Even the Protests Will Have Protests

Chances are, the streets of Augusta, Ga., are going to be even more crowded than usual during the Masters next month.

In fact, if all the groups that want to protest either for or against Augusta National Golf Club, or against one another, actually receive their permits, you probably won’t be able to tell the demonstrators without a program.

So far, the Richmond County sheriff’s office has approved only one application from a protest group, but plenty more would like to be on hand.

Martha Burk and the National Council of Women’s Organizations headline the protest movement, but the lineup could also include Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH coalition, the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Rev. Jesse Peterson of the Brotherhood Organization of the New Destiny, Bobby Price of the New Black Panthers Party, and radio talk-show host Bill Simonson of Grand Rapids, Mich.

For the record, Burk and the NCWO and Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH would demonstrate against Augusta National’s policy of not allowing female members.

Peterson and Simonson want to demonstrate in support of the club.

The Klan’s J.J. Harper wants to protest mainly against Jackson, but also against Burk.

Price wants to protest against the Klan and against Augusta National.

So far, the only protest permit given by Sheriff Ronnie Strength was to Allison Greene, general manager of an Augusta restaurant. Greene heads a group whose protest intention is clear: “Women Against Martha Burk.”

Burk filed two protest permit applications this week, seeking to demonstrate from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, during the third round of Masters play. One of the requests is for 200 demonstrators, who would protest on Washington Road, across the street from the main entrance to Augusta National. The second is for 25 protesters on either side of the club’s main gate, where a public sidewalk runs along Washington Road.

The legal director of Georgia’s American Civil Liberties Union included a letter with Burk’s application, saying he would file a lawsuit Tuesday if the requests were denied.

Meanwhile, Golfweek magazine reported that Augusta National would admit Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as its first female member on April 9, the day before the first round of the Masters. A club representative said that report was “ridiculous.”

So far, however, no one has asked for a protest permit to demonstrate against the report, on Washington Road or anywhere else.

But there’s still time.