Pennsylvania Swim Club Accused Of Racism To Ask Minority Kids Back

PHILADELPHIA — A private suburban swim club accused of racism after it canceled the memberships of dozens of minority children says it will seek a meeting with the kids' camps to work out an agreement for them to return.

Amy Goldman, a member of The Valley Club, said those able to attend a hastily called meeting Sunday afternoon voted unanimously in support of reinstating the memberships of the Creative Steps day camp and two other camps as long as safety issues, times and terms can be agreed upon.

The Creative Steps camp had arranged for 65 mostly black and Hispanic children to swim each Monday afternoon at the gated Huntingdon Valley club, which is on a leafy hillside in a village straddling two overwhelmingly white townships. But after the group arrived June 29, camp director Alethea Wright said, several children reported hearing racial comments and some swim club members pulled their children out of the pool.

The camp's $1,950 was refunded a few days later.

The president of the swim club's board of directors, John Duesler, has said the decision was made out of safety considerations, not racial concerns.

"We have near-unanimous approval from our membership, so at this point we'll be figuring out ... how to approach all the camps and see how we can move forward," Duesler told WPVI-TV at the club's entrance on Sunday.

The swim club has claimed it has a diverse, multiethnic membership, but Goldman, a member for two years, said she couldn't remember seeing a black member this year.

Goldman said members were told that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, which has opened an investigation, is to make a fact-finding visit to the club July 30. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., said Friday he had asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate "to determine what action, if any, is warranted by the Civil Rights Division."

Others to criticize the club include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the United States' highest-profile black swimmer, Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones, who said Thursday that "hearing about what's happened to these 65 kids is both disturbing and appalling."

Chuck Wielgus, executive director of USA Swimming, the governing body for the U.S. swim team, said he was stunned by the accusations against the club.

Wright, the camp director, didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Sunday evening. She said earlier that other institutions had offered to host her group at their pools for the summer.

Camp parent Silvia Carvalho said she hadn't heard about the club's action but didn't believe her 9-year-old daughter, Araceli, would be willing to return.

"She has already said so," Carvalho said Sunday night. "She doesn't want people to look at her the same way."

Comments

[barackobama4prez]

I would sue this club if it were one of my children. After they pay the families of the kids for their humiliation, the business is done and there is no need to return. You can then look forward to losing memberships afterwards.

[bluehand]

I agree. If it were my child, I would not send them back to that club. I'd show my kid how to work within the law, and sue the club. It's not often you get to legally and publically punish someone who mistreats you.

[kutkreata]

The parents of those little kids need to tell Valley Swim Club to take their little swim days and shove them up their you know whats.

[gladys46]

Ditto ! Then sue them ... as they have filed class action lawsuits ... bravo for that !

[noudidnt]

word

[DisagreeDisagreeably]

They booted the kids, because, their paying members were complaining.

I remember tiger woods recalling how he was treated at golf clubs, now they're all kissing his a$$.

[AntsyAmerican]

What do you mean, "paying members?"

The camp PAID the swim club nearly two thousand dollars to have the kids swim there each Monday. The swim club gave the money back after they chose to align themselves with the racists in their community rather than be on the right side of history.

Or did you assume the kids were some sort of charity case? What, specifically, about them made you think this?

[aj88]

AntsyAmerican-
I have been all along thinking that the club owners and President should not have been targeted because of a few bigoted members. Until your post. You are absolutely correct, the club should have refunded the bigots memberships not the camps.

[vesaversa1]

I think the bad imagine and the pending legal problems are having a effect on this racist swim club that they are rethinking their racist behavior . But there is no way this group of children could ever go back to this place .

[fredisfred]

"Safety considerations" my ass.

[gladys46]

Woo .. HP let you post that ... well, then I'll try this again !

This incident has taken me to my ultimate sense of piss ivity !

[CigarGod]

LOL
Cigars all around.

[lesleypalmer]

I think it is good that the Valley Swim Club has decided to change its policies. That said, I fear that "too little, too late" applies here. The president of the board should resign, as a result of his unfortunate remarks. It has been disturbing to read several different blogs and threads on this issue. The virulent remarks that I have read targeting the camps, the children, and minorities have been breathtakingly offensive.

[gladys46]

Class action lawsuits tend to cause written ra cists policies to change, however, actual treatment of one's fellow man/woman & child cannot be legislated !

[barackobama4prez]

Agreed. You can not legislate attitudes and acceptance. But you can hit them where they live; the only thing these people respond to is $$$$.

[Berkeleylefty]

What makes the color of the kid's money different from the color of the club's membership money?
Green is green. Therefore, there has to be another reason for the kids losing their swimming privileges. Could it have been the color of their skin? I am shocked! Shocked that a country club would do this to mostly "urban" children. Shocked I tell you!I

New slogan:
"A pool worth peeing into. Hey bring grandpa and grandma and their colostomy bags!"

