Valley Swim Club-Huntingdon Valley: Are Racism Allegations Fair?

Thank you for all your comments and for keeping the discussion productive and respectful.  This is an emotional topic and these comments are really adding an important perspective to the story.

Hum, I like the post and approach of questioning this and maybe their is another side to it in deed.

However, I would say it sounds more like damage control from the clubs part. 

Had it been an issue of over crowding and members complaining then one would have let the day go by, apologize to the members and not repeat the experience, or refuse any further contract with camps.

However, the children where send away after they got there and not before nor refused to come back another time, this alone is rather drastic and not what I would want my child to have to experience.

I would say some one is either lying here or some one did over react big time the day of the event.

The problem the damage is done and wont be easy to mend either, no matter what was and what was not te reality or truth.

I would tend to believe the person responsible for the 65 children who was present at the private swim club. I would also like to know if they had ever been to this particular swim club before but the reporting is so incomplete that the information that is provided only serves to incite people's feelings of righteous indignation if such an event took place. I wish we could have all of the facts but we don't. I choose to believe that Americans in their hearts want nothing to do with racially predjudiced, hateful and ignorant people or their world views and that if this event happened as reported, that those responsible for it be identified and told by the private swim club that they are no longer welcome at the club unless they apologize to each and every child and to Ms. Wright.

Oh please, The Valley Swim Club knew what they meant with the word "complexion" and so do we. 65 white kids show up to swim...this never would have happened.

When you promise a child an outing especially swimming in the hot city summer-that's all they think of & their days & nights preceding the outing are filled with wonderment & joyous anticipation, Then the actual day comes & they arrive at their destination only to have a few moments of fun quickly silenced by taunting words & a "hey get back on the bus" kinda feel has got to dampen their mind psyche...The management staff's hastily not well thought out decision & wording has definitley made a long lasting stained memory upon the minds of our youth & this establishment!

In this day and age of diversity, openess and the presidency of Barack Obama, we thought that racism this blatant was a thing of the past.  Well, surprise surprise.  In the past in the age of segregation, this behavior was acceptable, but now with so much diversity, it is absolutely unacceptable in any form.  The clubs management must be held totally accountable for tolerating this behavior.  They maybe a privately own club, but that in no way justifies the policy of exclusion toward the Creative Steps Day Camp.  Not only was the day camp barred from the swim club, but their money is not good enough either.  Hopefully, we will see the end of this and the Creative Steps Day Camp kids will have a memoriable summer, despite what we have seen and read.

Parsing words and using socially correct euphemisms is a good way to hide racism, bigotry,

and prejudice.  Aren't they sweeet!

They said the 65 children "fundamentally changed the pool".......what a shame. The board should provide a public apology....

What a lack of leadership and organization on their part

What an embarrasment to caucasians like myself that clearly see the opaque bullshit being smeared here. You can only spin something so much.

You can try to hide your bullshit in euphemism and innuendo. The bottom line is.....its wrong !

Of course racism has everything to do with this.  The "good white folks" of the Valley Swim Club, should be ashamed of themselves. The leadership of the club knew what they were doing when they signed the contract and accepted the check, but when ugly racist members whined about the children of Creative Steps  the leaders crumbled to their evil.  shame on them, valley swim should be closed permanently.

There should be protesters in front of that club everyday until this mess is cleaned up. The club needs to pull the record from that day, of who all used their pool, then banned them, return their "snooty" $. Look at what they did to their own children, pulled them out of the pool and told them, it was wrong to be black, and this is the way I want you to treat others? If I was a members kid, I would have been embarrassed that my mom did that to me. And a big thank you to the 3 who did stay in the pool, I hope they tell everyone who those members were, or point them out.

 Apparently, This Valley Swim Club is for "snooty" people only, who are very into themselves, but God sees them for who they really are, and I won't have to worry about them buying their way into heaven.

