Sunday July 12, 2009, 7:50 am
Sixty-five children from a largely Black summer camp in Philadelphia were turned away from a swimming club in the suburbs because of their race. The camp had a contract to use the Valley Club's pool for the summer. Once the club realized the kids were Black, it canceled their membership.

A "Whites only" pool in 2009 should not be tolerated. Please join us in publicly condemning the Valley Club's discrimination, and calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether the club violated federal civil rights laws.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 7:52 am
Unbelievable! Memories of the 60's flood the brain. But wait, this is 2009!!! Have these people been asleep for the last 45 years? Please, set the "Valley Club" straight, people. Thanks. Amena

BTW, a big thanks to Simon for the encouragement to offer this as a Care2 news story. It is my first, and, an issue of personal importance to me. So, thanks, Simon.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 8:18 am

Thanks for posting this, Amena.

Yes, this was extremely shocking/disgusting, and something that should not be ignored.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 8:21 am
 
Also, I was more than happy to add my name to the petition:
 
http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/?id=2017-182137
 

Sunday July 12, 2009, 8:48 am
Signed! Unbelievable!!!

Sunday July 12, 2009, 8:53 am
heart broken that this could possibly still happen in this day and age when barriers are supposed to have been broken

Sunday July 12, 2009, 9:15 am
signed petition hon and noted
Congrats on ur first news story- very well done Amena

Sunday July 12, 2009, 9:18 am
When I saw the title to this story I my jaw dropped, was this some kind of joke with a catchy title???? Oh no it is the sad embarrassing racist full of hate truth. Oh yeah I'm signing this petition and forwarding a snail mail to these rascists. I'd love to hear what excuse they come up with to cover overt rascism.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 9:27 am
Forgot to say thank you Amena for your great and important first story and thank you Carole for forwarding this, you bet this is being sent all over the internet.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 9:48 am
I'm reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett - it deals with being a black woman in Mississippi in the 60's. As I'm reading, I'm thinking, 'how terrible that this was like this and not so long ago - but things are different now, thank goodness." HA - we appear to be the same bigoted, stupid white people we were then. This is shameful for Philadelphia and for all of us, too.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 9:54 am
Morons! What a shame!!! I'll sign the petition, TY Just Carole, Amena...

Sunday July 12, 2009, 10:02 am
I FIND IT HARD TO UNDERSTAND ANY PERSON(S) WHO STILL DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANY PEOPLES IN OUR WORLD. WHITES ONLY? DID I MISS SOMETHING? ISNT A "WHITE" PERSON A PERSON WHO CARRIES "SEVERAL" NATIONALITIES WITHIN? WHITE IS A COMBINATION OF SEVERAL BEAUTIFUL NATIONALITIES AND COLORS OF THE PEOPLE IN OUR WORLD. WHEN WILL THE STUPIDITY& IGNORANCE EVER STOP? SO, TO THE "WHITE" PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THIS IGNORANT ACT I ASK THIS QUESTION-WHAT IS "YOUR" NATIONALITY? WHERE DO YOUR ANCESTORS COME FROM? ARE YOU PERHAPS: FRENCH, GERMAN, INDIAN? OR MAYBE: AFRICAN, ENGLAND, MEXICAN? IT IS TIME TO EDUCATE YOURSELF AND NO LONGERLIVE IN FEAR & HATE!

Sunday July 12, 2009, 10:08 am
SIGNED & NOTED

Sunday July 12, 2009, 10:38 am
Noted, signed, and passing this on. I find this incident with the children having this happen to them,....absolutely appalling in discriminating against people of ANY color. Black, green, polka dot, or purple. C'mon Philadelphia, get with it!!! I hope that these parents win their lawsuits, and the DOJ should investigate and PROSECUTE those who made this judgment for canceling their membership as a HATE CRIME...!!!! TY, Amena for your first story on C2. Welcome to our site!

