Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse under scrutiny for elite club affiliations

[brooklynite]

Source: Axios

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said in a statement Wednesday that he is a member of an exclusive Rhode Island sailing club that lacks diversity.

Why it matters: Whitehouse has repeatedly spoken out against systemic racism and come under scrutiny this week for his family's affiliation with elite clubs. This is the second such club accused of lacking diversity that the senator has been linked to in recent days

Whitehouse on Monday defended his family's participation in the private Bailey's Beach Club, which was reported to only have white members. Both the senator and the club deny this allegation, but Go Local Providence is standing by its report.

Whitehouse said in a statement Wednesday that the matter made him reflect on his affiliations and that while the sailing club "does not have exclusionary rules for membership, it does lack diversity."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/sheldon-whitehouse-sailing-club-diversity-afe92db1-f522-4b87-b8d0-b7890d1c88cc.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onhrs

---

Sigh...

[bamagal62]

1. It's Rhode Island.

The whole state is nothing but white, right?
Less than 10% of ANY race other than white, if I did my research correctly. The whole state lacks diversity.

[Marrah_Goodman]

12. I am from Ri

Not a huge amount of diversity outside of Providence and extremely little in the higher income brackets.

[Kahuna]

40. Duh. This is nonsense. nt

[mahina]

2. Oh look , bullshit

Let’s Franken him.

NOT

Want to know why?

He also called out the heritage foundations supreme court push and colossal funding.

Don’t take the bullshit bait

[DURHAM D]

4. I was going to post a note and call the OP drivel.

Your post is better.

Rec

[mahina]

29. I know the OP and am not calling out the individual but the info.

[PatSeg]

44. That was my reaction as well

Sounds like someone(s) was on a fishing expedition, looking for or fabricating controversy where none exists. Whitehouse must be a threat to some people.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. I grew up in various Sailing (and UK Motor Sports Car) Clubs in the SF Bay Area

Membership was almost all white (but not entirely) but it was through no purposeful discrimination on the part of the Clubs membership whatsoever.

[brooklynite]

5. So its okay as long as its not "purposeful"?

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. That's what I'm unequivocally saying, yup.

Are you arguing that the Club should've gone to random AA folks, bought them sailboats, paid for the berths, and insisted they then join our little Sailing Club full of nerdy white people, even though they had no interest in sailing whatsoever?

Cause I have to disagree.

[bamagal62]

18. Not that it's ok. But, it's probably more

an issue of income bracket in that state. No one states whether any people of color have tried to become members. This is probably a 1%er issue.

[ShazzieB]

65. Good point.

[questionseverything]

7. Has a person of color applied and been denied?

Rh is 80 percent white and elite clubs are usually expensive

Sailing is expensive too

If a person of color has been denied entrance then maybe this is a story but so far it seems like shit stirring

[Scrivener7]

9. This.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

13. Exactly ...

As an aside ... sailboat ownership is financially one of the dumbest 'investments' you can possibly make. A sailboat is a bottomless hole in the water into which you pour money, basically.

Unless you love sailing ... you don't buy a sailboat, and you don't join a Sailing Club.

[questionseverything]

15. All boats are money pits

The two happiest days of a boat owners life….the day you get the boat and the day you get rid of the boat!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

23. Exactly, and hence 'not belonging to a Sailing Club' hints at a measure of wisdom (nt)

[bamagal62]

14. From what I've read it's even higher.

Like 90% white. 6% African American.

[Historic NY]

17. Of course it is...

everyone pays dues, you can better the rules say how much money they have to spend yearly too. No different than a golf club. Near me they opened up the dining to non-club members because there wasn't a lot of participation.

[gab13by13]

8. The GQP playbook

carried out by the MSM.

[SharonClark]

10. This has been in the news and discussed

on DU for at least a day. Why has no one been able to find out if it’s club policy to deny POC membership? Knowing that would determine if this is a story worth following.

Whitehouse should be able to provide that bit of information.

[PoliticAverse]

20. Sen. Whitehouse's beach club says accusations of all-white membership are 'inaccurate and false'

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/east-bay/baileys-beach-club-says-accusations-of-all-white-membership-are-inaccurate-and-false/

[msongs]

11. there are many clubs and groups that are race and ethnicity based nt

[Hugh_Lebowski]

22. And there are also some that just sorta naturally work out that way

based on cultural interests, without there being explicit rules regarding the race or ethnicity of it's members.

[Northwinds]

16. What a hypocrite.........

[TomSlick]

26. I am unsure things are as clear as you suggest.

If the club does not exclude on the basis of race but only white people choose to join, how is that being hypocritical?

