Country Club - Exclusion Based On Race and Ethnicity

Exclusion Based On Race and Ethnicity

Country Clubs in western society are notorious for preserving the white, Anglo-Saxon image of the high-income family. Country clubs promote sameness in order to insure the comfort level of pre-existing members. This became hotly contested with the development of human rights and the civil-rights movement. Diversity began to arise slowly within the American country club. Country clubs originally catered towards those with a disposable income, and therefore, largely catered to whites. However, Anglo-Saxon’s were not the only wealthy American’s during the early 1900’s, yet they were the only ethnicity eligible for country club membership. Many Jewish individuals were equivalently wealthy and financially capable of affording a membership during this era, however were denied entrance based on ethnicity. Country clubs aimed to retain ethnic characteristics and intended to distinguish “those who are in from those who are out.” Although diversity is becoming more apparent within the gates of country clubs, it has been a slow process. Clubs constantly denied admission to Jews, regardless of background or wealth. In 1962 Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith inspected 803 country clubs and found only 224 clubs to be nondiscriminatory. The majority of the clubs inspected excluded Jews while others had quotas, which prevented Jewish sub-culture from forming within a country club. However, this resulted in the formation of exclusively Jewish country clubs, further perpetuating the problem of segregation.

Exclusion based on race and ethnicity continues to be an issue in today’s society. Indian Creek Country Club has roughly 300 members, many of whom are permanent residence on the island. However, none of the island’s wealthy Jewish residents (with the exception of one) are members. Since the club is under 400 members, Florida law states that the club has the ability to exclude whomever it desires. The Indian Creek Country Club has only had a handful of Jewish members and no African American has ever held a membership. Country clubs exclude by othering based on culture. Although it is illegal to discriminate based on race or ethnicity, country clubs continue to promote WASP culture and form distinctions based on new money vs. old money. Othering of certain ethnic groups is reflected in the size of ethnic populations within a country club, which is almost always a minority. Insuring minorities of sub-cultures preserves a WASP majority and results in “WASPs in this area to feel less threatened.”

However, there have been great improvements and certain clubs have gone on record boasting about diversity. Although racial and ethnic assimilation has occurred in many country clubs, there is little variation of culture and socioeconomic class.