White people love to join clubs. It’s kind of their thing.
Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse went full “hubbda-a-hubbda” when asked why he belonged to an all-white private beach club for decades when he’s supposed to be an ally against “systemic racism.”
Whitehouse, a Democrat, was confronted by a GoLocal Providence reporter who wanted to know about the senator’s membership at the Newport-based Bailey’s Beach Club, part of the Spouting Rock Beach Association.
“I think the people who are running the place are still working on that and I’m sorry it hasn’t happened yet,” Whitehouse said after being asked about the beach club’s all white everything.
When asked if these types of clubs should still be in existence considering America is undergoing a racial reckoning, Whitehouse did his best Chicken Little impression noting that, “It’s a long tradition in Rhode Island, and there are many of them. And I think we just need to work our way through the issues,” he added before bouncing like a rubber check.
And get this: Whitehouse isn’t just a member of the club, but his wife, Sandra Whitehouse “is one of the three largest shareholders in the club,” the New York Post reports.
From the Post:
When the Rhode Island senator, who was first elected in 2006, initially ran for his office, he disavowed his membership and pledged to quit the club, GoLocal reported.
GoLocal pressed Whitehouse and his office over his membership multiple times in 2017, noting that more than a decade had passed since his unkept campaign promise.
After the lawmaker repeatedly declined requests for comment on his involvement in the club, a GoLocal reporter confronted Whitehouse at a Newport-based event in late August of that year.
“I think it would be nice if they changed a little bit, but it’s not my position,” the left-wing senator told the outlet.
Asked if he intended to pressure the club to do better on diversity, Whitehouse replied, “Fuck no. I mean, I guess I could but I would be lying if I said I planned on it.” “I will take that up privately,” before declining to comment on the matter further.
According to GoLocal, the Whitehouses, both Sheldon and Sandra, go back generations in this race-based ass club.
“Their parents, both of them, and their children summered at the ultra exclusive club and had access to socializing and building contacts with the some of the wealthiest families whose ranks include multiple billionaires,” the outlet reported.
But please tell me more about allyship. No, seriously. I would love to hear about what the Whitehouses of the Rhode Island Whitehouses plan to do about systemic racism.