I don't believe for one minute the children were refused use of the pool was due to overcrowding.  The pool management was aware they were coming. They took their money as payment for the use of their facility.  It is clear to me that a few members influenced management to make a racially based decision that hurt these kids, showed us all how ugly and small minded some are at the Valley Club and that this continued behavior can not and will not be tolerated in this day and age! 

It is a sad day in America when we turn on the news and are faced with the realization that racism is very much alive and well.  It is 2009 and we are still dealing with the same ugly issues of prejudice and ignorance.  It is time to take a stand and make sure that people realize it is no longer going to be tolerated!!  Humanity involves ALL people, the unique qualities of individuals is what makes our world beautiful.

I've just heard this story on the Today Show.  My initial feeling was outrage and disgust at how people in this day and time are still carrying around such racist attitudes.  Has anyone taken into consideration what this has done to those children that attended that swim camp?  These little children will never forget this experience.  I sincerely hope that their parents/guardians will show them that this event will not define who they are or how far they will go in the future.  I am going to do everything in my power to make sure everyone I know join in this opportunity to educate people that this type of public display of discrimination will not be tolerated in 2009 or for that matter any time from today forward God Willing.  I also agree that this club should ban those individuals that made those comments and even the administration for even trying to plead ignorance to the capacity of the pool.  That statement alone undermines our intelligence.

CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? Children are innocent and when adults pollute their hearts with HATRED OF ANY KIND, they grow up to be mean ADULTS like the members of the swim club who made HURTFUL comments in front of God's Little Angels about NOT WANTING THEM THERE AT THE POOL. The best way to combat evil is to EXPOSE AND CONFRONT it because EVIL LIKES TO HIDE in the shadows and cause HARM TO OTHERS. CAN WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? Well, if we don't, then this NATION WILL RISE UP AND DESTROY ITSELF. Come on people, LOVE IS EASIER THAN HATE AND LOVE FEELS GREAT!

I live in Huntingdon Valley, the area is not racist in itself.  there are peole who pay a lot of money to join the club and fel it is their property and become protective.  If there are a lot of minorities that show up the racism comes bubbling up to the surface.  Needless to say the people who made the comments about the kids should be fired and the camp should be alowed in.   They posed no threat or nusciance other then thr fact that some White people felt uncomfortable because of 15 black kids in the pool.

Shame on you. Once again I am ashamed to be white. I can't believe that in this day in age that there is this type of ignorance and hate. I would love for you and your children to have to experience something like this and see how you like it. I hope you can be legally be held accountable for this disgusting act. I would like to see you have to literally "Pay" for this-give them kids enough money to have their own pool and go to college. Maybe the next time you'd remember your manners. It's obvious those kids had alot more class than you idiots.

I remember when I was 10 years old, and our church went on a roller skating trip at a roller rink in Delaware. Our Sunday class group was so happy all the way their,but when we got their,we were turned away because of our color,back in the year sixty four. We had our tickets that had been paided  in advance. So I know the pain and hurt the kids are feeling. You can't misunderstand racist remarks.  I WILL KEEP AN EYE ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE

After reading about this I realized that if there is life somewhere else out side our planet, man on this planet has no reason to worry about an invasion. Once the aleins saw the level of racism amoung humans they would certainly run the other way. After millons of years of evolution man is still dumb as a rock.

It is wonderful to see that it is no longer enough for people to say that racism is bad and move on like nothing happened. Change will come becasue now we want answers.

If racism was not the reason for closing the deal, why weren't the terms of the camps swimming schedule  renegotiated. 

 The group of 65 could have been divided into two groups.  One group scheduled for one day the other group for another day.  Camp swim days are usually 1-2 hour blocks.   The campers swim schedule should have been posted, so those club members who prefer a camper-free swim would have that choice. There were alternatives available, were other options considered?

This takes me back to my own childhood in Chicago.  Our neighborhood pool was being repaired the park district put up a sign with flyers.  It announced the location of the closest Park District pool in the Beverly neighborhood a short distance away. 

