“It's not racism, I tell you, it's just how we do things here"
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return to quarters
“It’s really no different than how my southern friends do things”, Whitehouse explained to FWIW. “Sipping mint juleps on the verandah at sunset, listening to the darkies sing their spirituals as they return from the fields – you don’t just throw those kinds of moments away in a fit of temporary populist hysteria.
“Our club’s only been around since 1890, so the fact that we’re still studying the issue of admitting coloreds is hardly surprising. We only caved on the Jews in the 1970s, and we all thought that was rushed, but we were in an uncomfortable financial situation at the time and needed their geld.
“You say you want darkies in the same pool as our innocent, pink little girls? Big strong bucks eying our women? Eating near us? I mean they can serve our dinner — in fact, we have a couple of Sambos on the staff right now, but membership? Too soon, my friend, too soon.
“But come back in 2090 – our bicentennial might just be a proper time to consider it”.
