Donald Trump is Not Who We Are
25 signatures reached
Members of the Golfers Opposing Bigotry Community say: "Donald Trump is Not Who We Are"
As a member of the Golfers Opposing Bigotry community, I invite like-minded golfers and non-golfers to stand together against the racial, religious and other intolerance that Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric promote. It is putting our Latino, Muslim-American, those with disabilities, and other community members directly at risk.
There is no place for this kind of discrimination or divisiveness in the golf community or in America.
As a community, we affirm the values that make us who we are: diversity, openness and compassion.
Join me in saying: Donald Trump is not who America is, and he is not who Golfers Opposing Bigotry is.
Together we demand that the USGA and the PGA of America sever their existing ties with Donald Trump and cease holding major championships at his golf properties. We also urge the PGA Tour and the LPGA not to enter new partnerships with Donald Trump and his golf enterprises. Despite professed disagreement with his abhorrent views and statements, the USGA and PGA have refused to disengage and, as such, reward Trump materially and give him undeserved legitimacy while undermining the image of golf as a sport characterized by honesty, decency, civility, and inclusiveness.
Why is this important?
The PGA of America represents over 27,000 club/teaching professionals and organizes the Ryder Cup but still is committed to hosting two major championships at Trump golf properties. The first is the 2017 PGA Senior Championship at Trump National Golf Club DC (VA), and the second is the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Bedminster. The PGA supposedly is committed to growing the game yet it closely associates with someone who revels in exclusivity.
Likewise, the U. S. Women's Open (a major championship of the USGA) is scheduled for Trump National Bedminster (NJ) in July 2017. Considering Trump's public denigration and demeaning of women, the choice of site is unjustifiable on moral and ethical grounds. The same applies to his negative characterizations of immigrants, Mexicans, and Muslims. Women's professional golf is highly diverse and represented by players of all manner of nationalities, ethnicities, and religions. As an international arbiter of golf, the USGA should do better by its responsibility to promote the best values of golf.
Golf is far more than a game. It is a 70 billion dollar industry with extensive corporate partnerships and sponsors. Trump's significant financial investment in it seems to have blinded some in the industry not only to his detrimental effect outside the game but in it as well.
Aggrieved members of his Jupiter, FL golf club have sued him, he has stiffed contractors at another golf property, and at least one municipality has complained publicly about not receiving its fair share of tax revenues from his course.
Trump is not even good for golf let alone America. Your support of this letter can make clear that Donald Trump is Not Who We Are.
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