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CNN Live Today

Interview with Martha Burk

Aired July 10, 2002 - 11:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We move on to a controversy in the world of sports. One of the most exclusive golf clubs in the world is defending its right to exclude women. Augusta National, home to the Masters, has received a request from the National Council of Women's Organizations to change its policy. In a somewhat, which you might call a terse reply, the chairman of the club, Hootie Johnson, says -- quote: "We take our membership very seriously. It is the very fabric of our club. Our membership alone decides our membership, not any outside group with its own agenda."

Martha Burk is chairman of that outside group, the National Council of Women's Organizations, and she is joining us from Washington this morning. We want to say we did invite Hootie Johnson and a representative of Augusta National to appear. They have declined that invitation, but we do have a written statement from them which we will refer to. Martha, though, let me say good morning to you.

MARTHA BURK, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS: Good morning.

KAGAN: Why do you think it's important for women to be allowed inside this club?

BURK: Well, because they do host the premier golf event in the United States, if not the world. It's just a statement that it's OK to discriminate.

KAGAN: And so...

BURK: And we think that needs to be changed.

KAGAN: And so you wrote a letter to the club. Hootie Johnson, the head of the club, is calling that letter "offensive and coercive." Martha, what did you say in this letter?

BURK: I asked him if they would review their policies and practices, and consider changing them before next year's tournament, so that it doesn't become a public issue, as it did this year. Actually, I didn't start this. This was already in the news when I learned of it. I think it's the 21st century. These guys need to come into it.

KAGAN: And yes, it's, in fact -- I think it was a women's golf magazine. There is a writer who has been following this for some time.

BURK: Yes, she has.

KAGAN: And in fact, this is a club that has been a little bit slow to come with the times. It was 1990 before it even had an African-American member. So it's a little bit slow in catching up, perhaps.

BURK: It is slow. And we think that, again, because they do host this very, very high-profile event, we think that their sponsors might want to take a look at whether they want to underwrite something that is held at a place that discriminates against half of the population.

KAGAN: Well, and, Martha, let's look at some of those sponsors. We are talking some of mainstream American companies, Coca-Cola, IBM, Citigroup. You are going to target these companies and say what?

BURK: Well, I don't want to use that word "target"

KAGAN: OK.

BURK: I think we are probably going to have a discussion with the sponsors. Mr. Johnson has made it very clear he doesn't want to talk to us. I wanted to have a calm, relaxed dialogue with him to see if I could make him see the light. He sent me a letter that said, I am not going to talk to you. So the alternatives that are left to me are to talk to you, the media, possibly talk to the sponsors, see if we can get them to look at their public image in relation to underwriting an event that is held at a facility that discriminates.

KAGAN: And in fact, Hootie Johnson in his statement anticipates that you are going to go after the sponsors and perhaps what he calls other celebrities. I want to throw a little bit more of the statement that this club has put out that's signed by Hootie Johnson, if we can put that up on the screen. He says: "There may well come a day when women will be invited to join our membership, but that timetable will be ours and not at the point of a bayonet. We do not intend to be further distracted by this matter."

It sounds almost kind of dismissive, like, Ladies, go home.

BURK: Well, yes. It was -- the letter he sent me, I want to emphasize, was only three sentences. It wasn't that long three-page statement that he sent to the press. He sent me a three-sentence letter that said, Lady, I'm not going to talk to you.

And so, if he doesn't want to talk to me, that's fine. I think that he is getting tried in the court of public opinion as we speak. I mean, what are we doing here? And women are 51 percent of the population. There are definitely 51, if not more, percent of the consumers in this nation that buy products, watch television, decide on viewing choices and consumer choices. And so, I would think that anyone associated with this tournament, including the board of directors of the Masters, would want to pay some attention to that. KAGAN: Martha, real quick, would you go after the players and encourage them not to play in what's considered the most coveted invitation in golf?

BURK: I hadn't thought of that, but it's an interesting idea.

KAGAN: All right. Martha Burk, thanks for stopping by. It will be interesting to see where this goes. You mentioned that this started to get a little bit of heat and debate before the Masters this year. We will be watching in April just east of here in Atlanta in Augusta, Georgia. next year. Martha Burk, thanks for joining us.

BURK: Thank you.

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