We were about 10 and our parents let us ride our bikes to the pool.  We went swimming the other kids were nice to us.  When we finished we went to the locker room and showered to wash the clorine off and get dressed.  It was crowded that hot day and it took time to get showered.  We were watching the clock because we were only allowed 10 minutes.  After we took 11 minutes in the locker room instead of 10 a staff member came in screamed at us called us the n-word and told us to go to our own pool and stop dirtying up theirs. 

I never told my parents but that stayed with me.  I can still clearly see the face of the blonde woman who first called me that word and even now at 39 it still makes me cry.  My parents were of the Joshua generation they hoped I would not suffer racism but they were realistic and tried to give me the tools to cope.  

As a child of the Joshua generation the racism I grew up with was a lot more covert and thankfully people bold enough to scream racial slurs at children like the Beverly Park District worker were rare.  I often thought of that experience hoping that my pain meant something.  Praying that my suffering would be my own and that no children coming after me would experience what I did  . . .  so as I think of these kids I am saddened that they too will have to cope.  Those adults who were so concerned about race and social class clearly demonstrated that there are some people who still have a long way to go.

If you're the director of a club with a pool, how could you possibly enter into a contract with another organization without knowing the capacity of your pool?  If what they state is true, then the Valley Club needs to be shut down because of safety and insurance concerns (and because they're being led by someone who's incapable of the basic planning necessary for running an aquatics department).

On the other hand, I swim at a Y that has consolidated its adult and youth swimming programs in an effort to save money.  That means the kids come over and swim in the adult pool.  We adults don't like it, but we'd never say anything to or in front of the kids -- it's not THEM we have the issue with, it's the fact that children playing in a pool is a different environment than adults swimming laps in a pool.

The Y's attempt to manage the situation was to implement family swim times.  There are certain hours when we know kids and families will be in the water, there are certain times for classes, and there are other times when only lap swimming is allowed.  Yeah, I've had to adjust my schedule a little bit, but at the end of the day, several different groups (even several different "complexions" of pool users) are served.

The Y is also a membership organization.  Either way you look at this Valley club scenario, there appear to have been more viable options than having a group of kids come to the facility, hear disparaging race-based comments, and then have them turned away.  If we take the race card off the table, we're still left with GLARING managerial incompetence, and possibly risks to the health and safety of everyone using the club.

So it needs to be closed, in the interest of the people of the State of Pennsylvania.

There is an element of truth to everything.  Growing up in that area, I can completely understand the perception of the club members. SHAME ON THEM.  What is this teaching their children?

It is good to hear people speak out against what happened to those children. The fact that the club said they didnt realize they could not support the capacity was a code for "some of our members were uncomfortable with having blacks around". The complexion statement speaks for itself. Now they want to squirm out of their decision because they know they were wrong. See racist are cowards. The families of the children need to hit that club with a descrimination lawsuit that would close that place down. Those people who offended those children are just ass backward ignorant fools.

Jim Crow still alive and can be found swimming at Huntington Valley,

John Duesler, please do The Great Country of  United States a big favor, DO NOT throw this Jim gave a  Life Vest, documented to be a shame to this Great Country & it's people!

Veteran USArmy 24 Years & Still Serving.

i am not one to get all involved in news hysteria. but this story enraged me.and i find myself wanting  GOD to teach them a lesson.the bible says i lay before you blessing n curses..well it appears that they chose curse. and now whatever comes upon them they desirve.GOD BLESS ALL THE CHILDREN WHO WERE DISRESPECTED.LET NOT THEY`RE HEARTS GET HARDENED BY THIS.MAY THEY KNOW THEY ARE LOVED BY ALL OF GODS CHILDREN IRREGARDLESS OF THEIR SKIN COLOR......

It's interesting that the racism denial has now disappeared from the club's website.