May We Now Lay to Rest the Katon Dawson is a Racist Meme?

I've got to admit that while I've generally given Katon Dawson the benefit of the doubt on his membership in a "Whites Only" golf club, I have to admit I wondered how Katon didn't notice that the golf club looked a lot like an episode of the Andy Griffith show. Jim Geraghty did some digging and came up with a reasonable explanation (Hat Tip: Red State.)

George Bunch, the president of the club, said that the deed’s restriction has been “invalid” since 1964 (under the Civil Rights Act). Nonetheless, the club has no African-American members, and Bunch said that to his knowledge, no African-American has been put up for membership. However, members do invite African-American guests regularly, and so on any given day, it is common to see African-Americans on the golf course, in the clubhouse, at club events, and so on.

Dawson says he actually played golf with African-Americans at the club. So his explanation that he did not know of the discriminatory language in the deed during the twelve years of his membership would appear to hold water; if someone saw African-Americans around the country club, one could reasonably assume they were members.

So Dawson frequently saw African Americans around the club. It really doesn't sound like there was anything that would have given him a hint that there was an all-white policy. Doubtless, some will argue that Dawson should have carefully reviewed the deed to make sure that there was no restriction on African American membership. Any of you do that when you join a club?

Look, Katon Dawson may not be your first choice for Chairman, but do we really have to slam the guy as a racist? There's a reasonable explanation for what happened at the country club. The club didn't look like an episode of Andy Griffith. He had no reason to suspect there was an all-white policy. In addition, Dawson's record as chairman of the South Carolina GOP is one of inclusion, helping to recruit a young black man who became South Carolina Republican National Committeeman, as well helping elect a black man and a Vietnamese woman to the South Carolina legislature. Here's a chairman who is actually practicing inclusion in a Southern state with a significant Black population and some people are ready to rip the guy apart as closet Klansman without even listening to his case. No wonder the GOP is called the stupid party.