Pool Boots Kids Who Might "Change the Complexion"

[scarlett_2005]

The pool president is full of sh*t. He is using this "safety" argument to cover up for the fact that the ONLY reason these kids were kicked was because of their race.

[vhdos]

Originally Posted by sweetneet

okay, but what i'm saying is that the facts show that overcrowding was not an issue here at all, since the club had previously allowed a larger group of non-minority children to swim without any complaints. further, news articles mention other members of the club saying how the day the kids were kicked out the pool was "half empty" and how the busiest times at the pool was on Saturdays and Sundays, not on Monday afternoons (when the camp kids would be swimming). and further still, if the pool was really not prepared to handle a group of 65 kids at once, why did the club make the deal & accept the money in the first place? Logically, the club's arguments about "overcrowding" do not add up.

But, unless you are a member there, how would you know what the atmosphere at the pool is like on a daily basis? You can not say with 100% certainty that overcrowding did not play a role at all. And how do you know that there was NO complaints when other camp children have been allowed to swim there? Have you talked to the pool staff directly in regards to member complaints? I am very well aware of busy pool days and non-busy pool days at a private swim club. Regardless, if I'm a paying member of a pool, I shouldn't have to deal with a large influx of people at any time. Unless of course, I knew that camp swimmers were occasionally allowed access to the pool, prior to my decision to becoming a member at that particular pool.
I'm not at all saying that the private swim club has used overcrowding as a defense for kicking the campers out of the pool. I'm saying that I feel that overcrowding could have contributed to the overall negative attitude of the swim club members who logged complaints. Perhaps after the first round of camp swimmers, some of the swim club members were irritated. Then after the second round, they had had enough and complained. Often times, it is a combination of factors that lead to dissatisfaction/complaints or even sometimes the-straw-that-broke-the-camels-back-scenario.
I absolutely believe that race was the largest factor here. It's unfortunate that these kinds of things still occur in our society today.

[claireZk]

Originally Posted by unluckystars

it did not happen in ne philadelphia. it was in the suburb of huntingdon.

Huntington is out in the middle of the state... This happened in Huntington Valley, which borders Northeast Philly. When I say "northeast" I don't mean like the north eastern corner of the city... I mean like "the Northeast"... the suburbs. Anyway, people are funny about their neighborhoods around there, and it's really racist for a metropolitan area (especially in Northeast). I hate Philly.

Sorry, I'm done ranting about this. I'll shut up now.

[sweetneet]

Originally Posted by vhdos

But, unless you are a member there, how would you know what the atmosphere at the pool is like on a daily basis? You can not say with 100% certainty that overcrowding did not play a role at all. And how do you know that there was NO complaints when other camp children have been allowed to swim there? Have you talked to the pool staff directly in regards to member complaints? I am very well aware of busy pool days and non-busy pool days at a private swim club. Regardless, if I'm a paying member of a pool, I shouldn't have to deal with a large influx of people at any time. Unless of course, I knew that camp swimmers were occasionally allowed access to the pool, prior to my decision to becoming a member at that particular pool.

I think that's somewhat of a really high expectation, but whatever. Just because I'm a paying member at a club, doesn't really give me the right to dictate what groups of people the club lets in or not at every hour of every day. If I happen to be out swimming and a big group of kids comes suddenly comes in for say, a birthday party, I'm not going to ask the club management to kick them out simply because I'm a paying member and I "shouldn't have to deal with a bunch of kids at once." But that's just me.

Quote:

I'm not at all saying that the private swim club has used overcrowding as a defense for kicking the campers out of the pool. I'm saying that I feel that overcrowding could have contributed to the overall negative attitude of the swim club members who logged complaints. Perhaps after the first round of camp swimmers, some of the swim club members were irritated. Then after the second round, they had had enough and complained. Often times, it is a combination of factors that lead to dissatisfaction/complaints or even sometimes the-straw-that-broke-the-camels-back-scenario. I absolutely believe that race was the largest factor here. It's unfortunate that these kinds of things still occur in our society today.

Even if "overcrowding" was a concern, the fact remains that race seems to be the main factor for the clubs actions. Further, what gets me is that the club handled this entire situation extremely poorly. First off, the fact that they immediately kicked out the camp kids (not even letting them stay just that one time), was really bad on their part. The kids aren't stupid, they knew what was going on. Several kids and the camp director (and even other members) mentioned how some members made comments about their race, how "minorities aren't allowed in this pool", how parents were worried that the "black kids would harm my child". Further, I still can't believe that the club agreed to the membership while knowing how many kids were going to be there, how many lifeguards they had, etc and then "realized the impact of that many kids" only after they got there. I find that hard to believe.