[AZLD4Candidate]

33. Provide proof please, Mr. "I only have ten posts and I'm already attacking Democrats"

[Hugh_Lebowski]

50. Guess you won't be getting it ...

[AZLD4Candidate]

52. If you're talking the evidence Whitehouse is a hypocrite

Conservatives never provide evidence, or else they provide either anecdotal evidence, or cherry pick and then ask leading questions or put up red herrings.

I still haven't gotten the evidence and I'm shocked MIRT hasn't done its job yet.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

55. Truth right there. But don't forget 'or totally move the goalposts and act like they didn't'

There's also their famous 'But what about Hillary?' defense

[Hekate]

37. Really?

Welcome to DU. Enjoy your stay.

[SharonClark]

19. There's a post from Omaha Steve where

the club says the membership restrictions are inaccurate and they welcome people of every race and ethnicity.

[questionseverything]

21. The first club has an grand dame with a black son in law and mixed

Grandkids that are welcome

Even if these places meant to be “whites only” at one time, the kids will marry who they wish and all grandparents see is beautiful babies

[Ellipsis]

24. Ah geez, this is nothing.

[mountain grammy]

25. quit the club (or don't) but not the Senate

Not another Al Franken. Not another excellent Senator. Another repuke hit job.

[Bluepinky]

27. Agree. Stay on task, Sen. Whitehouse.

The fact that this is even a story is because his anti-GOP rhetoric is effective. The right wingers have probably searched high and low for a sex or money scandal on him, couldn’t find anything, and settled on this non-story.

[mountain grammy]

34. Exactly

[NJCher]

38. Sheldon Whitehouse is one of our best senators

The right wingers have probably searched high and low for a sex or money scandal on him, couldn’t find anything, and settled on this non-story.

Whitehouse has the ideal background for a senator. He's worked in areas that are valuable to us now, such as the environment. Way back in 2015 he wanted to take action against the fossil fuel purveyors under the RICO Act! He takes initiative in areas that most people don't even think of--and that is because of his broad, varied background. He covers a lot of bases. I have watched him for years because he always has something valuable to offer.

I'm on my union's executive committee and back when we had to fight JANUS, Whitehouse filed an amicus brief supporting our position.

In addition, have you ever watched him in a Senate inquiry? Always asks questions that hit home. He is invariably well prepared.

I can't think of any reason for this story other than what you've suggested here. We know the right wing consistently seeks to take down our best people. This makes as much sense as anything I can think of.

[PatSeg]

45. Spot on!

This is what can happen to highly effective Democrats in government. Someone is creating controversy to try and take Whitehouse down.

[NJCher]

46. when we see this kind of stuff

we ought to notice where the story breaks first. See if there are some commonalities. I used to work in marketing and PR so I know how story placement is done. There also might be some common media contacts.

It would not surprise me if they have some type of research team that goes after the most effective Dems and comes up with this kind of stuff. Then they contact the reporters with their "tip." Notice how the story content is intended to divide? It goes after one of our objectives, which is social integration. The attack is about social elitism.

I'm going to bookmark these incidents to see if I can spot anything. There are always patterns.

If a pattern develops, reporters can be warned not to be saps for the right wing.

[PatSeg]

47. Good point

Not sure if we can convince reporters not to be saps for the right wing though. They are so conditioned to react to this crap, but we can always hope.

[vercetti2021]

28. Who gives a shit?

Isn't RI like 80% to 85% caucasian?

[Martin68]

30. Does the club literally exclude minorities? A sailing club in an expensive residential area

Last edited Thu Jun 24, 2021, 04:18 PM - Edit history (1)

could be fairly inaccessible to anybody who can't afford to live there. The boat maintenance and the berthing fees can be extremely high. I'm white, and I'm sure I can't afford them. Should they be bussing people like me in so I can join their club? I probably couldn't afford the dues. How far should they bend to prove that they aren't prejudiced? There were many clubs (country clubs, golf clubs, tennis clubs) in the 50s and even 60s that specifically excluded Jewish people, Catholics and other minorities. Should a club be forced to lower its dues and bus people in to prove they are not prejudiced?

[bamagal62]

32. Exactly. I don't even know how to

Sail. So, I would never even apply. Plus, I probably couldn’t afford it anyway. Sailing is kind of a cultural thing. The people I know who sail, grew up sailing. Occasionally, you get those in the Keys that learn it when moving there. But, when you’re talking northeast, you grew up sailing by going to summer sailing camps. This is cultural. Not racial. I had a friend in high school in the south that went to sailing camp every summer. Her family was not southern. It was something they learned how to do. It was part of their culture. They thought it was important for her to learn to sail. It was foreign to me at the time.