Sunday July 12, 2009, 10:59 am
Noted and signed with thanks Amena.
Congratulations on your first story with this important issue.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 11:13 am
How sicking and disgussed I'm when I seen this and Oh Yes I will sign this petition. To take there crap out on childern or even older people wake up America!!! this racis crap has to stop. I do not see color why should I or anybody we all bleed the same and have hearts and souls and hurt just the same. I can in my own mind see and feel the hurt when they were tured down at the swimming pool. It would not have payed for me to have been there for sure, I would have loaded off on them and would not have cared, These are innocents and I do hope they get the pants sued off of them and it shuts them down. Thank Amena

Sunday July 12, 2009, 11:17 am
Good post Amena ~ Thank you.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 11:23 am
I grew up in Alabama during the Civil Rights movement. Fortunately, my parents had taught me from a young age to think for myself. The atrocities I witnessed as a child were unspeakable and the victims felt a pain that I had never known. I have always fought against this cruel violation against humanity and I always will.
To think that this type of ignorance still exists and the thought of what it leads to is horrifying.
Thanks Amena

Sunday July 12, 2009, 12:08 pm
This is rediculous and an outrage
And that in this time still !

Sunday July 12, 2009, 12:29 pm
I can't understand why we can't see we are ALL just BROWN--I mean, I'm certainly BEIGE, but the rest of my family are definitely the colour of cedar...and to this day, and I've known some ebony pigmented people, but stilll, they're not BLACK. So why do why have to be stupid and anal about distinguishing COLOURS?

O my...yup! we've certainly got fine colour attenuation--why aren't we able to get any further than THAT?

Namaste! xo

Sunday July 12, 2009, 12:52 pm
Noted and signed. Congrats on your first article, and such a good one. Those snobs look like idiots. Glad other pool sites are stepping up to provide for these little campers.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 1:02 pm
Noted/signed and stunned.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 1:51 pm
I have a cousin who is black and one is Indian and it really hurts to see them get ridiculed even in this day. Shame on them. One day the tables may be justly turned. It makes me wonder what it will take for us all to accept, respect and befriend the peoples of this earth - maybe an alien invasion perhaps???
Thanks Amena and Carole and Tarquel for passing it on.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 3:14 pm
Thanks Amena, signed..... truly sad to realize that we as humans still see color instead of people

Sunday July 12, 2009, 3:21 pm
Signed last night. Thank you Amena!!

Sunday July 12, 2009, 3:37 pm
Are we NEVER going to get past "race" issues? What about life and death issues? Where I am not wanted, I do not go!! Is there not a swimming pool you can go to in Peace? If not, build one. There are always going to be the "country club"s! Join the "clubs" that have your best interest at heart and start worrying about things that really matter. There are people dying in this country because of homelessness that has been forced on them because of no employment. We will always have our homeless who choose to live that lifestyle. So be it... we need to help those who truly want to work. Who are not just complaining to get attention. I have lived through discrimination, oppression, homelessness and defamation of character. You can overcome. You live what you Believe. Stop teaching children to hate and teach them to Overcome.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 4:29 pm
Thanks Amena & C =
Noted & Signed, of course.
Having been born & raised in Chicago, I never knew that there was such a thing as discrimination.
Then I drove south toward Miami = boy, did I find out about discrimination when I hit the Deep South = but I "messed with Southern White heads" = I, a Whitey (actually I'm kind of beige) drank from the Black drinking fountains & used the Black ladies room!! Kind of surprised I wasn't arrested)
Also got my chance a little later while living in Washington, D.C. to rally with Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 5:41 pm
THANK YOU FOR POSTING! Thank you for posting the petition siste C. I was happy to add my name to the petition too!! All of this is just more divide and conquer brought to us by the global elite who believe themselves to be a 'superior race'! Only people who feel INFERIOR on the inside need to play that game! It's pathetic!