[Roo]

A lot of racism nowadays is also subconscious. I have caught myself doing it too.

[sweetneet]

Originally Posted by Roo

A lot of racism nowadays is also subconscious. I have caught myself doing it too.

i agree. same thing with sexism. i think a lot of people make racist/sexist comments without even realizing it, which is why so few people admit it to doing it.

[MarneeB]

I find it frustrating that things are still this screwed up & something like this even happens.

[unluckystars]

Originally Posted by claireZk

Huntington is out in the middle of the state... This happened in Huntington Valley, which borders Northeast Philly. When I say "northeast" I don't mean like the north eastern corner of the city... I mean like "the Northeast"... the suburbs. Anyway, people are funny about their neighborhoods around there, and it's really racist for a metropolitan area (especially in Northeast). I hate Philly. Sorry, I'm done ranting about this. I'll shut up now.

huntington valley is what i meant, in montgomery county. northeast of the city and northeast philly is a big difference here since ne philly is actually called ne philly. and yes philly does suck.

[unluckystars]

as far as i know they canceled all camp memberships not just the one in the news.

[vhdos]

Originally Posted by sweetneet

I think that's somewhat of a really high expectation, but whatever. Just because I'm a paying member at a club, doesn't really give me the right to dictate what groups of people the club lets in or not at every hour of every day. If I happen to be out swimming and a big group of kids comes suddenly comes in for say, a birthday party, I'm not going to ask the club management to kick them out simply because I'm a paying member and I "shouldn't have to deal with a bunch of kids at once." But that's just me. Even if "overcrowding" was a concern, the fact remains that race seems to be the main factor for the clubs actions. Further, what gets me is that the club handled this entire situation extremely poorly. First off, the fact that they immediately kicked out the camp kids (not even letting them stay just that one time), was really bad on their part. The kids aren't stupid, they knew what was going on. Several kids and the camp director (and even other members) mentioned how some members made comments about their race, how "minorities aren't allowed in this pool", how parents were worried that the "black kids would harm my child". Further, I still can't believe that the club agreed to the membership while knowing how many kids were going to be there, how many lifeguards they had, etc and then "realized the impact of that many kids" only after they got there. I find that hard to believe.

I completely agree.

[uab*mom]

But if the new, "real" excuse was that they didn't have enough life guards and were concerned about safety issues, then how come they agreed to host the camp at all, and they must have known WHAT DAY THE KIDS WERE COMING (Mondays, for 1.5 hours) so how in the world can that excuse be valid?

And if they had thought it would be a problem, then why not just issue a reminder ahead of time for their members that a "Day Camp Day" has been arranged for Mondays throughout the summer, from whatever time to whatever time.......

This whole thing is so bogus and wrong.

[meela188]

Originally Posted by uab*mom

But if the new, "real" excuse was that they didn't have enough life guards and were concerned about safety issues, then how come they agreed to host the camp at all, and they must have known WHAT DAY THE KIDS WERE COMING (Mondays, for 1.5 hours) so how in the world can that excuse be valid? And if they had thought it would be a problem, then why not just issue a reminder ahead of time for their members that a "Day Camp Day" has been arranged for Mondays throughout the summer, from whatever time to whatever time....... This whole thing is so bogus and wrong.

exactly if the "real" excuse was not having enough life guards for that day, they would have let the kids return on their next scheduled visit and made sure they had enough lifeguads the second time around. But instead they asked the children to leave immediately and then refunded their money without any explanation.

[meela188]

Originally Posted by unluckystars

as far as i know they canceled all camp memberships not just the one in the news.

If they have canceled all memberships then i'm sure it was after the fact. the pool hosted a bigger group of non-minority children the week before and had no problem so i don't see their justification of overcrowding being the issue

[meela188]

Originally Posted by Roo

A lot of racism nowadays is also subconscious. I have caught myself doing it too.

Very true, when people see a white man running down the street, the first thought is usually "oh he must be really late", but if that white man running down the street is now replaced by a black man, the thought changes to "he must be running away from a crime or something". I watched this show where they did just that, and then interviewed people for their thoughts.

[Odette]

I think this is a really unfortunate situation for those kids. It's the parents that are racist and I'm sure those children playing at the pool didn't care if the kids coming were white or black or Hispanic or whatever. They just want to have fun with other kids.

Regarding what Roo said about racism nowadays being subconscious, I agree. However, I've been having experiences lately where it just reinforces the stereotypes. I wish it wasn't happening that way but it's hard not to think things when your experiences are telling you something. I try to be open-minded at all times but lately my judgments have been right.