The following is an excerpt from the book Cult of Power
by Martha Burk
It all started routinely enough -- with a simple three-paragraph letter, addressing a little-noticed issue in the eternal battle for gender equity. But it exploded into a cause célèbre that laid bare the ways in which, and the reasons why, women are still systematically barred from the highest echelons of power -- in government, social and religious organizations, and most importantly, in corporate America. We would see all too starkly how corporate elites enforce the code of behavior that maintains their control, the strength of the conspiracy of silence that surrounds sex discrimination at high levels, and the depth of corporate hypocrisy with all its fancy rhetoric about fairness and how women are valued as equals. Far from being about a few rich females gaining admittance to one club, the gates of Augusta National Golf Club became symbolic of all the ways women are still kept out of power where it counts, and how and why we must change the system to break in.
But back to the beginning.
In April 2002, I was traveling to Texas from my home in Washington,
D.C., to visit my adult children, and I picked up a copy of USA Today.
Unlike many women who unceremoniously toss the sports section, I
usually thumb through it to get an idea of how much coverage is given
to female athletes and women's teams. This day was an attention
grabber. Columnist Christine Brennan had a piece titled "Augusta
Equality Fight: Pass It On," with an accompanying story by Debbie
Becker headlined "Augusta faces push for women." The subject was the
exclusion of women at Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta National,
host of the prestigious Masters Golf Tournament opening that day, was
one of the most venerated golf clubs in the world. It was also highly
secretive. No one outside the clan of three hundred or so who got in
"by invitation only" knew who the members were -- but everyone knew
there had never been a female among them. Brennan credited a compelling
story by Marcia Chambers in Golf for Women as the reason she chose to
devote her column -- for the third year in a row -- to the sex
discrimination at Augusta, even though she felt her earlier efforts had
been like "beating my head against a brick wall about the issue."
Brennan made it clear that corporate sponsors of the Masters
(Coca-Cola, IBM, and Citigroup) were part of the problem, since they
were willing to underwrite an event at a club that practiced sex
discrimination, even though it went without saying they wouldn't go
near a club that kept out blacks, Asians, or Hispanics. She called it
acceptable discrimination versus unacceptable discrimination. Little
did I know how deeply true that statement would turn out to be. Brennan
had interviewed Lloyd Ward, an African American and one of only a
handful of publicly known names on the secret membership list at
Augusta National. Ward, who was head of the United States Olympic
Committee, told her that rather than resign in protest, he was going to
work from the inside to change the policy. I believed him.
As chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), the
nation's oldest and largest coalition of women's groups, I take any
report of discrimination seriously, and this was no exception. I tore
the stories out of the paper, thinking we should help Ward's efforts
along by writing to the club. I reasoned that if they thought their
practices were getting attention outside the cloisters of the golf
establishment, it would hurry their decision to open to women. Sitting
in front of the television watching the end of the Masters two days
later, I casually mentioned to my daughter-in-law that the club didn't
admit women, and we were going to try to put some pressure on them to
change.
It was not a new area of controversy. Private clubs and secret
societies have existed in the United States since before the country's
founding; some of them, like the Freemasons, were brought over by the
colonists. The issue of whether those that restrict membership to
certain groups -- by definition, keeping out other groups -- are
harmful to society and infringe on the rights of the have-nots had
emerged in a large way for women in the late twentieth century. Women
were entering the business world in sufficient numbers to question
exclusionary club policies as detrimental to their ability to advance
on the same footing as men. The New York Times put it this way back in
1980, when women were litigating to open the doors of private clubs in
New York:
This disadvantage [in business] stems from the summary exclusion of
women from membership in men's clubs, wholly on the basis of their
sex. Evidence strongly suggests that these clubs can be essential to
professional achievement. In fact, approximately one-third of all
businessmen obtain their jobs through personal contacts, and these
clubs strive to create an atmosphere that cultivates business deals
and contacts.
In theory, private clubs may be extensions of a person's home, and
therefore thoroughly private places. But in practice . . . they are
often extensions of the marketplace and world affairs. The current
effort in many places to strike down barriers against . . . women and
others is not just an effort by once excluded groups to find new
company where they aren't wanted. It is an effort to throw open the
meeting grounds of business and politics and to eliminate, once and
for all, barriers that are unquestionably rooted in discrimination.
