Is the Chevy Chase Club Racist?

[Anonymous]

This would be a great human interest story for WaPo. Clubs like this are reliable reinforcements for systemic racism. Things like warm intros, unpaid internships, monetary gifts and no-interest loans are born in environments like this. The relationships and carefully nurtured and cultivated, so much so that you don’t even realize it. Black people have historically been excluded and actively discouraged from joining groups like this for decades, likely via violent means in years past. If you think your parents and forefathers didn’t know what they were doing and how to best enforce their intimidation I have a bridge to sell you.

Yet people In this thread are wondering why black people are still unwilling to join though the current members come from the same families, the same neighborhoods, go to the same schools and work in the same companies as their forefathers who birthed and nourished the culture and intimidated our parents.

When you guys (meaning you privileged whites) are serious about tackling systemic racism, you will talk about your affirmative action. Meaning birthrights to clubs like these, down payments for homes as wedding gifts, let alone inheritances that the rest of us could only dream of, coming from African countries that were exploited Europe and the US and from American families that were only granted the opportunity to pursue a free education in the US without risk of life or limb within the last generation.

WaPo... this is a story. If you’re listening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This would be a great human interest story for WaPo. Clubs like this are reliable reinforcements for systemic racism. Things like warm intros, unpaid internships, monetary gifts and no-interest loans are born in environments like this. The relationships and carefully nurtured and cultivated, so much so that you don’t even realize it. Black people have historically been excluded and actively discouraged from joining groups like this for decades, likely via violent means in years past. If you think your parents and forefathers didn’t know what they were doing and how to best enforce their intimidation I have a bridge to sell you.

Yet people In this thread are wondering why black people are still unwilling to join though the current members come from the same families, the same neighborhoods, go to the same schools and work in the same companies as their forefathers who birthed and nourished the culture and intimidated our parents.

When you guys (meaning you privileged whites) are serious about tackling systemic racism, you will talk about your affirmative action. Meaning birthrights to clubs like these, down payments for homes as wedding gifts, let alone inheritances that the rest of us could only dream of, coming from African countries that were exploited Europe and the US and from American families that were only granted the opportunity to pursue a free education in the US without risk of life or limb within the last generation.

WaPo... this is a story. If you’re listening.

NP. You raise some very valid issues. I would also add discrimination against Jewish families to your points especially in the DC/CC area. They were also not allowed to join or even be guests at this club or live in many neighborhoods such as Chevy Chase. That prevented them from forming many relationships as well. In fact friends that are members have said the only families at Chevy that have been blackballed are either Jewish or AA and they were talking about within the 5 years.

[Anonymous]

I would never join any club (archaic, and I don't play golf), but they are private clubs with a high entrance fee. Private. Don't like it, don't join. I'm sure there are many connections made there, like at any club.

But what's to stop people from creating their own club? Create your own private club based on your ideals. Make connections.

In fact, isn't that what Jewish people did? They created their own club -- Woodmont, and even talked about not allowing Obama to join due to his stance on Israeli settlements:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/could-obamas-golfing-options-depend-on-his-middle-east-policy/2017/01/13/3e7f2bc6-d8e9-11e6-9f9f-5cdb4b7f8dd7_story.html?utm_term=.fae8c4590e38&tid=a_inl_manual

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This would be a great human interest story for WaPo. Clubs like this are reliable reinforcements for systemic racism. Things like warm intros, unpaid internships, monetary gifts and no-interest loans are born in environments like this. The relationships and carefully nurtured and cultivated, so much so that you don’t even realize it. Black people have historically been excluded and actively discouraged from joining groups like this for decades, likely via violent means in years past. If you think your parents and forefathers didn’t know what they were doing and how to best enforce their intimidation I have a bridge to sell you.

Yet people In this thread are wondering why black people are still unwilling to join though the current members come from the same families, the same neighborhoods, go to the same schools and work in the same companies as their forefathers who birthed and nourished the culture and intimidated our parents.

When you guys (meaning you privileged whites) are serious about tackling systemic racism, you will talk about your affirmative action. Meaning birthrights to clubs like these, down payments for homes as wedding gifts, let alone inheritances that the rest of us could only dream of, coming from African countries that were exploited Europe and the US and from American families that were only granted the opportunity to pursue a free education in the US without risk of life or limb within the last generation.

WaPo... this is a story. If you’re listening.

