Private Pool Club Kicks Out Minority Kids Who Might "Change The Complexion" (VIDEO)

A potentially upsetting story coming out of Philadelphia: a group of 60 young campers, many of them minorities, were told to leave a private swimming club apparently because of their race.

Some of the disheartening details:

"When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool," Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. "The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately."

The Creative Steps Day Camp's membership was suspended by the swimming club and the money they paid to join was refunded.

Watch a report from NBC Philadelphia.

Comments

[joceeco]

07:30 AM on 07/13/2009

Post racial society my a$$. Anyone defending what this club's management did to these children, is just racist. Whether or not this "private club" has the right to refuse service to potential guest is besides the point. I am so tired of so called "tolerant Americans" defending racism. Don't you idiots know that defending these racist people is the reason that we cannot and will not suppress this racist behavior in our country! So, for you people trying to justify or defend the actions of this clubs management, please defend it over at Fox News' website, because Huffpo's reader are too smart for your BS.

[Hawaii4Obama]

08:39 AM on 07/11/2009

Find it sad that whatever 'progress' we thought has been made over the past 40 yrs, that we are smacked in the face with a story like this one. If you saw the little boy crying on TV (think it was the director's son), it breaks your heart. Great message you are sending to the children of color, Valley Club. It just reinforces that no matter where you look, there is the face of racial hatred which keeps our nation from realizing its true potential as a racially diverse, multi-ethnic society which doesn't benefit from that diversity. It reminds me of the stories my uncle told of not being able to use swimming pools until after the white people had left and people of color were then allowed in....and he became the first Asian American to win a gold medal in diving in the Olympics...

[Demarcus Jackson]

09:50 PM on 07/10/2009

This is just a sad, unfortunate, and infuriating story. "Change the complexion"...now, I'm not one of those ethnic minorities that just throw out the race card without empirical basis, but I don't believe any person with a brain and at least a grain of historical knowledge can deny the blatant and unapologetic racism inherent in such a statement.

[williagold]

07:29 PM on 07/10/2009

The point ... African-American children they are introduced to racism, Caucasian children are introduced to racism, The world goes on not changing , never understanding the oppression. that causes anger. The repression that causes hatred.

When thing like this happen, please dont pretend that racism is a thing of the past. This is a classic example of racism being alive and active in America.

[NotThatKilpatrick]

03:18 PM on 07/10/2009

I do not buy this racism angle. Three paragraphs and a few comments from some kids doesn't make for a full story. Could there have been a disruption of the normally tranquil pool setting that caused the full time club members to complain? I belong to a community pool and when the bus pulls up with the summer camp kids, the place becomes a madhouse. That's the way it is. Perhaps the club members thought they would rather not put up with the hubbub. The booking person should have know the reaction of the club members to a young enthusiastic group coming in.

[kennethmw]

05:10 PM on 07/10/2009

Who cares what you buy? The club took the money and in signing the contract, they had to know the number of kids coming. The only variable was that they didn't know how the kids would look. If I was a practicing Lawyer in Philly, the kids would have a new place to swim, because I would sue the water out of that pool!!

[CEDobson]

06:25 AM on 07/10/2009

Reading about sundown towns still existing in the U.S., myself recently creating a video about racism in America on YT and then listening to the little boy, in tears, talking about the person who said they were worried about the "black kids" stealing from them at the pool in Philadelphia just reaffirms that intolerance is still rampant.

The saddest part of all is that racism is taught, and no matter what sort of big words are attached or legalities spouted about this swimming pool issue, racism is wrong, our children are listening intently and bigotry will never go away until everyone looks in the mirror and asks themselves what kind of example they are leading for their children.

[prdbldngheart]

08:22 PM on 07/09/2009

Whooo hooo! From the blurb I just heard, Keith Olberman is covering this on tonight's worst person segment. It was probably too late to make it yesterday!

[prdbldngheart]

08:26 PM on 07/09/2009

And accroding to the Daily Kos, the swim club is being investigated

HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION LAUNCHES RACIAL DISCRIMINATION INVESTIGATION
NAACP requests investigation following Montgomery County swimming pool incident

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Chairperson Stephen A. Glassman announced today that the commission would launch an immediate investigation into allegations of racial discrimination against the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, after a recent incident in which African-American and Hispanic day campers were asked to leave the club's pool.

"The rule of law in Pennsylvania is equal opportunity for all, regardless of race," Glassman said. "Based on the NAACP's request and public outcry following media reports, we will expedite an investigation to determine whether there has been illegal discrimination."

The commission has legal authority to investigate allegations of illegal discrimination, whether or not a complaint has been filed.

"Allegedly, this group was denied the use of a pool based on their race," Glassman said. "If the allegations prove to be true, this is illegal discrimination in Pennsylvania."