The New York case is illustrative of the history of private club
discrimination, and legal efforts to end or amend it. It goes to the
heart of the question of women's (and, earlier, minority men's)
struggle to be accepted as equals in the business world. Private
"social" clubs where business was done were particularly disdainful of
the few women who made it to the upper echelons of business, and their
policies were personally and professionally humiliating.
Muriel Siebert, the first woman to own her own seat on the New York
Stock Exchange and at the time Superintendent of Banks for the State
of New York, testified in 1973 before the New York City Commission on
Human Rights that as a trainee she had for years been passed over when
her bosses sent male colleagues to seminars and meetings at private
clubs because they knew she would be excluded, and of current
experiences such as having to enter the all-male Union League Club
through the kitchen in order to attend board meetings of the Sales
Executive Club.
When attending functions at the Locust Club in Philadelphia, a female
member of the Philadelphia City Council was forced to eat in the
basement, since female guests were seated separately from men for
dining.
Jacqueline Wexler, president of Hunter College in New York, was
removed from the lobby of the University Club by a doorman and ordered
to wait in the vestibule to the ladies' room.
A black woman foundation trustee, also escorted out of the lobby of
the University Club, observed that the insult was the same as she had
experienced in being evicted from restaurants in the South, despite
the genteel surroundings and absence of armed sheriffs.
A female executive of one of the country's largest public relations
firms was barred from walking down the main stairway at Pittsburgh's
Duquense Club with her CEO and the Fortune 500 board chairman to whom
she had just made a presentation.
Female oil executives at the Lafayette Petroleum Club were forced to
lunch alone while their colleagues joined other men in the main dining
room. They were also forced to sit in the hallways to listen to
speakers at monthly professional society meetings.
Perhaps because Augusta National seemed a throwback that would surely
follow other clubs into the twenty-first century with a little gentle
persuasion, confronting the club was not a front-burner issue with me.
NCWO has a broad agenda, and we were concentrating on a number of areas
such as affirmative action, Social Security, child care, reproductive
rights, and equality for women worldwide. Augusta could wait. I threw
the clips in a folder for my next steering committee meeting, a month
away. A couple of weeks later I met a woman named Rae Evans at a formal
dinner in Washington. She told me she was a new member of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association (LPGA) board, and I mentioned to her that
we were probably going to write to Augusta National about their
exclusion of women. She asked me to keep her in the loop.
When NCWO's steering committee met, the Augusta letter was the last
thing on the agenda, and it was barely discussed. None of the steering
committee members were golfers, and few followed sports other than
Title IX issues. I explained the situation, including Ward's statement
that he was going to work for change, and my conclusion that we could
help his efforts along. Everyone said, "Okay, write a letter." It was
so minor and so routine there was no reason even to take a formal vote.
I called Rae Evans and asked for a meeting because we didn't want to
interfere if the LPGA already had some kind of dialogue going with
Augusta National on opening to women. As an activist, I couldn't
imagine that they wouldn't be protesting the situation. At our meeting,
she told me that the LPGA did not have anything contemplated, and that
she would not like to see street protests. I replied that we could do
it either way -- in quiet negotiations or in the streets -- but that we
intended to begin with a private letter. Although I truly didn't
believe it would be necessary (I was still assuming the club would do
the right thing), I did tell Evans that we were fully prepared to go to
the sponsors. I knew that she could pass this information along to the
golf establishment, and again I thought it would only hurry Augusta
National's decision. She suggested that we copy the letter to James
Singerling at the Club Managers Association of America, in addition to
Lloyd Ward.
It took another month for me to get the letter written and distributed
to the steering committee before mailing. It went out on June 12, 2002,
and I pretty much forgot about it.
William Johnson
Chairman, Augusta National Golf Club
2604 Washington Road
Augusta, GA 30904
Dear Mr. Johnson:
The National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO) is the nation's
oldest and largest coalition of women's groups. Our 160 member
organizations represent women from all socioeconomic and demographic
groups, and collectively represent over seven million women nationwide.