It usually takes four-six hours for the filters to clean any "organic" matter. So if all the guests were to "make the water warmer" then the filters would simply overload. I wonder if any of the membership children has ever made the water "warmer"?

Berkeley Lefty.

[DisagreeDisagreeably]

lmao!

[BlackWidowPilot]

Brilliant logic that, confirming the very worst prejudices of the bigots.

With friends like these...

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[Squeglen]

I still find this club to be racist. The kids will be allowed to swim on Monday's, hey club, there are six other days in the week as well, why can't they swim then or do you think that Monday is the only day that it gets hot?

[mcsquared65]

they signed up to swim once a week.

[RustyGranite]

Right, so offer to break the group into smaller pods of 20 and come back for three days instead of 1....rather than give back $1900 in profits. Right?

But neither party has stated that was a suggestion, and in their initial letter to the kids it used the whole "change the complexion" thing.

The overcrowding excuse doesn't wash.

[AntsyAmerican]

I know. Why do people comment in detail about facts they don't know?

[amandla]

After seeing so many incidents such as this happen even during my relatively brief years of life (I'm 38), I still scratch my head when someone complains about the existence of Black counterparts to white institutions (e.g., BET, the NAACP, Miss Black America pageant, HBCU's, etc). The US has needed Black-specific groups and organizations because Black people have traditionally been pushed away by whites.

Not that I see anything wrong with having all-Black groups. In fact, I think it would be better for Black people as a whole to have Black institutions as opposed to exposing Black children to the psychological harm and humiliation of being rejected because of their skin color; the damage done during the formative years are life-lasting. Old school racism will exist as long as those whites who grew up with it (especially those living during the days of Jim Crow segregation) continue to live to pass on their ways of thinking.

[NedroidPrime]

Then you have no room to complain about this pool.

If you support one type of discrimination, you lose all right to decry the others.

All of these organizations should be made diverse. Period. Otherwise the problems will just be perpetuated.

[damilitantone]

The flaw in your argument is that black folks have their own organizations i response to being excluded from predominantly white ones. White folks have never been barred for going to black swimming pools, churches and the like. If black folks were to dismantle all of their organizations tomorrow they would still face the issues of equal access to white organizations that they do today.

[jessicadevyn]

HBCUs, NAACP, black fraternities, BET, are not black ONLY insitutions! They are "historically black", not black ONLY.

If you want Affirmative Action then apply to a HBCU. There are even a few HBCUs which are now predominatly white.

Black people are NOT the ones perpetrating racism. People don't go, "oh, HBCUs so let me hate people with darker skin."

[damilitantone]

Kids are more resilient than we give them credit for. If the owners of the pool have apologized and are making amends well what more can we expect. If it's a hot day, a nice pool, and the kids like the facilities, you can bet that they will make the transition a lot easier than the adults. Of course, we are upset and angry, but if folks stop their kids from going to the pool, then what was the point of the civil rights movement. Black folks could have just kept to their own areas and not tried to integrate. May be the children and the adults will learn more if the black and Hispanic kids go back to the pool and are allowed to just be kids and not a political statement. I'm sure that there are white families that attend the pool who are just as upset about what happened. Why not show them some brotherhood and let the kids swim together as was intended. I'm less militant than I used to be. Twenty years ago I would have had a completely different view.

[gladys46]

"political statement" ... really ! Blatant discrimination is ILLEGAL ... ah, the act thereof is against already written LAWS ... period !

[damilitantone]

Right. and they are making amends. Besides being possibly sued or being fired what more do you want them to do? How much money? Who should be fired? After the penalties for their behavior have been exacted will it then be okay for the kids to return to the pool?

[gladys46]

What adds insult to injury is the owner stating or someone stating for him is that he supported President Obama ... well , duhhhh ... all who did that, ALL voted our best interest, surely it was not Mc !

Who's best interest was the owner of this swim club supporting ... surely not those innocent children ?

[Highwind]

One of the kids in that camp was at the club before with another camp earlier in the summer. He said that he, one other black kid and 70 whites kids did not get kicked out of the club then. So their 'overcrowding' argument is BS.

[gladys46]

The management acted illegally, panicked and acted for the white parents who ra cially complained ! Their reaction is against the law, and if justice is to prevail, they should pay large sums ... they should also mitigate the harm they've done those children ... although the very e vil incident has made an indelible, lasting imprint ... that same awful experience most other minorities have experienced in this diaspora for eons ! This management caused those black & hispanic children to think they were not as good as white children ... how disgusting is that !!!

[NoMoosestew]

Exactly! That could have been handled with time out for some kids send another bunch into swim. I have seen that done at pubic pools. I found it suspect that only black kids were causing the over crowding. I watch kids play they have no regard to color whatsoever. People like that only understand their wrong when they get their wallet gets hit.

