No Pool For You

by digby

I assume that most of you have heard by now about the bigots at the Philadelphia swim club who wouldn’t allow the white kids to swim with the African American kids. It takes me back to my childhood wonder years in 1960s Mississippi. Good times.

Sixty-five campers, kindergartners through seventh graders who are African American and Hispanic, arrived at the private swim club around 3:30 p.m. on June 29. It was their first visit to the club, but the camp had made arrangements for weekly trips on Mondays through Aug. 10.

While the campers were swimming, Wright said, three of them came up to her and said they had heard club members asking what African Americans were doing at the club.

Although the children were upset, Wright said, they stayed at the pool for an hour more to complete their session. She said that she approached club president John Duesler while events unfolded that day and that he seemed apologetic.

On July 3, Wright said, the camp’s $1,950 check in membership fees to the swim club was refunded, meaning the children no longer had access to the pool. She said Duesler gave no reason for the refund except that the membership no longer wanted the children at the pool.

Repeated attempts to reach Duesler, other club officers, and the club’s management yesterday were unsuccessful. NBC10, which first reported the story, said yesterday that Duesler had given the station the following statement: “There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion . . . and the atmosphere of the club.”

The club is not affiliated with the Huntington Valley Country Club, which today inadvertantly found itself a target of public rage.

“We’ve been getting a lot of nasty calls,” country club receptionist Karen Ojeda said.

Wright said she heard no racially charged comments when the campers were at the club but did hear a club member express displeasure that the children were at the pool. She said many parents made their children leave the pool after the campers arrived.

But here’s something that is rarely focused on in all the stories about the appalling behavior of these awful people:

The camp first contacted the club about membership after the New Frankford Community Y in the Frankford section of the city – where the children used to swim – closed last month because of lack of money. The club is about a 20-minute drive from the camp’s location at Devereaux and Summerdale Avenues in Northeast Philadelphia.

Pools are closing all over the place for lack of funds. And if anyone’s thinking help is on the way, think again:

Looking to strike fear and compliance in the hearts of local officials, Vice President Joe Biden warns that if they use money from the economic stimulus fund to build what he regards as the wrong kind of projects, “I’ll show up in your city and say this was a stupid idea.”

“No swimming pools!” he implored. “No tennis courts!” he begged. “No golf courses!” he pleaded. “No Frisbee parks!” he exhorted.

Little kids in urban centers being able to swim outdoors in pools close to their homes is a waste of taxpayers money you see.

h/t to rp