"Protests and public outcry won't do much to help these families," said State NAACP President J. Whyatt Mondesire, who also serves on the commission. "But the Human Relations Commission can determine the facts and hold people accountable for any illegal acts of discrimination. The law simply does not allow discrimination based on race."

www.dailykos.com

[Tanyars5]

09:10 PM on 07/09/2009

did he?....was not watching

[smartenoughforthisforum]

08:00 PM on 07/09/2009

If you'd like to get slimed by the Palin Red Meat base, link to this story on www.nbcphiladelphia.com and read the reader comments. Do-do-do-do-doo-doooooh. They're out there.

[Roytheboy]

07:23 PM on 07/09/2009

Private clubs are legal and have been a way of life for hundreds of years. If you don't like a particular club, start your own- don't wine about racism. Who was the comedian that said "he would not belong to any club that would accept him"--

[smartenoughforthisforum]

07:28 PM on 07/09/2009

Groucho Marx. And he was JOKING!

[Phreejazz]

02:00 AM on 07/10/2009

If you aren't willing to live up to a contract, don't make one.

[Debanne]

06:13 PM on 07/09/2009

I am speechless. How would this play out if white kids went to an exclusively "black only" pool and were told to get out? No doubt the parents would be outraged and in disbelief over the treatment of their children. This situation should not be swept under the rug.

[smartenoughforthisforum]

08:06 PM on 07/09/2009

These people's kids wouldn't go to one. Parents wouldn't let them. Little Biff and Buffy might get cooties.

[barackobama4prez]

02:43 PM on 07/09/2009

A day late and a dollar short, but I'm glad to see MSNBC finally picked up this story today.

- + PAposter I'm a Fan of PAposter I'm a fan of this user permalink
kev1000 I'm a Fan of kev1000 I'm a fan of this user permalink

Okay, this makes me feel a little better:

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Campers__Complexion__No_Problem_for_New_Pool_Philadelphia.html

Sorry about the ad in the beginning, but what can ya do?

[dibabe]

01:31 PM on 07/09/2009

go to boston sometime, they love blacks there! LOL

[kenkreell]

01:37 PM on 07/09/2009

Not!

[Sumwaiwah]

11:53 AM on 07/09/2009

My issue with what is happening is not necessarily the legal issues around being a private pool which would include the ability to "discriminate" but more that this pool in actuality accepted the group and reneged on their offer by reimbursing the group and officially suspending their license. For one, the pool should have expected the size (as this would be delineated in the initial agreement), second whether they were asked to leave for the purpose of capacity issues or "atmosphere" the event leaves a negative note for the community, and lastly these kids have undergone a social trauma that will impact their lives and those of minority communities everywhere as to the progress, or lack thereof, in race relations in America.

[joeyhegele]

11:39 AM on 07/09/2009

New Flash:

A restraunt kicks out a group of five men simply because they are gay. The police are called, but the police say the restraunt has the right to refuse service to whomever they choose.

Why does the Huffingtonpost not post about this story like they did with this story?

As a gay man I may be offended by homophobia, but the restraunt still has the right to discriminate. The government cannot discriminate, but people and businesses can. That is how our country works. I would boycott the swim club and the restraunt if I lived in either area, but you cannot sue them.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12790543?IADID

[fairplaystacy]

01:46 PM on 07/09/2009

The gay couple may be able to sue chico's if kissing is not defined as improper behavior, which is likely to be the case. Each citizen has a right to bring a discrimination case in such instances.

The two cases are very different though. The two gay people elected to kiss the children did not "elect" to be black. The law covers kissing in public differently than it covers race.

[Curmudgette]

07:57 PM on 07/10/2009

You're mistaken. The police, who backed the restaurant policy, were so ignorant they thought there was still a law against "homosexual conduct" in Texas. It was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2003. They were also apparently unaware that the city of El Paso had past an ordinance making it illegal for businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

Businesses cannot discriminate based on race or gender. Private organizations have some latitude, but it's not a cut and dried legal issue.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12790543

[phillyPete]

10:48 AM on 07/09/2009

Race played into it, but it's also because club management "sold time" to 60 city kids for a small private pool. That's way too many kids at once.

Here's a quote:

Club member Bernadette Sinnott, 44, said that although she was not at the pool on June 29, she had heard the club took back the campers' membership because of space issues, not race.
"I think they thought it was too crowded," she said.
Sinnott was at the club yesterday with her son Brandon, 14, who said he was biracial and had never encountered racism at the pool.

[KMan1]

11:22 AM on 07/09/2009

Does Mrs. Sinnot actually think this lame excuse is going to fly? Funny how they only realized their "error" once they saw the color of the children's skin.

[kenkreell]

11:27 AM on 07/09/2009

They more than likely thought he was white.