[RightWingMarine]

freedom works! This camp freely chose to discriminate against these children and now people freely protest outside their club and the spotlight of the national media is upon them to discourage new members from joining and to shame current members into leaving. And we didn't need a human rights council or mandatory employee sensitivity training or have a celebrity apologize and go to rehab.

[NedroidPrime]

Very true, but it will be interesting to see how many of them come back to swim. If none, then it would seem to be a bit of a publicity stunt.

Though i'm still waiting on Lohan to go to rehab... lol

[tantrictim]

they wont come back to swim because they were humiliated, this has nothing to do with a publicity stunt, i think the both of you would do well to visit a tolerant multicultural country like canada, where the precusor that led to this discrimination, namely racial segregation, has not been a historical factor in the way that people of different ethnic groups approach each other

[Paulo1]

Something does not smell right at the pool.

What stinks about the racism claim:

It makes no sense that the club would accept these kids and then engage in blatant racism. Modern day bigots do not set themselves up for headline racism. They make damned sure they never have to see a black face in the first place.

What stinks about the club's claims:

That comment about a diverse membership when members can not recall seeing a black at the club. Also the fact that they did not have a plan in place to assure these kids got the time they were offered. It would have been more gracious if they had gone with a first come policy when they saw they were overbooked or if they had asked their own membership to step back for the couple of hours to allow the camp kids a chance.

Lastly I discount the whole idea that racial slurs are a factor here. Believe it or not if you happen to be black you can pick up racial slurs all over the place. Matter of fact if you happen to be white and travel to inner city neighborhoods its not at all impossible to pick up a few anti-white slurs. It is a sad fact that people engage in such actions and I seriously doubt it was the policy of the club to promote such stupid comments whether their policy was racist or not.

[CherrySpring]

The ra.cism claim do not stink. The *owner* may have been fine with 65 black and latino children, but some of his white members were not. The kids jumped in and they jumped out. One of the campers said: "And I heard this lady...she was like, uh "What are all these black kids doing here?" She was like 'I'm scared they might do something to my child.'" And they heard a host of other insults atop being treated like lepers.

So then the pool club owner gets all these complaints from his ra.cist white members, (who I can imagine threatened to pull their money, and tell all their white sheet wearing friends too, for good measure) and he, with his white sensibilities, sided with these members and canceled the campers' membership. His initial statement said: "there was a concern that a lot of the kids would change the complexion...and the atmosphere of the club." So, what does "complexion" mean to you? The fact that he turned this around later and cited a "overcrowding" concern as the reason for cancellation means nothing, he's just back-peddling. All of this was undoubtedly ra.cist.

[luziannagirl]

CherrySpring

I swim laps at a VERY racially diverse nonprofit pool system which generously shares space with a variety of kids' groups, and is currently very well-run. But, in the past...not. And it had nothing to do with race.

A big issue for me was summer day camps which:

1) were allowed to invade lap lanes, resulting in dangerous and scary collisions with lap swimmers

2) not scheduling enough regularly occurring times and space for lap swimmers,

3) the amount of additional litter and human grunge in the water, on the patio, in the showers, toilet areas, and locker rooms, generated primarily by children's groups. Getting counselors and parents to better manage young participants, hiring extra cleanup staff, and getting lifeguards to pick up bits of litter between shifts has made a huge difference.

At some point, enough members voiced their concerns, and at considerable added expense and effort, the concerns have all been addressed. There are probably now more people total using the pools than ever, with probably the highest ever level of racial diversity.

So, it might not be as much about race as it is about effective and safe pool management. Does anyone really know details on this?

[noudidnt]

The wh yt e people are on def ense. See how quickl y they excu se others for their bl atant pre ju dic_es?

[damilitantone]

The law says what folk have to do. However, attitudes legislate themselves. I doubt that their are my white folks walking around in the inner city unless they are politicians, public workers, or carrying badges. Growing up in the inner city, we never saw any white folks, but the ones I just mentioned.

[lpbj]

The owner just simply misjudged the reaction of the white membership. Money talks!

[Free2Speak]

Check out the comments made by the president of the swim club.John G. Duesler Jr., president of the swim club's board of directors, said the decision was made because of overcrowding, not racism.
However, he said the decision to cancel the camp's access was made for fear it would change the "complexion" of the club.
Critics of the club's action jumped on that word, and Duesler later conceded "it was a terrible choice of words," and denied it referred to the children's color.

[gladys46]

Those "terrible words" ... came from inside, he uttered precisely what he felt ! As an African American mother residing here in Philly, I would not be "stunned, shocked or disturbed" to see 60 white children enter any place ... I'm wondering why ?

A signed contract listed the number of children that would attend ... and the date & time ... that same contract listed the number of life guards & staff that would be on-site !

Again, who's zoomin' who ?

[BritishAmerican]

My point exactly.