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Many fatal drownings have led people to wonder why so many black and hispanic people have never learned to swim.
According to the US CDCP, the fatal drowning rate of African-American children aged five-14 is three times that of white children. 58% of Hispanic children had no or low swimming ability. For white children, the figure was only 42%.
There is a lack of access to swimming facilities, but swimming is not part of their culture. Few black parents can swim themselves, so teaching their kids to swim is not something they consider. In fact, many black parents who could not swim evinced sentiments like: "My children are never going to learn to swim because I'm scared they would drown."
The parents' very fear of their children drowning was making that fate more likely.
Read the full article.
