The article “Rehoboth-Indian Beach Club was the place to be” was misnamed. The place to be? As the article demonstrates, the invitation-only club was discriminatory and its purpose was replete with code words.
As the article states: “Under Purpose, it ‘provides a perfect setting for the rendezvous of discriminating folk, who with true simplicity, characteristic of that class...’” and “It is important that the membership clientele be of the highest standard, and in line with this policy, the membership committee has prepared the invitation list with due care.”
This meant no Blacks, no Jews. And the pictures accompanying the article showed a sea of non-ethnic whites.
In 1947, in the aftermath of World War II, a war that revealed in all its horror the murderous consequences of discrimination, a movie was made starring Gregory Peck and John Garfield, among others, titled “Gentleman’s Agreement.” It bore witness to the discrimination that continued to exist in the United States, discrimination that continues to exist in dark corners today.
Places such as the Rehoboth-Indian Beach Club may once – in that discriminatory world of coded phrases – have been the “place to be.” Thankfully, those days are – mostly – long gone.
Nostalgic recollections of discriminatory clubs really should have no place in the Cape Gazette.
But for anyone who believes otherwise, I would be happy to arrange for an evening of lively debate in a meeting room of the Lewes Public Library.
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