Sunday July 12, 2009, 5:48 pm
Signed petition gladly. Disgraceful behaviour - they should be ashamed of themselves.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 6:03 pm
Disgustedly noted and action taken. Thank you, ladies.

Sunday July 12, 2009, 8:02 pm
This incident made me so angry!!! We live in the 21ST CENTURY, for God's sakes!!! We have a BLACK President!!! When are people going to get a clue that we are ALL the same no matter the color? Or that color doesn't indicate good or bad behavior? Yes, I hope this swim club gets many lawsuits brought agains it. Sometimes the the only way to punish this negative behavior is by affecting the pocketbook!

Sunday July 12, 2009, 8:37 pm

Here's a news item about it:

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Pool-Boots-Kids-Who-Might-Change-the-Complexion.html

Sunday July 12, 2009, 8:42 pm

This is a copy of an email they sent out originally, they have a link to it after you sign the petition...


Thank you.
Please help spread the word.

Thank you for publicly condemning the Valley Swim Club and calling on the Justice Department to investigate. You're helping to show that people across the country are united against racial discrimination, and ensuring that the federal government does its job.

The more of us that stand up, the stronger our voice will be. Will you take a moment and invite your friends and family to add their voice as well?

Below you will find a brief letter you can send. Personalize it as you wish or write your own, but please send it along right away. Also, please only contact people who you know personally. Spam will hurt the effort.

You can cut and paste the text below into an email message:

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=2032-915716

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.

http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/?id=2032-915716

Thanks.

Here are some links to more info:

"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

Sunday July 12, 2009, 11:31 pm
One has to look at the club's constitution with all it's rules and covenants first. In order to form a club and have it approved, the constitution has to be submitted to the relevant authorities for approval. If the constitution has a stipulation on colour and was approved, one can not sue the club, but one can sue the relevant permit issuing authority for approving a racially discriminatory constitution. I know quite a lot about racial discrimination, as there was a time here in malaysia, when local people could only be present in clubs as cooks, waiters, cleaners etc. BUT NOT AS MEMBERS. It was a hard-fought battle to get it changed.

Good luck with your "war on discrimination" Someone has to take the first step......

Monday July 13, 2009, 12:29 am
Sue them. Surely there is anti-discrimination legislation there. We have it in Australia and we use it. I'm with Marena.

Monday July 13, 2009, 1:55 am
I almost choked on my coffee when I first read about this case of "discrimination" in the SF Chronicle on July 9, 2009. Then, there was a follow-up article on July 12, 2009. The Huntingdon Valley Club were certainly in a hurry to correct their "mistake".

"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."

"Several days later, the club refunded the camp's $1,950 without explanation, said Wright, who added that some parents are "weighing their options" on legal action."

"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."

"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."

Whatever excuses the Huntington Valley Club comes up with for their defense when it is investigated by the DOJ will be weak. It should not have happened in the first place.

Yep, racism reared its ugly head in this circumstance. And, yes, racism is alive and well, not only at the Huntingdon Valley Club in PA and in the USA in general, but, in other countries as well.

July 9 article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/09/national/a113643D96.DTL

July 12 article; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/10/national/a003021D68.DTL

TY, Amena a.
.

Monday July 13, 2009, 2:12 am
What is the matter with some people? What the hell has the color of skin to do with anything?
My thoughts goes back to 1973, when I was seaman and visited South Africa.
Although I with my own eyes witnessed the reality of apartheid system, I couldn't understand what I saw.
It was totally insane, unreal, and sure gave me a wake up call that I will never forget!

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Monday July 13, 2009, 6:37 am
What a crock of crap! Noted and signed.... what an outrage.... just when you think that this type of behavior is quickly disappearing, you hear a story like this and I feel like we are standing in the "slave" age again. Just blatantly wrong!

Monday July 13, 2009, 6:56 am
This is an outrage. I wonder if they would turn our President away? Safety my a__. I am sure there were enough adults there to care for the safety of the children. Makes me sick.

