Too Black To Swim?

Girard College has stepped in and saved the day for a group of African American and Latino children who were booted from a private suburban Philadelphia pool, presumably because of their race.

The group of about 65 campers from North Philly's Creative Steps Day Camp were scheduled to go swimming every Monday at the Valley Swim Club's private pool, a welcome change from the elementary school basement where they spend their days. The camp paid nearly $2000 for use of the private pool. This week marked their first foray to the pool.

One student said when the camp group arrived, he heard a white woman ask “what are all these black kids doing here?” In true 1952 fashion, when the black campers got in the pool, all the white kids got out. Workers at the pool asked the campers to leave and later promised to refund the camp’s money, leaving the camp to suspect race was at the center of its booting from the pool. Girard College has now offered the students use of its pool for the summer.

The president of the Valley Swim Club, John Duesler, said this in a statement: "There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club."

The club has since issued this statement on its website:

The Valley Club is deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism which are completely untrue. We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. All funds were returned to the camps and we will re-evaluate the issue at a later date to determine whether it can be feasible in the future. Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any form, as is evidenced by our multi-ethnic and diverse membership. Whatever comments may or may not have been made by an individual member is an opinion not shared by The Valley Club Board.

Still waiting on that apology...

Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter wants the private pool to reinstate the campers immediately. The NAACP has asked the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to launch an investigation of the club as well.

If you’d like to (ahem) share your thoughts with this swim club, here are the deets:
Phone: (215) 947-0700
Web: www.thevalleyclub.com (although the site is just a shell)

E-mail: info@thevalleyclub.com