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Golf Club Calls Cops On 5 Black Women Members Playing ... Golf

A golf club in York County, Pennsylvania, apologized for making five black women “uncomfortable” on its course, but one of the players said Tuesday that she and her companions ― all members ― remain undecided about how to respond after club officials told them to leave.

The officials also called police during the incident.

“We are processing information and the club called to meet and we have not decided when,” Myneca Ojo told HuffPost.

Ojo and the four others were playing at the Grandview Golf Club on Saturday when the tense encounter unfolded.

“I felt we were discriminated against,” Ojo told The York Daily Record. “It was a horrific experience.”

The group, who call themselves the Sisters of the Fairway, said that club representatives twice complained to them that they were playing too slowly ― the first time at the second hole. The women said they were maintaining the required pace because they remained appropriately ahead of the group behind them, but they skipped the third hole to avoid further confrontation.

“We were keeping the front group in our sights” ― as required, Sandra Thompson, a lawyer and NAACP chapter president, told Fox43 in the segment above.

After the ninth hole, three of the group left the course because they were disturbed by the earlier encounter, the women told the Record. The women told Fox43 they played the first nine holes in under 2 hours, yet the remaining two golfers, Ojo and Thompson, were confronted again, this time by the man from earlier, former York County Commissioner Steve Chronister; his son, club co-owner Jordan Chronister; and a few other white male employees.

The women said the men’s approach, captured in part on Thompson’s cell phone video, was “hostile.”

“We were frightened,” one of the women told WPMT Fox43.

The station’s report also included a segment of the cell phone video in which Jordan Chronister says sardonically to one of the women, “Congratulations, you’re a real winner.”

According to the women, the men accused them of taking too long a break ― a complaint the players refuted. Club officials informed the women that the cops had been summoned and asked them to leave the premises.

That’s when the Northern York County Regional Police arrived to try to sort out the dispute.

We were called there for an issue; the issue did not warrant any charges,” Police Chief Mark Bentzel said, according to The Associated Press. “All parties left and we left as well.”

HuffPost attempted to reach the club, but its message machine was full.

JJ Chronister, Jordan Chronister’s wife and the club’s co-owner, said she called the women to apologize for the other club officials “making them feel uncomfortable.” She said she was attempting to meet with them to work out the issue, USA Today reported.

But Chronister later sent USA Today an email that was not quite as conciliatory: “We spoke with (the women) once about pace of play and then spoke with them a second time,” she wrote. “During the second conversation we asked members to leave as per our policy noted on the scorecard, voices escalated, and police were called to ensure an amicable resolution.”

Also on HuffPost

Bullying

Even kids who share the same identity -- be it racial or gender -- can be guilty of bullying and discrimination against each other. Ontario's Ministry of Education defines bullying as "a form of repeated, persistent, and aggressive behaviour directed at an individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause) fear and distress and/or harm to another person's body, feelings, self-esteem, or reputation."

Cyberbullying

Social media can be a platform for bullying to continue even after school is out. Cyberbullying occurs when young people take malicious actions online. through chat rooms, email, social sites and instant messaging.
Social media can be a platform for bullying to continue even after school is out. Cyberbullying occurs when young people take malicious actions online. through chat rooms, email, social sites and instant messaging.

Stock Answer To 'What Are You?'

"You don't need to go into full confessional mode, but have fun with it, if that helps. Or be perfectly honest," author Jonathan R. Miller said. Miller writes e-books with multi-ethnic characters and themes. You don't have to talk about all the nuances of your family tree every time you're asked about your background, he said. That can be exhausting. Find something that works for you personally.

Real Answer To 'What Are You?'

"I like the word 'mixed' because it's a messy word, and in my experience growing up mixed is exactly that," Miller said. He suggests that it's important to allow yourself to truly wrestle with questions of identity in environments you consider safe.
"I like the word 'mixed' because it's a messy word, and in my experience growing up mixed is exactly that," Miller said. He suggests that it's important to allow yourself to truly wrestle with questions of identity in environments you consider safe.

A Friend To Confide In

If you are struggling with your identity, you don't have to tell the whole world, but confide in a friend that you trust. Having someone to confide in is important. "If you can, find someone who you can talk to about your most honest, ever-evolving, often-messy answer to the question, 'What am I?'" Miller said.
If you are struggling with your identity, you don't have to tell the whole world, but confide in a friend that you trust. Having someone to confide in is important. "If you can, find someone who you can talk to about your most honest, ever-evolving, often-messy answer to the question, 'What am I?'" Miller said.

If You Can't Speak, Write

"Maybe you don't have anyone trustworthy to talk to honestly about your experiences. Write about them. It helped me, sometimes, to get those out," Miller said.  It may not make a lot of sense initially and it might feel uncomfortably personal, but write. Keep a journal, write short stories and rename the characters, try your hand at poetry -- whatever feels best.

Let Your Identity Be An Open Question

"You are likely being told at different times, more or less, to hurry up and get off the fence, pick a side and get on with it," Miller said. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be unsure of who you are, even if your peers seem to have their acts together, he said. Teenage years are discovery years. Miller also quoted author Rainer Maria Rilke: "'Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. ... Live in the question.' That's good advice. Difficult to follow, but good."

Embrace The Chameleon

When it comes to mixed heritage, "you don't have to be 'both' or 'other' or 'all of the above' all of the time. Sometimes the only way to figure out what you are is to choose one thing and be it for a while," Miller said.  Explore how it feels to fully embrace a single aspect of your identity, for short period of time. See "what stick and what slides off." It's simply learning, Miller said.

Don't Be Afraid To Abandon The Labels Altogether

"I can't tell you how many multi-racial people I've met who have chosen a single race or ignored race entirely and been perfectly content with the decision. A biracial friend of mine used to tell me, 'I'm black and white, yes, but I'm black. Period,'" Miller said. He said he knows many people have chosen to identify with only one aspect of their multi-background, while others have embraced the blend.

Get Involved In Life

Find creative ways to occupy your time, Miller said. Join a group or do an activity (with others) where you are empowered to be who you are, instead of having to act how others think you need to be in order to fit in.
Find creative ways to occupy your time, Miller said. Join a group or do an activity (with others) where you are empowered to be who you are, instead of having to act how others think you need to be in order to fit in.

Be Proud Of Who You Are

Take pride in your ethnic (culture, color or religion) heritage. You have no control over your heritage, and you can't change that fact that this is who you are. So embrace it and learn as much as you can. "You may feel like it would be an insult to your heritage to embrace one aspect of yourself above the others, but trust me, it wouldn't be. This is important: it is not your job to uphold, with perfect equity and grace, all of the elements that went into your making," Miller said.

Have A Ready Defense Against The Identity Police

"Often they're the 'gatekeepers' that decide whether you're 'in' or 'out.'  But what you can do is have a ready answer for the 'charges' they level against you. Whether you use humour, earnestness, or self-righteous anger, it helps to have your defense lined up and ready," Miller said.      Sometimes people think all the "members" of their cultural or ethnic community must behave, dress and think a certain way. But as an individual, you can do whatever you want and find your own identity.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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