Monday July 13, 2009, 7:37 am
The utter ignorance of some people, that they try writing criticisms against(!) Black people & anti-racist campaigners under this very article!

Apparently, racism is alive and well in Care2. Throw a rock into a pack of dogs, and the one that yelps is the one that you hit. Those who write some kneejerk response against the above article, are clearly racists who are offended by our healthy anti-racist campaigning.

Good on you Amena and the many people who have spoken AGAINST racism here!

Monday July 13, 2009, 8:06 am
Racism is a psychological dysfunction. Go to therapy, racists.

Monday July 13, 2009, 8:15 am
Simon, who are you calling racist here? Nobody spoke out in favour of racism. If you make such an accusation, NAME NAMES....

Monday July 13, 2009, 8:18 am
noted and petition signed,thank you for the post,it's unbelievable that this still exists
I hope this swim club will be closed until they change their policy!

Monday July 13, 2009, 10:53 am
No surprise to me.......even some people don´t want to admit it....this pathological thing exists in the XXI century

Monday July 13, 2009, 12:00 pm
Have you seen the "retraction" from the president of the club stating the "didn't realize" how many children would actually be showing up to use the pool and that it wasn't a discrimination thing (at least not by him......sure, ok....) and that they didn't have enough "space" legally to have that many. Yeah....I was sickened by this as well.

Monday July 13, 2009, 12:15 pm

I signed too. I watched the video and I really felt so sorry for those kids. Disapointment and disbelief stood in their faces. This just can,t be true. We,re living in the XXI century.

Monday July 13, 2009, 12:19 pm
They had a bloody contract! How could they not have known how many were going to show up?!? Thanks, everyone, for all these great comments and for pushing this into a somewhat reluctant limelight on Care2. It seems incredible to me that we are still in need of such discussion in this day and age. I guess some folks do not ever grow up. Those also seem determined to teach their children the same crap so as to keep this nonsense going. I pray for the day when we are at long last free of discrimination IN ANY FORM, ANYWHERE.

Monday July 13, 2009, 12:31 pm
I wish I could say that this shocks me but that would be a lie. One only has to grasp what many American's were doing and saying when GWB decided, after the Towers fell, Iraq was the reason for 9/11. I heard all manner of insulting remarks about the people of the Middle East!

While Many American's actions are beyond the pale on this issue, "We" still have a group that cannot get beyond their prejudices to see the forest for the trees, and that's holding our nation in check, bringing US down, as the last several years can attest too. Wake up those of you who allow ignorance to rule your lives. God created all manner of colored folk and shades in-between.. I "Dare" DREAM that one day we see each other as the flesh and blood, feeling, human beings we all are. The color on the inside is the same.....Barbara/founder/dtdn

Monday July 13, 2009, 2:02 pm
noted; "Thank you for signing the petition." This is an abominable situation and whever such attitudes and behaviors are found they must be held up to public scrutiny, must be extinguished, and those who perpetrate the discrimination must be held strictly and fully accountable under the law. Sadly, that will not remove the pain those who felt the sting have had to endure and which has done inestimable damage to self-esteem. What price do we put on that?! Thank you, Amena, for bringing the story and the petition link, and thanks to Carole for her effort in ensuring that this significant story received the attention it warrants.

Monday July 13, 2009, 4:50 pm
Just a thought:

Maybe I can swim in that pool (lol) of course I will have to be mute, because if these people know that my language is Spanish and I live in Mexico I wouldn´t be allowed......

sad people....

Monday July 13, 2009, 8:41 pm
Being a minority in America, this comes as no surprise to me as I have experienced racism throughout my life and hear about it regularly from other minorities. What is surprising is to hear the outrage over this incident. That is a good thing. Maybe now we can make some real headway on curbing racism here.

Thanks Amena...thanks Just Carole for alerting me!

