Please join fair-minded Americans to condemn this horrible discrimination in the 21st century.
From Color of Change today:
Dear friends,
Two weeks ago outside Philadelphia, sixty-five children from a summer
camp tried to go swimming at a club their camp had a contract to use.
Evidently, the club didn’t know the kids were largely Black.When the campers entered the pool, White parents took their kids out
of the water, and the swimming club’s staff asked the campers to
leave. The next day, the club told the summer camp that their
membership would be canceled and that they would refund their money.
When asked why, the club’s leader said the "kids would change the
complexion … and the atmosphere of the club."A "Whites only" pool in 2009 should not be tolerated. The club’s
actions appear to be a violation of section 1981 of the Civil Rights
Act. Whether or not any laws were violated, a "Whites only" pool
should be something every American condemns.I’ve just joined ColorOfChange.org in doing exactly that — will you
join me, and email your friends and family asking them to do the same?
We’re also calling on the Department of Justice to evaluate suing the
facility under federal law. It takes just a moment to do both, here:http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/?id=2172-191179
Obama is President but that doesn’t mean that suddenly all is fine
when it comes to race in America. This is a vivid reminder of what we
know still lies beneath the surface.We all know stories like this one — similar incidents play out
quietly every day in different communities across the country. The
difference in this case is that folks got caught and there was a
contract in place that makes for a potentially illegal act.
Standing up now isn’t just about making things right for these kids in
Philadelphia or bringing consequences to this swim club (called the
Valley Swim Club). It’s about creating a climate of accountability
everywhere. If we can publicly shame the Valley Swim Club and hold them
accountable for this incident, it will make others think twice before
engaging in this kind of discrimination.Please join me in condemning the Valley Swim Club’s blatant discrimination
and calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether they
violated civil rights laws. And please ask your friends and family to
do the same.
Here’s some background information about what happened at Valley Swim Club:
"Pool Boots Kids Who Might ‘Change the Complexion,’" NBC Philadelphia,
07-08-09
http://bit.ly/90Zyr
"60 Black Kids Booted from Philly Pool For Being Black — Speak Out,"
Jill Tubman at Jack and Jill Politics, 07-08-09
http://bit.ly/GkJTs
"Valley Swim Club: Day Two," Adam B at Daily Kos, 07-08-09
http://bit.ly/qbpSA
"Section 1981 Summary," Employment Law Information Network
http://www.elinfonet.com/1981sum.php
Thanks.
15 Comments
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About The Seminal
Advanced search
Thanks Teddy, it’s a shocking story. It’s 2009 for heaven’s sake.
Wow. Shocking indeed.
I hope everyone will take a moment to click through and sign on to the Color of Change statement. Also, spread the word via their very useful tool.
Seems more like 1959. Thanks, Teddy, for giving this story more exposure.
This incident resonates with me because I was a witness to something very similar at Long Pond on Cape Cod, and yes it was in 1959.
Monrovia, a town in which I used to live, only changed their pool rule in 1979. Before that, they had a most insulting rule – Coloreds could only swim on Wednesday because they always drained the pool on Wednesday night to clean it.
They only changed it 5 years before the first black mayor was elected.
Signed the petition, with gusto. (Normally, I use a pen.)
Thank you Teddy.
Not at the Valley Swim club, obviously.
I came and recommended; but no swimming.
The youngsters have been provided another outdoor swimming venue nearby at a private boarding school, but this kind of scarring goes very deep. I really thought we were past this in America. It’s a terrible shame another generation has been exposed to this kind of blind and hateful prejudice.
They now provide this statement at their homepage. Apparently, it was a “capacity” issue, notwithstanding the comments provided by members at the time:
See, if they’d left the policy in place, they might have been spared that pesky mayoralty!
/snark
long pond—my family spent a lot of time right up the street from there. the next ‘pond’ north. brewster.weird.
i don’t remember seeing many black people on the cape.
—-
people pay to be members of a club so that they know who is there, what is there and to control what goes on there. if they want to be discriminating, i find it hard to believe they rent out the facilities in the first place and didn’t screen the application in the second place. i found it hard to believe it was open to the public except for the dining room and party rooms.
anyone who has been around country clubs can’t be too shocked to hear this. and anyone who hasn’t, knows how they were treated if they were not a member. you had the ‘eye’ on you the entire time you wandered around anywhere but the main room, white or black. i’m not surprised at all by it. my sister couldn’t take her best friend to the pool in the early 70’s. but not just because she was black, guests were discouraged, limited guest passes.just wanted a ‘core’ member group there. pre-paid and pre-approved. and not open to the public.
my best friend had instructions that if i ever ended up there later in life golfing and playing cards and drinking highballs, she was to shoot me on the spot. would be a mercy killing. my family played tennis and stayed out of the club part. we hung at the pool.
until the late 70’s women didn’t even have their own keycards to access the clubhouse and locker rooms. my mom was the one to make that happen. so, isn’t just color we’re dealing with here.
the word discriminating used to have a different ‘good’ meaning-to discern. i wish for the day when that happens again.
Several years ago a group tried to get a city pool where I live.
From what I overheard, white people didn’t want to have facilities that were open to “children from *that* part of town.”
Anyway it kept getting voted down and we have no city pool.
Valley Swim Club has only a pool, no golf course, no meeting rooms. Costs $365 a year to belong. This was a contract with the organization that provides summer camp for the kids.
Looks like these nice suburban bigots are going to have their hands full:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer….._pool.html
The City’s ordered a discrimination investigation. I hope the volunteer board has plenty of time on their hands…