Burk
wants Augusta members to resign
Martha Burk called on Augusta
National members to take a stand against Hootie Johnson and turn in their green
jackets if they don't agree with him on the issue of women members.
Trying to regain the momentum
in her fight to get a woman admitted to Augusta National, Burk said Thursday that
club members who disagree with the club chairman should resign.
"If they do not agree
with this policy, they must resign their memberships," Burk said. "The
choice is to stand up and support Hootie, or stand down."
A day after more than 60
members appeared with Johnson in a public display of solidarity, Burk said it's
time for all of the 300 or so members to publicly declare where they stand.
Particularly, she said,
the corporate executives among the membership need to be accountable to their
stockholders over the issue.
"If they believe Augusta
National is right to continue excluding women, then I challenge them to hold a
news conference and tell us publicly," Burk said.
The head of the National
Council of Women's Organizations issued the challenge at a press conference with
other supporters.
She was joined in a teleconference
by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who pledged his support but said he wouldn't be at
Saturday's scheduled protest in Augusta.
Jackson said protesters
from his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition plan to have their voice heard and said arrests
could occur if they are not allowed close enough to the gates of Augusta National.
A federal appeals court
on Wednesday upheld the plan by local authorities to have the protests limited
to a 5.1-acre site about a half-mile from the course.
"Plan B is arrest if
plan A is denied," Jackson said.
Burk said she won't give
up despite the court's refusal to overrule the Augusta sheriff's authority to
deny her a permit to protest at the club's main gate.
She said a meeting was scheduled
with Sheriff Ronald Strength on Friday to decide where the different protest groups
could picket.
She called the protest lot
"the pit" and said she hasn't ruled out sending a handful of protesters
to the gate.
Jackson said his group stands
behind Burk's organization on the issue of women members.
"The real issue is
the PGA should not in fact support the Masters being held in Augusta so long as
it is gender discriminatory," Jackson said. "Just as the PGA should
not participate in apartheid South Africa, they should not participate in gender
apartheid in Augusta."
Jackson had harsh words
for Johnson.
"He is swimming upstream
against history," Jackson said, noting that women have been allowed in all
levels of government and the judicial system. "All of this controversy could
be ended if Hootie joined this century."
On Wednesday, Johnson said
his club has no timetable for admitting a woman member and that the policy was
backed by all club members.
"It's not my issue
alone," Johnson said. "If I drop dead this second, our position will
not change."
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