Pool Accused of Racism Will Ask Campers Back

Racial discrimination sends us back to the 1950s

(NEWSER) - A largely white suburban Philadelphia swim club’s barring of black and Latino campers was so backward “I thought I had fallen into a time warp,” writes Annette John-Hall in the Inquirer. Things like this happened in the 1950s—when singer Dorothy Dandridge booked a room in a Las Vegas hotel, the staff actually drained the pool—but “this isn't 1950s Las Vegas. It's 2009 Philly.” More»

Suburban pool rejects summer campers, cites 'complexion'

(NEWSER) - A Philadelphia summer camp says it may take legal action after a suburban swim club rejected its campers, the Inquirer reports. On their first visit to the pool, the children said they’d overheard other poolgoers complaining about black people frequenting the swim club; soon after, management refunded the $1,950 the camp had paid for weekly pool visits over the summer. A statement from the club president cited “concern” over the “complexion” of the club. More»

(NEWSER) - Family members of dozens of black and Hispanic children turned away from a suburban Philadelphia swim club plan to sue the club for discrimination, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The director of the camp has turned down the club's invitation for the campers to return. "The children are permanently scarred," she said. More»

Suburban Philly club could face millions of dollars in fines for booting camp

(NEWSER) - A state panel has found that a Philadelphia-area swim club racially discriminated against a day camp group of mostly black and Hispanic children when it canceled an agreement to let them swim, the Philadelpha Inquirer reports. The panel examined the Valley Club's actions and communications before and after the agreement was revoked with the Creative Steps camp. "Racial animus" and "racially coded comments" from members were the cause for the switch, the panel ruled. More»

White voters won't always say it, but they won't vote Obama

(NEWSER) - Joe Biden must have been shocked when he met Carolyn Bauer in a Philadelphia diner. Bauer told Biden she’d never vote for his running mate. “It’d be disgusting to get a man named Barack Obama as president,” she said. “No way!” Racism is a real factor in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Daily News reports, and though it’s usually more subtle, it could hurt Obama come November. More»