The National Hispanic Media Coalition and most of a dozen other minority advocacy groups have banded together to pressure the various golf associations to pull their tournaments from golf courses owned by Donald Trump.
The real estate mogul/reality TV star/front-running GOP presidential candidate was in Scotland this week, where the LPGA's women's British Open Championship is being contested on his Trump Turnberry course.
In a press conference he said he would not allow the WGC Cadillac Championship to be moved from his Doral course, and that could not be moved without his permission. "I have a long-term contract," he said.
The groups have launched a petition asking professional golf associations to "Dump Trump."
"Trump has yet to apologize for his blanket statement that Mexicans are 'bringing drugs,' are 'bringing crime' and 'are rapists,'" said NHMC in a statement. "He also brought the golf associations into the issue, saying the sport's governing bodies support his opinions because 'they know I'm right,'" it said.
"The LPGA, the USGA, the PGA Tour and the PGA of America have issued statements distancing themselves from Trump," the petition points out, "but only the PGA of America has taken any action. And by refusing to break ties with Trump, golf associations condone his bigotry and send the game of golf back into the times when professional golf allowed blatant exclusion of women and people of color from the game."
In early July, the PGA of America moved its Grand Slam of Golf tournament from Trump's Los Angeles course, a move NHMC praised at the time, but pushed for the other golf associations to do more, a push that has now turned into a petition.
Also backing the petition are the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA); the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA); the National Association of Latino Independent Producers; the National Immigration Law Center (NILC); American Indians in Film and Television; the New York Immigration Coalition; the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles; Color of Change; 18 Million Rising; and Presente.org.
Trump owns a number of golf courses and after Spanish-language net Univision dropped its broadcast of Trump's Miss Universe pageant following the immigrant comments, he sent a letter to Univision president Randy Falco saying that the net's employees would not be welcome at his Trump National Doral golf course (another PGA tour stop) next door to Univision's Miami headquarters.
