it is a progressive mens' organization and allows men of any faith, race, sexual orientation, and sexual identity (hey, we've initiated transgendered men), it is still classified as a single-sex organization.
This is why I don't want to see legislation forcing private organizations to change their membership criteria, and would rather see the criteria changed as a result of a vote of the membership.
What concerns me is that the swim club is a private club, and few of the news outlets have mentioned that fact. While I personally wouldn't be a member of such a club, I think they have the right to determine their membership criteria as they see fit. And personally, I hope the club votes to change their membership criteria, although the attitude I 've seen conveyed by club members via the media makes me think this won't happen.
I'm gonna put on my 'Devil's Advocate' hat for this one. (I really need to get one made, complete with little horns.)
This issue is not new, and the swim club is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many golf clubs, mostly in the South, that are exclusively white and exclusively male. The golf club that runs the annual Masters golf tournament didn't accept blacks. That is, until Tiger Woods came onto the scene and broke that barrier. But the club still doesn't admit women. That may change, but it should be when the club votes to change, rather than have it forced on them by legislation.
I am also a past and/or present member of other private organizations that could theoretically, in the future, be ordered to accept people outside of their current scope of membership.
The first is the Boy Scouts of America. While I personally detest that they disallow atheists, gays, and pagans from participating -- and that is the reason I have chosen to not be an adult leader for a troop -- I would prefer that the organization change its policies on its own volition, rather than a court order.
The second is my college fraternity. In my chapter, we had quite a melting pot -- brothers from Korea, Ecuador, and Haiti, to name a few. But it's a single-sex organization. I'm scared that one day, women will not be satisfied with sororities and try to join my organization.
The third is the Mankind Project. While it is a progressive mens' organization and allows men of any faith, race, sexual orientation, and sexual identity (hey, we've initiated transgendered men), it is still classified as a single-sex organization.
This is why I don't want to see legislation forcing private organizations to change their membership criteria, and would rather see the criteria changed as a result of a vote of the membership.
