01:01 AM
04/26/24
04/26/24
March 05, 2003
When last we left the Augusta National situation, a Klansman had announced plans to protest in support of the National druing next month's Masters tournament. This column by Gwen Knapp of the SF Chronicle has some of the best comments about Hootie Johnson's duck-hook into controversy with his 'point of a bayonet' comment. (unfortunately, you need to scroll down to Paragraph 4 "Dear Ms. Demeanor" to begin) {more inside}
What a huge disservice one act has done to a history of honorable actions.
posted by worldcup2002 at 09:19 AM on March 05, 2003
Gwen Knapp summarizes Hootie Johnson’s bogey like this: “All he had to do was send a polite letter back to Martha (Burk): I understand your concern. We're going to look into the matter. I already invite women to play the course quite often. I would be pleased to host you some day, Ms. Burk, and perhaps have lunch. Thank you for writing to me. “I really believe that would have been the end of it. Burk might have come back to the topic someday, but she wouldn't have gotten this much attention on her own. She needed Hootie in a huff to make that happen. “It all came down to one person, someone who is smart enough to know better. And now Hootie Johnson, previously known as a civil-rights advocate, has a Klansman in his corner. Forget Greg Norman at the '96 Masters. Forget Jean Van de Velde at the '99 British Open. This was the biggest choke in golf history.” As for Hootie being a “civil-rights advocate”, as Knapp puts it. A bio on PGATOUR.com says, “Notable: Helped to integrate higher education in South Carolina in 1968.” An October 2002 profile of Hootie in USA Today says: -$25 million donation from Darla Moore for the University of South Carolina School of Business. It was Johnson's idea to name it the Moore School of Business, believed to be the only one named after a woman at a major U.S. university. -Johnson has supported African-Americans such as Clyburn for public office. As a banker, he appointed African-Americans and women to his corporate boards. He made loans to minorities when others wouldn't. -In the wake of the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre — three South Carolina State University students participating in civil rights protests were killed by state troopers — Johnson worked on a plan for the peaceful desegregation of the state's colleges and universities. -Current South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges was quoted in The State in Columbia, saying Johnson was the first businessman who pushed to have the Confederate flag removed from the state house in Columbia.