Our member groups are very concerned that the nation's premier golf
event, the Masters, is hosted by a club that discriminates against
women by excluding them from membership. While we understand that there
is no written policy barring women, Augusta National's record speaks
for itself. As you know, no woman has been invited to join since the
club was formed in 1932.
We know that Augusta National and the sponsors of the Masters do not
want to be viewed as entities that tolerate discrimination against any
group, including women. We urge you to review your policies and
practices in this regard, and open your membership to women now, so
that this is not an issue when the tournament is staged next year. Our
leadership would be pleased to discuss this matter with you personally
or by telephone. I will contact you in the next few weeks.
Sincerely,
Martha Burk, Ph.D., Chair
CC: James Singerling, Club Managers Association of America
CC: Lloyd Ward, United States Olympic Committee
When a letter arrived by FedEx from Augusta National on July 9, I was
so busy I almost didn't open it. It was a terse three-sentence reply:
Dear Dr. Burk:
As you are aware, Augusta National Golf Club is a distinctly private
club and, as such, cannot talk about its membership and practices with
those outside the organization. I have found your letter's several
references to discrimination, allusions to the sponsors and your
setting of deadlines to be both offensive and coercive. I hope you will
understand why any further communication between us would not be
productive.
Sincerely,
William W. Johnson
Chairman
I tossed it aside, figuring I would deal with it later, mentioning to
my assistant in passing that we got a kiss-off letter from Augusta
National.
Ten minutes later, my phone rang. It was Doug Ferguson at the
Associated Press, asking about Hootie Johnson's response to my letter.
I was surprised to be getting any press call on this, much less from
the AP, because try as we might to get attention for "women's issues,"
the press doesn't ring very often. Social Security and child care just
aren't sexy enough topics. Anyway, I told Ferguson that I really hadn't
had time to think about it, and that it was only three sentences
telling me Johnson didn't want to communicate with me. Ferguson said he
didn't mean that response, but the three-page press release the club
had sent out. I told him I was unaware of a press release, so he read
it to me for my reaction. (He also faxed it at my request after the
interview, a tremendous help for what was to come.)
We have been contacted by Martha Burk, Chair of the National Council
of Women's Organizations (NCWO), and strongly urged to radically
change our membership. Dr. Burk said this change should take place
before the Masters Tournament next spring in order to avoid it
becoming "an issue." She suggested that NCWO's leadership "discuss
this matter" with us.
We want the American public to be aware of this action right from the beginning. We have advised Dr. Burk that we do not intend to
participate in such backroom discussions.
We take our membership very seriously. It is the very fabric of our
club. Our members are people who enjoy each other's company and the
game of golf. Our membership alone decides our membership -- not any
outside group with its own agenda.
We are not unmindful of the good work undertaken by Dr. Burk's
organization in global human rights, Social Security reform,
reproductive health, education, spousal abuse and workplace equity,
among others. We are therefore puzzled as to why they have targeted
our private golf club.
Dr. Burk's letter incorporates a deadline tied to the Masters and
refers to sponsors of the tournament's telecast. These references make
it abundantly clear that Augusta National Golf Club is being
threatened with a public campaign designed to use economic pressure to
achieve a goal of NCWO.
Augusta National and the Masters -- while happily entwined -- are
quite different. One is a private club. The other is a world-class
sports event of great public interest. It is insidious to attempt to
use one to alter the essence of the other. The essence of a private
club is privacy.
Nevertheless, the threatening tone of Dr. Burk's letter signals the probability of a full-scale effort to force Augusta National to yield
to NCWO's will.
We expect such a campaign would attempt to depict the members of our
club as insensitive bigots and coerce the sponsors of the Masters to
disassociate themselves under threat -- real or implied -- of boycotts
and other economic pressures.
We might see "celebrity" interviews and talk show guests discussing
the "morality" of private clubs. We could also anticipate op-ed
articles and editorials.
There could be attempts at direct contact with board members of
sponsoring corporations and inflammatory mailings to stockholders and
investment institutions. We might see everything from picketing and
boycotts to T-shirts and bumper stickers. On the internet, there could
be active chat rooms and email messaging. These are all elements of
such campaigns.
We certainly hope none of that happens. However, the message delivered to us was clearly coercive.
We will not be bullied, threatened or intimidated.
