Sheldon Whitehouse: 21 Who Made a Difference in 2021

Sheldon Whitehouse: 21 Who Made a Difference in 2021

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse made global news after he told GoLocal’s News Editor Kate Nagle about his family’s decades of membership in the elitist Bailey’s Beach Club.

“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, thank you,” said Whitehouse as he was ushered away by a staffer.

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Both Whitehouse and his wife Sandra as well as their families have been members of the club for decades. Whitehouse did transfer his shares in the club to his wife years ago, and she is now one of the largest shareholders in the all-white club. The club's membership is a who's who Newport, Palm Beach, and New York wealth.

The GoLocal interview -- a follow-up to the very same question GoLocal posed in 2017 -- was picked up by nearly every major news organization in the world. The Senator’s outdated private club memberships came under scrutiny.

Brother Gary Dantzler, Executive Director of Black Lives Matter Rhode Island blasted Whitehouse’s membership and Bailey’s Beach Club.

“I am ashamed of Senator Whitehouse and his affiliation with this racist club. Him coming out and speaking about ending systemic racism while belonging to a ‘whites only’ private club is hypocrisy as it worst,” said Dantzler.

“We need to put an end to this good ole boy mentality and hold our elected officials accountable. Black Lives Matter Rhode Island expects the Senator to call this what it is; Jim Crow era racism that’s been lingering around the Black community like a plague. It’s time for real change and equity,” said Dantzler.

National Black News Tonights’s Lamont Hill blistered Whitehouse:

Fundamentally, this shows you the hypocrisy of many white so-called liberals. They talk a good game. They’ll take a knee. They’ll wear some kente cloth. They’ll say they support racial justice. They’ll grandstand about Breonna Taylor or George Floyd.  They’ll talk about how racist Trump is. That’s easy. That’s low-hanging fruit. 

But what do you do when the rubber meets the road. What do you do when your theory has to turn into practice. Sometimes the best politics to identify somebody by is not how they vote — although that’s important; it’s not what they say — although that certainly matters — it’s what their personal politics look like. What does it mean to be feminist, if you’re not feminist in your lives and relationships, brothers? What does it mean to support LGBT rights, but when you’re in that locker room, in that frat house — what do you say? What are you doing?