07.09.09
Private Pa. pool turned away minority kids
Written by Janet
The members and officials of a private swimming pool in Pennsylvania whose membership is predominately white, told a group of visiting group of minority children by asking them not to return and pulling other kids out of the water, a day camp director said, and the state is investigating.
In northeast Pennsylvania the Creative Steps had contracted for the 65 children at the day camp to go each Monday afternoon to The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, camp director Alethea Wright said Thursday. But shortly after they arrived June 29, she said, some black and Hispanic children reported hearing racial comments.
The gated club is on a leafy hillside in a village that straddles two townships with overwhelmingly white populations. It says it has a diverse, multiethnic membership. Wright said she went to talk to a group of members at the top of the hill and heard one woman say she would see to it that the group, made of up of children in kindergarten through seventh grade, did not return.
Several days later, the club refunded the camp’s $1,950 without explanation, said Wright, who added that some parents are “weighing their options” on legal action. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission will immediately investigate.
The investigation was requested by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., issued a statement calling the allegations “extremely disturbing” and said he was looking into the matter.
Club president John Duesler told Philadelphia television station WTXF that several club members complained because the children “fundamentally changed the atmosphere” at the pool but that the complaints didn’t involve race. In a statement released on its Web site Thursday afternoon, the club called the allegations of racial discrimination “completely untrue” and claimed overcrowding from more than one outside camp was the problem.
“We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multiethnic backgrounds,” it said. “Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps.”
Wright rejected the overcrowding explanation, saying the club covers 10 acres with a “nice-sized” pool and a separate pool for younger children. The board, she said, knew that her group included 65 children, and none of them had misbehaved.
Beth said,
07/10/2009 at 6:53 pm
A couple of things I noticed….the swim pool people should have checked first to see how many and who was coming.
The key note here is that it’s a private club. That means paying customers, and it’s up to them to post the rules.
Saira said,
07/11/2009 at 9:02 am
If a club is private, that means they have paying members…before any money was accepted from the camp, all should have been checked out….for example, how many kids could be accomodated, for safety reasons, and who would be coming…..
Why should the private payers have to give up their rights to a handful of non members?
The private members decide who gets in….that’s the difference from “public” places. That would be like saying there’s a private golf course, where members pay to belong, and those who don’t pay, expect to get in….
I say the club did right….and it’s not discrimination….those who went as guests couldn’t afford the upkeep fees etc., that private means….maybe they should be paying customers intead of raising such a stink over it….
Rebecca-C said,
07/11/2009 at 9:06 am
No Saira, one thing, as long as we have people who want things for free, we will always have them crying discrimination….
Keith said,
07/11/2009 at 7:56 pm
It’s already self explanatory, they saw the money from the camp for 65 kids, but never checked to see if they “fit” their criteria of “acceptable”….so it’s the club’s fault..
All they had to do was refuse from the start if they were private….now they’ve got an investigation ongoing…
hexiemystique said,
07/12/2009 at 3:45 am
I used to be a member of a private gym……. twice the membership fee of a council-run gym……. but I prefer the council’s one! I could, if I wanted to go swimning there as well as doing gym but the private gym never offered a choice.
From what I can gather from the leading article, it was ‘diversity’ that changed the picture? Remember the setting is in a mainly WHITE community! What a way to integrate 65 black kids into America!
hexie
Sharon said,
07/12/2009 at 7:48 pm
The pool was private…they goofed by not checking out who and how many would be coming….
newsdeskinternational said,
07/12/2009 at 8:03 pm
Swim club in racial flap plans to invite camp back
The Montgomery County swim club that sparked a racial furor when it disinvited a Philadelphia day camp of black and Hispanic children last month intends to invite the group back, a club official said yesterday.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/break … _back.html
In other words, to avoid a lawsuit they voted to bring the kids back…
Faith said,
07/13/2009 at 10:46 am
I see nothing wrong in allowing them in the first place….they did pay in advance.
newsdeskinternational said,
07/14/2009 at 8:52 am
Day care rejects invitation to return to pool
A largely minority day care center Monday refused an offer to return to a swim club in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, amid allegations of racism. Alethea Wright of Creative Steps asked parents who attended a news briefing with her Monday, if the parents wanted their kids to return to the swimming pool.
When none of them raised their hands, Wright said. The swim club, in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, extended the invitation on Sunday to return. The day care center had originally contracted to use the pool, but the club canceled the agreement and returned the day care center’s $1,950 check without explanation.
But the lawsuit against the club continues….Attorneys for the day care center said they will sue the swim club in a few days. The day care center also wants the resignation of all swim club board members and the removal of any club members who made the racist comments.
The club has been subpoenaed by the state Human Relations Commission, which has begun a fact-finding investigation, said Bernice Duesler, the club director’s wife.
newsdeskinternational said,
07/17/2009 at 8:27 pm
Feds probe alleged discrimination at Pa. swim club
The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the case of a suburban Philadelphia swim club that has been accused of racial discrimination.
John Duesler, who is the president of The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, maintains that race had nothing to do with the club’s decision to ask a Philadelphia day camp not to bring children back to the club to swim. The children are black and Hispanic. Duesler maintains that the issue was too many children for the number of lifeguards on duty and that many of the children who were at the club June 29 couldn’t swim.
Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar said Friday that the review will determine whether the department’s Civil Rights Division would officially investigate the matter.
newsdeskinternational said,
07/21/2009 at 9:39 am
Tyler Perry, the star, writer and producer of films such as “Madea Goes to Jail” and the television show “House of Payne, is sponsoring a Disney World trip for 65 Pennsylvania children at a largely minority day-care center after a swim club canceled pool privileges for the children.
When he heard about the situation, he immediately wanted to help them, Thomas told CNN, adding that a trip to Disney World is definitely “better than the pool.”
Alethea Wright, director of the Creative Steps day-care center, told CNN. Perry’s team extended the offer to her on Friday, she said. And she said she is ecstatic for the kids, to be allowed to go.
The day-care center had originally contracted to use the pool during the summer, but the club canceled the agreement and returned the day-care center’s $1,950 check without explanation.
The club canceled contracts with two other day-care centers because of safety and crowding, swim club director John Duesler said. Those facilities have not protested the club’s actions.
The issue was exacerbated when Duesler told two Philadelphia television stations the children had changed “the complexion” and “atmosphere” of the club. The comment brought protesters outside the facility.
In a statement posted Monday on his Web site, Perry summed up his feelings about the pool situation: “This made me so angry,” he wrote.
Grace053 said,
07/21/2009 at 12:24 pm
For once a wrong being righted….
Tony said,
07/22/2009 at 9:09 pm
I don’t see though, how a lawsuit can go through if she refused the new offer of going back to the pool…then again, we have lawyers involved, who smell money..
Good, the kids get a free trip to Disney…