Hagan's Country Club Not So Bad, Member Says

A reader had an interesting response to our story today about Kay Hagan's husband's lifelong membership to a North Carolina country club that admitted no blacks before 1995.

Elizabeth Kaplan, writing in the comments section, says she's been a member of the Greensboro Country Club for years and adds some important perspective. The club, while not as welcoming to blacks as it should have been, was actually known in the area for its tolerance toward Jews, she claims.

As a Jewish, die-hard Obama supporter I find this article absolutely fascinating. I, along with the rest of my very Democratic family, happen to belong to Greensboro Country Club along with the Hagans and have never really thought of it as a bastion of racism. It is in fact relatively unique due to its early willingness to allow Jews to join. I will concede, as would many members, that it's a shame we do not have more African-American members, but GCC is hardly a Klavern equivalent, nor are most members at all aware of the membership demographics. As well, I know Kay and Chip Hagan and there simply aren't two more kind, accepting, and compassionate people around. This is an absurdly unfair characterization of a family that has always stood up for the best of American values, even when it meant holding Progressive views in a relatively Conservative part of town.