[Martin68]

51. My Dad taught me to sail, and it is something I love to do. I like canoes, too. So much

nicer than a stinky, noisy power boat.

[bamagal62]

56. Lucky you. I never learned.

[AZLD4Candidate]

31. How can Bernie Sanders understand the poor when he lives in a mansion?

A reporter laughed at anti-hunger advocate Harry Chapin when they were together discussing world hunger when he ordered himself a monster sized reuben. Chapin's response was "how does me going hungry help people who are already hungry."

This is the same thing. It may look bad if true, but his fight against systemic racism is authentic.

[karynnj]

49. Neither Vermont house is even close to a mansion

I get your intent is to say that someone who is wealthy can fight for those who are not.

[AZLD4Candidate]

53. It's what I heard the FR/Newsmax/OANN/Fox News/AM Radio crowd refer to it as

Irrelevant if they are or aren't, to them you need to be poor to fight for the poor, and you need to be what they say you are to fight the systemic racism conservatives created and profit from.

The entire idea sickens me to death.

[Hekate]

35. Oh look, another opportunity to eat our own

Shall we do this one up with BQ sauce or salsa? Or shall we just Franken him?

[TheAnnoyedAgnostic]

36. Bad faith BS

Republicans aren’t interested in systematic racism, this is just a gotcha to call Dems hypocrites and then ignore it.

[PatSeg]

48. So true

Welcome to DU!

[TomSlick]

58. Yep.

Welcome to DU!

[TrollBuster9090]

39. Okay, fuck this. Starting now, NO MORE DEMOCRAT PHANTOM SACKS!

Here we go again. By all means, let's throw one of the best Senators we've got onto the same trash heap with Van Jones, Al Frankin, Melissa Harris Perry, and a dozen other competent progressives who fell to a PHANTOM SACK!

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a PHANTO SACK is where a skittish quarterback throws himself on the ground because he's afraid he MIGHT be TACKLED.

Fuck that. We're not doing this anymore.

This is an ATTEMPTED FRANKIN, and the only response to an attempted FRANKIN is a REID/RICE RIDE OUT! When they tried to assassinate Joy Reid, we CLOSED RANKS, and RODE IT OUT, and she's STILL HERE. And boy am I glad!

They attempted a FRANKLIN on SUSAN RICE, too. But we CLOSED RANKS, RODE IT OUT, and RICE is still here, too!

[JohnnyRingo]

41. Will we send him the way of Al Franken?

The republicans have had a bad run lately, they could use a good laugh.
Ask ourselves: What would Mitch do?

[Icono Classless Jerk]

42. Daniel McKee (D) is RI's Governor

Just sayin'

[BlueStater]

54. Why would he have to resign over this?

It’s not illegal to be a member of a sailing club. Looking hypocritical is not a crime.

[Icono Classless Jerk]

61. Appearance Over Reality

You know that. We're living in Zuckerberg's World, after all.

[TomSlick]

59. What are you suggesting?

Are you saying we can safely Franken Sen. Whitehouse because he will be replaced by a Democrat?

[Icono Classless Jerk]

62. Franken' was a Different Case

It was obvious to everyone except Silly Gilli that he was just clowning. Membership in an all-white club looks bad. (See above.)

And, to be clear, I'm not arguing for or against Whitehouse's resignation, but merely pointing out that there's a safety blanket should it come to that.

[TomSlick]

64. The Whitehouse case disturbs me.

If the club does not have discriminatory membership rules and is really open to people irrespective of race so long as they are interested in the club and will pay the freight, does membership in the club make a member a racist?

I play in a community band that has had a very few members in the past but none currently. We would dearly love to have black players, if they can play and help the rest of us bear the band's expenses. Does that look bad so as to disqualify me from public office?

Searching for a "safety net" is the start toward forcing Whitehouse out of the Senate.

[ancianita]

43. Don't believe the hype. Grade school politics of guilt by association are OUT.

[BradAllison]

57. Boy he really scared the fuck out of someone n/m

[ShazamIam]

60. I hope he handles it, it is pure cancel culture.

[onetexan]

63. This is BS. Nowhere in the article does it mention a case where the club denied a nonwhite person

membership. Just because the club is all white doesn't mean it's racist. It just means there may have not been a nonwhite candidate who applied for membership, not to mention given it's a super exclusive club there may be certain terms they need to take into consideration.

[VarryOn]

66. He just needs to ride this out...

Like Northram and Cuomo. Three months from now, this is water under the bridge. He's one of our best in the Senate.