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

I would like to add that it is just like the money hungry club to book something without planning.  They should have refused from the get-go if they couldn't follow through.Oh, they must have been trying to save their failing business. They complained when Russian people came to the neighborhood and wanted to join also. They tried to raise the prices in hopes that they would not join. All they saw were dollar signs, not people. If there were anyone with an ounce of compassion or sense they would do as many camps or clubs in general do; split the kids into age groups and give each equal time in the pool. Not rocket science. Since most of the "lifeguards" are members' children they probably complained about the extra work as well as the camp children.

Children are children. Plain and simple they made a huge error no matter how you slice it!!

This article is biased; get your news from better sources.  A member of the club interviewed on television used the term "complexion."  The organization didn't use the term.  

This has been blown out of proportion.  Soon Al Sharpton will arrive.  The irony is that the day care kids probably did pose a safety risk at the pool.  What a sad rush to judgement.

And still it continues...it is amazing the number of people that IMMEDIATELY take the side that assumes racism is everywhere.

If the club and its membership were innocent and this lawsuit continues, I would suggest that the club "sell" the facilities to another new club and resume operations.  Let the old club assume the liability from the federal lawsuit.  

So much for the assumption of innocence in this country...I hope that the club gets free legal representation like the daycare will undoubtedly get!!

I am still waiting for an objective account of the event and an impartial interview of the people involved (children included) with any relevant background information that will verify the honesty of the testimony.

All the blacks want is money. The kids were not scarred. The path to wealth for blacks is either hard work or lawsuits. Sadly they usually choose the latter

FUNNY . . . Out of the 153 comments posted, 134 are not verified. Why are people so afraid to sign their names to their comments? I guess that they just don't want to get involved . . . .

No one has mentioned that multiple inner-city camps were reimbursed and not invited back, but this may have been done to justify ridding the noteworthy camp.

And why must we associate such an action with racism without performing an investigation? And no disrespect, but it seems like minority groups are quick to declare something "racist" when something unfortunate occurs in a predominately white environment. A lot of us could develop some useful reasoning skills before making such outlandish judgments.

Racism is not dead in america, its just not as big and bold as it use to be.  And we can try to make all the excuses we want and try to make it sound better.  But in the end we all know what it is.  Especially Black America.  We have to teach everyone that things like this are not acceptable.  If you choose to do things like this, there will be a consequence.  And Financial Consequence is really the only thing they understand.  Hit them in the pockets.  Discrimination, Segregation, Jim Crow Laws.  Is this 2009, and do we not have a Black President.  Tell it like it TIS.  If so many people allowed in the pool at a time, then lets state that.  We do know how to count.  Racisim still exist today.  People have to be taught that it is not right, not just told.  We have to have a true understanding of it, so that it is not repeated.  If it walks and talks like a duck it is a duck.  The first step is admitting it.  The truth will set you free.  Anyways it is what it is.  RACISM.  Everyone have a wonderful day.  And please America make sure they experience the consequence.  "FINANCIAL"  

One of the reasons for the hasty judgment of the vc is the fact that they have a longstanding reputation for being a discriminatory club. If you live in hv or the surrounding neighborhoods you know this. It is not because they are classy or upscale. It is a clan of close knit families who have been there, many for generations. As a matter of fact, the parents just sit and talk while the kids run wild. If you are one of the clan families, it is fine. If you are not, you will most definitely be told about your child/ren's behaviors.

If you are feeling that the club got a raw deal, look into their history. If this had happened somewhere else the outcome may have been different. Mostly any other club would have planned and staffed appropriately. When the swim or other events took place at vc it was tough for the members and the pool was off limits.

It is all about the choices, and unfortunately they made the wrong one. Suck it up and swallow vc.

This whole situation has taken a life of its own. You have so many people and forces waiting to pounce on anything they can claim as racism to further the permanent victimization of the black community that who cares about the facts of the case. This swim club has had no past incidences of racism and obviously knew that the inner city daycare kids being invited would be minorities.  Did some members in this private club complain about the onslaught of 65 excited rowdy kids at once? Sure.  Was it because of the race of the kids? Thats a big leap.

The club management should have known that the culture of private swim club members and lots and lots of kids could have conflicts. Do I think the same members would have complained if it was 65 white kids or asian kids. Sure. But none of this matter becuase the powers that be in this country have already served the roles of judge, jury, and executioner.

Please read my other note.

All I can say to the people who say "why the fuss?" Because the club has had a bias, racist, reputation for decades. Until now they have been able to sweep all the incidents under the carpet;  hurting many families in the process.

Finally, a long awaited justice for many has come to fruition by having the vc called to  the carpet for their actions.

I am sure they are all hoping that this will disappear.......not this time........welcome to 2009!

