Thread: Why were these kids kicked out of the pool? (Part 2)

Last summer, a swim club in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania made headlines when they were accused of racism by the operators of a day camp who claim that their membership was revoked as a result of member complaints that the 56 children were all black or Hispanic. The original thread is has been lost; you can see glimpses of it here. I'd be thrilled to hear there was a way to read the original thread so we don't rehash arguments.



Update:



According to the results of the state investigation, it was determined that racism was a factor in revoking the day camp membership. Among the many factors considered was an internal e-mail from a club board member who noted that "every e-mail of complaint (from club members) mentioned race." There is also evidence that when soliciting new membership, mailings were "mainly directed at areas with overwhelmingly Caucasian populations."



The club is being fined $50,000 in civil penalties, to be paid to the state government, and that amount may increase.



Link

Sorry, don't mean to beat a dead horse... Just thought I'd share an update.

PHILADELPHIA - The Justice Department accused a suburban Philadelphia swim club of race bias in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, six months after the club barred a group of mostly black day campers from their pool.



The civil-rights suit charges that the Valley Club of Huntingdon Valley engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination in canceling its $1,950, eight-week contract with the Philadelphia-based Creative Steps program after the children's first visit.



...



the Valley Club filed for bankruptcy amid the uproar over the camp ban, and the 10-acre parcel is currently for sale, according to the club's bankruptcy lawyer, Michael Cibik. The land, listed for $2 million, will likely be used for residential housing, he said.

Source

[quote name='Djinn' date='17 January 2010 - 10:22 AM' timestamp='1263741760' post='100566']

Sorry, don't mean to beat a dead horse...

[/quote]





No, not at all! Thanks for the update. It's good to have closure.

[quote name='White Pride' date='18 January 2010 - 12:54 PM' timestamp='1263840870' post='101066']

Was this a privately owned pool?

[/quote]



Gee, is it too much to expect one to go to the provided links before asking questions?

More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.



"I heard this lady, she was like, 'Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?' She's like, 'I'm scared they might do something to my child,'" said camper Dymire Baylor.



The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers' first visit to the pool suggested otherwise.



http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...omplexion.html

Guess they shouldn't advertise the open memberships and take the payment for the membership if they wanted to remain white and untouched.



BTW, could you be more obvious?

Its too bad they lost a public pool though. Like we need more housing. It was right for them to be punished, but the community lost too.