NEWPORT, R.I. — After a Rhode Island website claimed Senator Sheldon Whitehouse belonged to an “all white” private beach club that excludes people of color, the club’s general manager said that such claims are simply not true.
“Recent characterizations in the press and in other commentary about Bailey’s Beach Club are inaccurate and false,” said Jack Nolan, general manager of Bailey’s Beach club, formally known as Spouting Rock Beach Association.
Kate Nagle, who is listed as blog GoLocal Providence’s news editor, posted a 53-second clip on June 19 of her questioning Whitehouse regarding his membership in the club, which is located on Ocean Avenue. She described the club as “all-white” and asked the Democratic senator whether such clubs should “continue to exist.”
Whitehouse responded that the club is “a long tradition in Rhode Island, and there are many of them. We just need to work our way through the issues.”
The exchange soon made national news headlines.
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Whitehouse told a Globe reporter Wednesday that he was caught off guard when Nagle approached him.
“I was attending an unrelated event and wasn’t prepared for the question. At the time, I made the mistake of accepting her premise. I then checked the assertion and was assured that, first, the assertion was wrong, there is diversity in the membership and there are non-white club members; and second, that improving diversity remains a priority and an active task for the club’s new board,” said Whitehouse.
He said the recent attention to this issue has prompted him to assess all of his affiliations and to consider whether any involve “inequitable or exclusionary policies.”
“While I am not a member of the beach club, I do own a boat and belong to a sailing club in Newport. While this club does not have exclusionary rules for membership, it does lack diversity. Failing to address the sailing club’s lack of diversity is squarely on me, and something for which I am sorry. I commit to working with the club and the community to build a more inclusive membership and to better connect with the local community,” Whitehouse said.
On Wednesday, Nolan told the Globe that Spouting Rock Beach Association members and their families have included people of “many racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds from around the world who come to Newport every summer.”
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“Our membership comes from all over the globe to our small club and we welcome the diversity of view and background they bring to our community,” said Nolan.
When asked if GoLocal contacted the club to confirm its membership demographics, Nolan responded, “I can’t say anything else at this time.”
Josh Fenton, the editor of GoLocal, refused to address a question from the Globe about his website’s Whitehouse story, commenting instead about the Globe’s union negotiations.
Whitehouse’s wife has been a member of Spouting Rock Beach Association for decades, and is one of the club’s largest shareholders. Whitehouse has repeatedly said that the club has “no discriminatory policy,” and his office told the Globe on Monday that the club does have members of who are people of color.
“There have been calls for me to resign from the club, which I understand,” Whitehouse told the Globe Wednesday. “However, I have no membership to resign, nor will I ask my wife or any other family members to do so. First, they are on the right side of pushing for improvements. Second, and more importantly, my relationship with my family is not one in which I tell them what to do.”
Whitehouse spokeswoman Meaghan McCabe said the senator has asked to the club to share details regarding the ethnic makeup of club members, and to make that information public.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.
