(April 26, 2018) YORK, Pa. — After five African American women said they endured race and gender discrimination at a Pennsylvania golf club, a state lawmaker wants an investigation into the case.
Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, (D-Pa.)
In a Wednesday (April 25) letter, state Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, a Democrat representing Philadelphia and Montgomery County, Pa., made the request to M. Joel Bolstein, interim chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, into what he called “a troubling and disturbing incident.”
APPALLED AT THE SITUATION
“I’m just so damned frustrated,” Hughes wrote on his website. “We have to deal with situations like this too frequently. This time, police determined it was not a matter they should have been involved in, but it is appalling that someone would call the police for a non-violent incident where the only crime was being black on a public golf course.”
The five women, Sandra Thompson, 50; Myneca Ojo, 56; sisters Sandra Harrison, 59, and Carolyn Dow, 56, and Karen Crosby, 58, initially were told Saturday on the second hole at Grandview Golf Club in Dover, Pa., they were not keeping the pace of play by former York County Commissioner Steve Chronister, who told them he was the club’s owner, they said. The women say no one else at the club was treated the way they were.
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Later, the women were told they had been timed on their break between holes 9 and 10 and had taken too long. They were then asked to leave, offered their membership money refunded, and the police were called.
“I felt we were discriminated against,” Ojo said Sunday. “It was a horrific experience.”
On his Twitter page, Hughes posted about one of the videos shot during part of the incident: “The video speaks for itself, which is why I am asking for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to investigate the report of discrimination at Grandview Golf Club in York County, Pa. We must address discrimination on the state level.” Hughes then tagged Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. On Wednesday, a golf club member who was playing directly behind the women said the group kept pace on the course.
RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Black Women Golfers Claim Discrimination After Police Are Called for ‘Slow Play’ at White Owned Golf Course
Damen Carter-Mann’s statements contradict those made by the club’s ownership, who insist the women were golfing too slowly. Carter-Mann, 33, of Camp Hill, Pa., said he was part of a three-man group who teed off behind the women late Saturday morning.
THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING
“Not one time, from (hole) 1 to 9, did we catch up with those ladies,” said Carter-Mann. “If that’s what was happening, if they were targeted because of their gender or because of their race, it’s a shame. We are in 2018, this should not be happening.”
The story has made national headlines and comes on the heels of a high-profile case in Philadelphia where two black men, waiting for a business meeting, were arrested at Starbucks. Read more at USAToday.com