This issue i a very sensative one for me, I'm not only black, but i'm black african. The reason why that one would ask why i said that as if it is bad, it because i've been made to feel like that for a long time. Bottom line is Mr Goldman might not be racist but the pressure of running a place like that with people like Jim Flynn can be hard. I am not defending him but if he really didn't want them there, he'd have not booked for them to use the pool, he might have even thought it would be good publicity for them. But he handled the situation wrongly. He should have know his health and safety policy before the kids came and if it was lack of judgement regarding the number of kids then they could have come up with a system to only have a certain number of children in the pool while the rest where pre-occupied playing games. All this should have been arranged before hand. And members should have been pre-warned of this or close it out to members for 2hours while the kids played. I'm sure most of these people a parents and one should know when there is children involved you plan and systemise the day to avoid confusion, stress, unnessesary outbasts.Unfortunately there are still naive and ignorant people out there.The move to ban racist member should be implemented as a leason. Management of the club should also be learn the basic strategy of a successful business is good publicity. This mess could have been avoided. 

"upscale, hidden away swim club"

^hahaha, the club borders 'row home crime riddled' philly on one side and the philmont train station on the other, hardly upscale and hidden away dont you think?? idiot.

I actually LIVE right by this pool and it is always overcrowded, that is why I don't go.  And if I see 65 kids (insert any ethnicity) going into a pool, I am pulling my kid out and leaving, find a better pool with more room.  Not to mention describing somebody as a "black" person is NOT RACIST.  idiots.   

Please deleted all posts from morons who have never been to Huntingdon valley or do not live in HV.  They are the media driven finger pointing muck rakers that have blown this WAY out of proportion.  I have never seen or heard a racist person or comment in all my years of living in HV.  The pool handled this situation the wrong way, they have always been shady, mis-managed and weird, but that's what ALL private pools are like.  There is mis-managment is just about every profession I can think of, the amount of finger pointers in here is astonishing.  Lets talk about how YOU smoke pot, or how YOU stole something, or how YOU used profanity in front of children, etc etc ETC ETC.  If you are so perfect, go ahead and cast the first stone.  again, idiots.   

And this supposed "lawsuit" is nothing more than GREED $$$$. 

Where will the money go from this lawsuit?  Will that noble lawyer buy a BMW?  Since the Swimclub will be drained of it's assets and utimately closed down leaving ALL the kids with no pool, wouldn't it be great if the parents of these camp kids and the noble lawyer spent the lawsuit proceeds on opening up a new private club where everything is run right and everything is perfect - large enough to fit ALL races and ALL kids in the entire state of PA and so well managed they can control budget and overcrowding.  Better yet, why don't we appoint all the pool managment experts we have on this very web site to run the new pool from the internet?  they know how a pool should be run right?   

Here is an excellent comment taken from another page.

"Contrary to the context that you are creating for this “story”, the private club terminated at least two other camp contracts before terminating the Creative Camp contract; no complaints of racist activity or comments were reported either on the day of their visit to the pool nor immediately afterwards; the camp director (Alethea Wright) has a history of running her business in a non-conforming fashion, and, ergo, has suspect motivations in this matter, and private individuals have a right to free speech, regardless of its stupidity or bias.

More importantly, Alethea Wright has a CRIMINAL conviction for violating labor laws in running Creative Steps. AND, City of PHILADELPHIA IS LOOKING FOR ALETHEA WRIGHT TO FILE (AND PAY) AT LEAST THREE YEARS OF HER NET PROFITS TAX AND BUSINESS PRIVILEGE TAX. The last time they went looking for her for these taxes, the charges were dismissed because they couldn’t find her to serve her. …. WHAT?!?!? Is this the reason why she is running her business from a public building? or taking the children to activities outside the city? And, exactly how much money has the city given a tax evader here to run her business? Maybe she is looking for a windfall to help her come clean with her tax bills…

Perhaps if she and the other numerous tax evaders in this city paid their taxes, there would be plenty of pools available within the city!

...let us know how the camp director’s own anti-social activities have contributed to the destruction of our city’s infrastructure and the delivery of services to our children. That’s the real story here."

Hmmmmmmmmmm

I am absolutely furious about the coverage this incident is receiving in the media. It has been on the front page of philly.com for every other day for the past two weeks. People need to understand that racism will never leave this world as much as we'd like it to, and racism is a two way street. I attended a summer camp in Philadelphia for one day when I was 9 years old and only stayed for one day because of the racism I encountered there. I was the only one not of African-American descent in my group and was made aware of it by the other campers. I was ridiculed, picked on, left out, and worst of all, pushed into a swimming pool because the other campers knew I couldn't swim. The last part is the most important part of the point I'm trying to make here. If it's true that the members and club felt uncomfortable because of the number of children, then safety is their number one concern. How many lifeguards are on duty at a time at the club? How safe is it to have one or two qualified lifeguards watch over 65 kids and then some? What The Valley Swim Club did was strictly a business decision. If their annual and continually returning members complain about these kids, it would be more sound to cut off 65 new members who are paying for only 3 months opposed to 20 or so members who come back year after year and pay for more than just 3 months. People need to stop feeling bad for these kids or offering them charity because in the real world, life isn't easy or nice.

