Thompson said the man from the second hole, identified as former York County Commissioner Steve Chronister, his son, club co-owner Jordan Chronister and several other white, male employees approached the remaining two women [three of the women had already left the golf club since they were so disturbed by the complaints] and said they took too long of a break and they needed to leave the course. The women argued they took an appropriate break, and that the men behind them were still on their beer break and not ready to tee off, as seen in a video Thompson gave the newspaper. The women were told that the police had been called, and so they waited.

So let’s review: 1) A group of black women who belong to a golfing group go to play golf. 2) They get accused of playing too slowly. 3) They check with a golf pro at the club to verify if this is true and are told they are, in fact, keeping pace with the group ahead of them. 3) They decide to skip the next hole anyway so as not to cause any problems. 4) They are approached again, this time being asked to leave the course. 5) The police are called. This is all too predictable in America. No matter what you do, if you are black, you are assumed to be a troublemaker and a criminal up to no good. This is also not a surprise in a sport which has, for years, long denied membership to women and blacks in its elite clubs.

When Damon Young writes that it is America that needs training on racial bias, he is absolutely right. It is a long-standing pattern on the part of white Americans to terrorize black people by any means necessary—and this legacy of racial terrorism dates back centuries. It does not require black people to be doing anything in particular, other than being black in public spaces. Whether it is a subconscious action or overt, calling the police on black people for reasons like waiting in a store (that for decades has allowed white people to hang out without impunity), knocking on a door for help and shooting at them and playing golf too slowly is an action that is filled with tremendous power and privilege. It can literally mean life or death for us. And while it may seem benign, it is anything but. It is a form of white supremacy and represents excessive force in dealing with black bodies. If we simply trusted the motivations of black people and entered into conversation with them like we do with whites, so many of these incidents could be avoided.

Another predictable action in this pattern is the apology that ensues. Society deems it okay for white people to jump to dangerous actions and racist conclusions but we can also expect them to feel bad. Of course, it’s not about the shame they should feel when endangering black lives with unnecessary confrontations with police, but instead about the possibility that they may be seen as racist in the eyes of the public.

In the Grandview golf course case, the owners issued their apology the next day as soon as the action was made public in the press. Here’s what they said per AP reporting:

Jordan Chronister’s wife and co-owner of the club, JJ Chronister, said Sunday she called the women personally to apologize. “We sincerely apologize to the women for making them feel uncomfortable here at Grandview, that is not our intention in any way,” she told the newspaper. “We want all of our members to feel valued and that they can come out here and have a great time, play golf and enjoy the experience.” She said she hopes to meet with them to discuss how the club can use what happened as a learning experience and do better in the future.

A note to Grandview and to Starbucks: you can actually keep your apologies and your training. What black people really want is the ability to go out in public and do regular normal things without you making assumptions and doing things that put us in harm’s way. Racial bias training is important and is a good thing. But unless we are going to make it mandatory for everyone in every company, school, workplace, neighborhood and everywhere else in America, there are probably better ways that corporate training dollars can be spent.