Obviously, Dr. Burk and her colleagues view themselves as agents of
change and feel any organization that has stood the test of time and
has strong roots in tradition -- and does not fit their profile --
needs to be changed.
We do not intend to become a trophy in their display case.
There may well come a day when women will be invited to join our
membership but that timetable will be ours and not at the point of a
bayonet.
We do not intend to be further distracted by this matter. We will not
make additional comments or respond to the taunts and gripes
artificially generated by the corporate campaign.
We shall continue our traditions and prepare Augusta National Golf Club to host the Masters as we have since 1934.
With all due respect, we hope Dr. Burk and her colleagues recognize
the sanctity of our privacy and continue their good work in a more
appropriate arena.
I was astounded by the tone and language in the press release, but I
went ahead and did the AP interview, it's fair to say with zero
preparation. Being only a casual golf fan and knowing some tournaments
moved around year to year, I made one mistake: I said if Augusta
National didn't open to women, perhaps the tournament should be moved.
I didn't know, of course, that the club owns the Masters and it never
moves, while the other PGA Tour events move every year. Ferguson
printed the gaffe, and it was used against me repeatedly by those who
disagreed with our position. Though the language differed, the essence
was "What is she doing sticking her nose into golf? The dumb bitch
doesn't even know Augusta National owns the Masters." Just in case
anyone doubts that a double standard is alive and well, Jesse Jackson
made the same mistake on television a month or so later, and not a
single member of the press made an issue of it, or dared call him dumb
or uninformed.
My phone continued to ring all afternoon. The New York Times, The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and
many others called. I was on the radio and CNN by evening, but I still
thought it was a one-day story. Boy, was I wrong. The media firestorm
would continue for most of the next year. For better or worse, I would
become a central figure in the controversy about power, money, gender,
and exclusion that played out on hundreds of talk radio shows, dozens
of television debates on all the major networks, and in the pages of
The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and People magazine, not
to mention in kitchen table discussions and family arguments around the
country.
Those that didn't get it thought we were making a big deal out of
nothing -- what difference does it make if a few rich guys get together
and chase a little ball around? As feminists, it went without saying
that we knew this was never about golf. It was about power, about
keeping women out of places where important business is done, and most
of all, about how sex discrimination is viewed in business circles and
by extension in society at large. The press knew it, the club knew it,
and judging from our e-mails, most of the public knew it too.
Tirades from both sides of the gender divide poured into our office --
close to five hundred e-mails a day. Not all the men were against us,
nor all the women for us. But all had strong opinions. On the one hand,
it wasn't about golf, it was about why women ought not to serve in
combat. It was about the Equal Rights Amendment that would emasculate
men, and everyone being forced to use unisex toilets. It was about men
wanting to pee behind the trees without women seeing them. It was about
women being physically weaker, that's why they shouldn't be
firefighters. It was about my wife (whom I'm speaking for), who doesn't
make as much money as I do, so yes, she has to do the dishes after her
workday; that's fair. It was about you feminists are on the wrong track
because I'm a female college student and all this gender stuff was
settled ages ago. It was about you cunts destroying the world for
whites and red-blooded men who hate fags.
On the other side, it was about all the crap I have to put up with at
work from that sorry guy who I trained and now makes more than I do. It
was about why my husband picks up his socks when the maid comes but not
when I'm doing the housework. It was about my wife getting docked for
having to leave early to pick up our kid, but the guy next to her could
leave to get his car fixed without penalty. It was that this will
forevermore be about men and boys not wanting to give up any modicum of
power, and our willingness, as women -- like the frog in the pan of
warm water on the stove -- to remain comfy and confident in our pan of
warm water, waiting . . . well, we all know what happened to the frog.
Copyright © 2005 Martha Burk
Dr. Martha Burk is a psychologist and women's equity expert who is
cofounder and president of the Center for Advancement of Public Policy
in Washington, D.C. Currently serving as chair of the National Council
of Women's Organizations, she is also a syndicated columnist and
appears frequently on television and radio. She and her husband live in
Washington, D.C.
For more information, visit http://www.cultofpower.com
Published by Scribner; April 2005;$23.00US/$33.50CAN; 0-7432-6450-9
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