This story completely shocked me... I am so appalled with The Valley Club in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Huntington Valley. The sad fact that they used racism as the reasoning is just plain ignoranct. I praise Tyler Perry for doing what he has done to show his support for these children. Unbelievable that in a time like today that racism is still so strong. I will never ever understand bigotry and racism. History has shown us what it does, look at the Vikings; they nearly went extinct due to it.

A note about the word "complexion."  Skin color is only one meaning.  Another is overall aspect or character, like changing the complexion of a club would be changing it from a quiet private club for Seniors to a Day Camp organization.  It was a really poor choice of words, but which meaning they intended or whether it was a subconscious slip is unknown.  I don't know whether this was a racist issue or not.  I have seen misunderstandings and I have seen racism disguised as something else. 

I can totally see club members complaining about too many kids.  My husband is a member of a fitness club and they have "adult only" pools, swim times, hot tubs, etc. because the kids can be too much.  We went to the city's waterpark yesterday and had a great time until all the day camp kids showed up.  It was so noisy and crowded, and there were three near drownings in the four hours we were there; the last one required an ambulance.  Race had nothing to do with it. 

I was a day camp counselor for several years.  The kids we watched (and they were almost all white, by the way) were the most badly behaved kids to begin with and then there were almost too many to keep track of let alone teach good behavior to.  There was trouble everywhere we went.  I told my husband our kids would never attend one.  

This club may just be guilty of poor judgement.  They offered to let all these kids come in without considering the impact it would have on the club and it's current members, then did a poor job of explaining their mistake when they realized it.

I think all those lovely children from the daycare should pay the private membership for each person then they have all rights as each member of the swim club to swim in the gated community.  I do not think camps belong in any private swim clubs.  It is so sad that Philadelphia closed it public pool because people can not afford them so what make them think they have right to private clubs who pay outragious prices to swim for the summer.

It still amazes me that there are people in this country (which boasts its diversity) who twist everything into a racist scenario.  A murderer walks because he could afford to hire a lawyer shrewd enough to turn his case into a racist circus rather than what it really was:  a double and extremely vicious murder trial.  When will this end?  If the pool could not accommodate that many people and especially if some of the children had to be kept in the shallow water because they could not swim or had not passed deep water tests and there were not enough lifeguards (or parents) available to supervise them: that's a liability issue not a racist issue.  I truly believe that those who always want to paint everything with a racist brush are the true racists.

This club should be ashamed, so glad to hear Tyler Perry stepped up to make things better - sending the kids involved in this horrible incident to Disney!  Go Tyler.

My family joined the valley club for a year. Let me tell you..........a 10 year old child could run it better than the management. You had a bunch of lifeguards who did nothing at all. A bunch of parents who let their children run rampant and a board that might as well have been (partially) trained seals.  Oh, not to mention a filthy snack bar! No wonder they made such a screw up!!

I got out of there asap!!!!!!!! If you want a wonderfully managed club for your family, go to Somerton Springs. No comparison. Great private club. We have been there for 4 years now.

Racism is an offense against moral principle and should be fiercely and fearlessly challenged.  Moral principles, however, are blurry, elusive sprites which are difficult to characterize precisely.  Is objecting to a raucous invasion of minority children into one's privileged backyard a defense of racism or a defense of privacy?  Well, both, I should think.  So let's forget the defensible banning of these inner city kids who discovered the rug pulled out from under them after their sponsors paid for their suburban adventure.  On the other hand, stupidity is an offense against the human genome which should be rejected out of hand.  Perhaps the aptly named Lori Slowinski is bright enough to pay her swim club dues and pull up the straps of her no-doubt flattering one-piece bathing costume.  I doubt she has the intelligence to put on a bathing costume which would require her to cover her frame with two pieces at once. Certainly, the club president who objects to the fact that minority children will change the "complexion" of his lilly white conclave lacks the sort of intelligence that might reasonably be expected, in order of biological precedence, of slugs, amoeboe, and virii gifted with a reverse transcriptase.  Lori, you want your money back?  Honey, we'll give you twice your money if you promise to resign.

This event is bullshitting

why do people still regard thier fellows through their completion

this should stop

we are not still living in the 15th century

please dont degrade the image and greatness of AMERICA

the USA would be nothing without black people !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!