I think the way they keep black people out is through the initiation fees. It must cost at least $150K to join now, plus monthly fees. I'm black and we used to live in CC. Quite a few of our neighbors were members of Columbia CC. It was fascinating because at the time (2002 - 2006), fees were $60K for a regular membership and $30K if you were under 35. I felt like people in the know knew to join early however $3K at that time was no joke either.

[Anonymous]

Historically AA cities like DC, Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta and New Orleans have a municipal black "upper class" with infrastructure that leads to warm introductions, internships etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I belonged through my father beginning in 1953. I could not bring my best friend, whose father was Jewish, through 1971 when I went off to college.

501c 7 tax exempt status criteria forbids discrimination.

How often are they audited? Unless someone is messing with the paper trail that would show how many families have applied and whether they were blackballed and if there is a discrepancy in race or religion it would show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I belonged through my father beginning in 1953. I could not bring my best friend, whose father was Jewish, through 1971 when I went off to college.

501c 7 tax exempt status criteria forbids discrimination.

How often are they audited? Unless someone is messing with the paper trail that would show how many families have applied and whether they were blackballed and if there is a discrepancy in race or religion it would show.

Blackballing doesn’t happen without the board members approval. So depending on when one applied if they were blackballed they would be able to know who approved it by obtaining a list of board members and membership committee chair at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I belonged through my father beginning in 1953. I could not bring my best friend, whose father was Jewish, through 1971 when I went off to college.

501c 7 tax exempt status criteria forbids discrimination.

How often are they audited? Unless someone is messing with the paper trail that would show how many families have applied and whether they were blackballed and if there is a discrepancy in race or religion it would show.

Blackballing doesn’t happen without the board members approval. So depending on when one applied if they were blackballed they would be able to know who approved it by obtaining a list of board members and membership committee chair at the time.

The fault in this logic would be that in the admissions process, one would need to request and document race/religion/etc during any application process. Which would be illegal itself. So how would one ever get this data? And if you think that some governmental agency is going to start auditing non-profits for their racial/religious mix, you've gone off your rocker. Can't just single out one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I belonged through my father beginning in 1953. I could not bring my best friend, whose father was Jewish, through 1971 when I went off to college.

501c 7 tax exempt status criteria forbids discrimination.

How often are they audited? Unless someone is messing with the paper trail that would show how many families have applied and whether they were blackballed and if there is a discrepancy in race or religion it would show.

Blackballing doesn’t happen without the board members approval. So depending on when one applied if they were blackballed they would be able to know who approved it by obtaining a list of board members and membership committee chair at the time.

Not how it works. I know of a few people who got blocked. One was a notorious neighborhood speeder. Hit 50 mph on local streets all the time and was repeatedly asked to cut it out around the kids. When he applied, one of the folks who had asked him to slow down many, many times simply wrote a note for his file that documented his activities. He was done. I know of another person who readily mocked members and the club in social gatherings. Oddly, he later applied. Many noted his disdain in his file. I know another who was nasty as can be to staff at another location. His treatment of such folks was documented in his file. The board sees this stuff but it’s really the other members who deliver the materials that leads to the denial.

[Anonymous]

Would it be better if country clubs hired white people only? I know someone who works for Columbia and is incredibly grateful for the job that pays well and has benefits and is complimentary of the members. I suspect the employees of CCC feel the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would it be better if country clubs hired white people only? I know someone who works for Columbia and is incredibly grateful for the job that pays well and has benefits and is complimentary of the members. I suspect the employees of CCC feel the same way.

NP. This thread is not about a Columbia. Columbia and Congressional have evolved and have many Jewish and AA members now. Chevy is stuck in time and apparently still blackballing Jewish families and AA families unless they are republicans. This is directly from current members’ mouths. Why would they lie?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I belonged through my father beginning in 1953. I could not bring my best friend, whose father was Jewish, through 1971 when I went off to college.

501c 7 tax exempt status criteria forbids discrimination.

How often are they audited? Unless someone is messing with the paper trail that would show how many families have applied and whether they were blackballed and if there is a discrepancy in race or religion it would show.

Blackballing doesn’t happen without the board members approval. So depending on when one applied if they were blackballed they would be able to know who approved it by obtaining a list of board members and membership committee chair at the time.

Not how it works. I know of a few people who got blocked. One was a notorious neighborhood speeder. Hit 50 mph on local streets all the time and was repeatedly asked to cut it out around the kids. When he applied, one of the folks who had asked him to slow down many, many times simply wrote a note for his file that documented his activities. He was done. I know of another person who readily mocked members and the club in social gatherings. Oddly, he later applied. Many noted his disdain in his file. I know another who was nasty as can be to staff at another location. His treatment of such folks was documented in his file. The board sees this stuff but it’s really the other members who deliver the materials that leads to the denial.

