Burk Leads Protests at Augusta During the Masters

Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, led a group of supporters Saturday, protesting the sex-discriminatory all-male membership of Augusta National Golf Club, site of last week's Masters Golf Tournament. Despite the disappointing federal court ruling last week rejecting Burk’s request to protest at the club’s front gates, Burk carried her message unwaveringly. “What we want to ask IBM and GE is if they’re comfortable about their customers’ keeping their dollars out the company till. It is women who put dollars into those companies every day. Today we are protesting with placards; next, women will protest with their pocketbooks,” Burk said, according to the New York Times. Responding to charges that her fight was trivial, Burk asserted, “[Augusta] is a for-profit corporation deriving revenue from public broadcasts over public airwaves…This is symbolic of all the ways women are left out. It legitimizes sex discrimination when American CEO’s are engaging in it with impunity. It’s not proper, as they say in Augusta,” according to the Times.

Media Resources: Washington Post 4/10/03; NY Times 4/11/03, 4/13/03, 4/14/03; Feminist Daily News Wire

© Feminist Majority Foundation, publisher of Ms. magazine

If you liked this story, consider making a tax-deductible donation to support Ms. magazine.