Monday July 13, 2009, 9:25 pm
This is archaic and racist.And does not belong in 21st.Century America.It's 2009,folks,not 1909!!!

Tuesday July 14, 2009, 11:46 am
It makes me think about the mentality of these people....they are white? not their soul beguining with.

And whiter than who? because there will be always ONE person whiter.

I found this lyrics:

Rundgren Todd : 'some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me' Lyrics

There ain't a man alive today
Who doesn't want to have the world in his hand
And everything to go his way
And abuse what he don't understand
Some people never can be satisfied

less they push somebody else around
But I can't give no aid or take no side
I just watch them drag each other down because

Some folks is even whiter than me
Some folks is even blacker than me
I got myself caught in the middle somewhere
And that's just where I want to be

I'm talking bout the outside
Talking bout the inside too

I spent a lot of time alone
And when I'm gone you won't remember my name
But I ain't never been nobody's boss but my own
And I hope that you can say the same
And I feel just like everyone around
I like so sing my songs of change like a crooner
But if we was all to live another mile uptown
I think we'd like to get it changed a whole lot sooner

Tuesday July 14, 2009, 12:18 pm
ohhh by the way, I signed and made this comment:

I never knew racism until I begin to use the internet. I am a white woman but not for this racists because I speak Spanish, I can care less of being white or semi-white because of my language. This is a CRIME, racism is a CRIME that hurts people and I have lived it!

By the way, let the owner of this club know that I saw him in the video and I think he is not that white anyway.

Thanks in advance.

Tuesday July 14, 2009, 8:21 pm
thank you Just "C" and Amena!! i appreciate Your news article, and comgrats Amena on Your first! this is so tragic for those children and their families and a shame for the country!

Wednesday July 15, 2009, 10:32 am
Bigotry and discrimination, is legal in many aspects of society, Hippies, smokers, drinkers, bad credit, x-cons...the list goes on and on, how many words in the English language, belittle, discriminate, divide??? And until America decides who is American enough to be American, we will have a nation of American'ts!!!
You can't come here, you can't go there, you can't say that, you can't do that, you can't be that, not in America, the divided nation of conformity!!!
Righteous article, unrighteous acts!!!

Wednesday July 15, 2009, 12:43 pm
Thanks so much Amena-I have just submitted the story about Emmett Till and his coffin and the insult that was visited on him-this icon of Civil Rights. I think that speaks volumes too-there are still many places today where this kind of thing happens. It just needs to be brought out into the light.

Thursday July 16, 2009, 9:48 am
omg.....Can they spell LAWSUIT?????? Noted and signed.

Saturday July 18, 2009, 12:01 am
I am very happy that you are writing about this issue...sadly racism is still a problem in our Country. I know personally because my Fiance and I are a 'mixed couple' whatever that means right? lol...we have had many conversations about the use of colors to describle people and the words which have been chosen to define races of people. Have you ever taken a quick min and looked up the words 'white' and 'black' in the websters dictionary? it is very sad. They make 'black' seem evil and bad and 'white' seem pure and good. And then the wonder why things like this happen to our children...they can't even find refreshment in a swimming pool...now that is really sad and ignorant! We have also experienced the 'looks' of disapproving eyes and some inappropriate comments, but, we have become really good at blocking them all out. Anyway, blessings to you my sweet friend and thanks so much for caring...

Sunday July 19, 2009, 10:29 am
Good point, Amy. Michael Jackson is the only "white" person I've ever seen besides albinos. So called whites have a red, yellow, blue and brown tinge to their skin which makes it erroneous to refer to caucasians as white. Blacks come in many hues and colors as well. This was a horrid situation engineered many years ago to create a class system based on color.

Pitiful that we bought into this lie.

Monday August 10, 2009, 12:28 pm
Just now catching up with emails after being off for awhile. Thank you Carole for sending this. I signed the petition and I'm anxious to hear about the outcome. This is shameful.