NP. Interesting I was looking for another thread on racism and of course this one came up about Chevy. In regards to Chevy i have heard from many people in the know that they use creative ways to not admit Jewish or African American applicants and that they still blackball families. For instance 4 or 5 years ago they blackballed a half Jewish family by asking the applicant to withdraw because they didn’t want it to be made public that they were blackballing them. That is a true story and is being looked into. It was known one of them was Jewish because a Chevy board member’s spouse had made jokes in public about the Jewish applicant to the point that they had to apologize. As a 501c 7 tax exempt club you are not allowed to discriminate based on race or religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I belonged through my father beginning in 1953. I could not bring my best friend, whose father was Jewish, through 1971 when I went off to college.

501c 7 tax exempt status criteria forbids discrimination.

How often are they audited? Unless someone is messing with the paper trail that would show how many families have applied and whether they were blackballed and if there is a discrepancy in race or religion it would show.

Blackballing doesn’t happen without the board members approval. So depending on when one applied if they were blackballed they would be able to know who approved it by obtaining a list of board members and membership committee chair at the time.

Not how it works. I know of a few people who got blocked. One was a notorious neighborhood speeder. Hit 50 mph on local streets all the time and was repeatedly asked to cut it out around the kids. When he applied, one of the folks who had asked him to slow down many, many times simply wrote a note for his file that documented his activities. He was done. I know of another person who readily mocked members and the club in social gatherings. Oddly, he later applied. Many noted his disdain in his file. I know another who was nasty as can be to staff at another location. His treatment of such folks was documented in his file. The board sees this stuff but it’s really the other members who deliver the materials that leads to the denial.

NP. Interesting I was looking for another thread on racism and of course this one came up about Chevy. In regards to Chevy i have heard from many people in the know that they use creative ways to not admit Jewish or African American applicants and that they still blackball families. For instance 4 or 5 years ago they blackballed a half Jewish family by asking the applicant to withdraw because they didn’t want it to be made public that they were blackballing them. That is a true story and is being looked into. It was known one of them was Jewish because a Chevy board member’s spouse had made jokes in public about the Jewish applicant to the point that they had to apologize. As a 501c 7 tax exempt club you are not allowed to discriminate based on race or religion.

I also heard about this. It would be easy to ask the Chevy board members at the time about it. They are listed in the membership directory. It was recent enough someone would have a copy. Also GM Luke O’Boyle was the manager at that time as well. He may be able to answer questions.

[Anonymous]

They aren't racist but they are snobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This would be a great human interest story for WaPo. Clubs like this are reliable reinforcements for systemic racism. Things like warm intros, unpaid internships, monetary gifts and no-interest loans are born in environments like this. The relationships and carefully nurtured and cultivated, so much so that you don’t even realize it. Black people have historically been excluded and actively discouraged from joining groups like this for decades, likely via violent means in years past. If you think your parents and forefathers didn’t know what they were doing and how to best enforce their intimidation I have a bridge to sell you.

Yet people In this thread are wondering why black people are still unwilling to join though the current members come from the same families, the same neighborhoods, go to the same schools and work in the same companies as their forefathers who birthed and nourished the culture and intimidated our parents.

When you guys (meaning you privileged whites) are serious about tackling systemic racism, you will talk about your affirmative action. Meaning birthrights to clubs like these, down payments for homes as wedding gifts, let alone inheritances that the rest of us could only dream of, coming from African countries that were exploited Europe and the US and from American families that were only granted the opportunity to pursue a free education in the US without risk of life or limb within the last generation.

WaPo... this is a story. If you’re listening.

I think the way they keep black people out is through the initiation fees. It must cost at least $150K to join now, plus monthly fees. I'm black and we used to live in CC. Quite a few of our neighbors were members of Columbia CC. It was fascinating because at the time (2002 - 2006), fees were $60K for a regular membership and $30K if you were under 35. I felt like people in the know knew to join early however $3K at that time was no joke either.

Keep in mind that 99+% of non-black families are excluded from CCs not because of racism but because of fees and/or lack of social connections needed to join. These people also lack access to the internships, loans, connections, etc. that membership offers. The issue is a lot broader than racism. It speaks more to the growing wealth and class divide the cycle whereby the rich keep getting richer and the rest are left behind.