This article today from The Nashville Scene about the fact that Belle Meade Country Club still only has one African-American member - which may be a problem for one judicial nominee who happens to be a member - got me to wondering.
I remember some years back - when I was in college, I think - protests over the fact that Cherokee Country Club was still all-white. The issue at the time, as I recall, was that the coaches for major sports programs at UT were always given honorary memberships to Cherokee, and UT had finally hired an African-American basketball coach, Wade Houston. Would he or would he not be offered the traditional Cherokee membership?
Johnny Majors and Doug Dickey ended up resigning from Cherokee over the issue.
Fast forward more than a decade, and UT has returned to its all-white coaching roster. And UT renewed ties with the club after it admitted its first African-American member - Dr. Barbara Hatton - in 2002.
But since Dr. Hatton left Knoxville College under less-than-amicable circumstances in 2005, I sort of doubt she’s enjoying her membership privileges much lately.
So here it is 2008. And I’m wondering where things stand with Cherokee these days.
Why isn’t the club any better integrated today than it was in the early 90s? Is Bruce Pearl, who is Jewish, a member? Are there other members of different faiths? Does anyone care? Do country clubs continue to have any relevance as a place where “bidness gets done?”
Your thoughts? Insider info?
Comment below.
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The closest I have ever come to interacting with the beautiful people was when our car got rear ended right in front of the club last year. We pulled into an area of the parking lot that wasn’t being used due to construction on the property. The contractor doing their work plowed into the side of the car that hit us, looked at the dent, shrugged and said “sue me” as he drove away. On the other hand, the very kind owner of the home next door to the club brought everyone water and joked with us as we waited for the police.
That’s not even close to being an accurate statement. If you’re talking about “head coach of basketball, and football”, then fine. Say so. But, for the sake of accuracy, Tony Jones, a black man, is Pearl’s lead assistant coach, and Nikki Caldwell, a black woman, is one of Pat Summitt’s assistants.