Complexion, Atmosphere, or Dirty Negroes and Latin@s? It’s All the Same, Right?

If you haven’t heard about the “whites only” pool yet, this one is a doozy.

More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.

Kids at Creative Steps Day Camp were thrilled to go swimming once a week at the Valley Swim Club. But after only one trip to the private club, they were…

“I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor.

The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers’ first visit to the pool suggested otherwise.

“When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool,” Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. “The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately.”

The next day the club told the camp director that the camp’s membership was being suspended and their money would be refunded.

And then comes the money quotation, from the President of the club, John Duesler:

“There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club,”

“Complexion”? “Atmosphere”? Really? You really just went there, didn’t you, Mr. Duesler? You might have gotten away with that shit if you had just said “atmosphere,” but you had to go and throw in that bit about the “complexion” of the club, didn’t you?

Mr. Duesler, your shit is showing, and it ain’t pretty.

My first thought, upon reading about this, was the same as Elon James White of This Week in Blackness. Total shock. Not so much at the thought that people think this way, but that people in this day and age say this shit out loud and do this shit in public (for fear of someone suing their ass off, of course, not out of embarrassment for being a bigot).

I was born ‘78. I’m not supposed to write about White’s only pools. I’m supposed to write about the subtle racism one finds in corporate America or perhaps while being followed in a department store.

For reals. I swear we’ve become so post-racial these days we’ve come full circle back to just full on, outright, in-your-face, no-holds-barred, some-fool-might-burn-a-cross-in-my-yard-next week, blatant racism. If you were unfortunate enough to see the original comments thread at the NBC Philadelphia link above, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That thread made your average YouTube thread look educated and informed (the thread has since been taken down from the site). Don’t worry, however, Elon. There was plenty of subtle racism going on in the coverage of this story such that folks like you and I can keep on blogging a-plenty. Yes, even the commentary on this event that tried to be, erm, civil, was blatantly offensive.

There were the “well, this incident was obviously racist, but people wouldn’t have to be so obviously racist if folks like Jesse Jackson and Al sharpton would just shut up (and all those damn coloreds would just stop talking about Michael Jackson)” responses. [Update: I linked to the wrong post as an example of this sort of BS thinking. I apologize to the author, who was rightfully pissed off about my mis-characterizing his post. I do, however, still have some major issues with his post, just not the ones that I am talking about here. I've removed the link to his post and will try to find the post that I meant to link to and replace it.]

Then there was someone, going by the name of “Johnny Bean,” that seemed to take a lot of pride in pointing out on every website and blog he or she could find that John Duesler was an Obama supporter. I can only assume because that just proves beyond any doubt that all Obama supporters are the real racists. And terrorists. And communists. And vegetarians.

And then there was the completely inexplicable, like this (click to enlarge):

If I had it, I would pay good money to anyone who can explain to me why a “nobama” picture, one that portrays him as a friggin’ monkey no less, is in any way pertinent to this story (is that supposed to be another one of those “all the Obama supporters are the real racists” jab? or what?). Add that picture with what Jane Roh writes, and I’m almost at a loss for words.

That is either a most unfortunate choice of words or a brutally honest confession. Thanks to underdevelopment and that pesky brain drain Philly seems stuck in the 80s, segregation-wise. And all of our local ethnic groups are really awesome at living up to their worst stereotypes. Still, Valley Swim Club: the No Coloreds in the Pool thing, really?? Brave.

What the hell does that even mean? All I can get out of it is “yeah, those white folks might’ve acted wrongly this time, but you gotta admit those Negroes and Latin@s ethnic groups sure do like to act up and cause trouble. Next time, don’t be so blatant about it, k?” That this came from a woman of color makes it all the more disturbing. I wanted to think that she had no choice about that “nobama” pic, but after reading what she wrote, I’m not so sure.

Are you as pissed off about all of this as I am? Well you know there are actions to be taken. So, lets do this.

Contact the club (via Marcy Web at Feministe):

The Valley Club Contact Directory
Physical Address:
22 Tomlinson Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
The Valley Club

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 134, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006

Club Phone Number:
215-947-0700

Club E-mail:
info@thevalleyclub.com

Join the Color of Change action to publicly condemn the Valley Club and call on the Justice Department to investigate whether it violated civil rights laws (via Jack and Jill Politics–and the emails y’all should all be getting).

Two weeks ago outside Philadelphia, sixty-five children from a summer camp tried to go swimming at a club their camp had a contract to use. Evidently, the club didn’t know the kids were largely Black.

When the campers entered the pool, White parents took their kids out of the water, and the swimming club’s staff asked the campers to leave. The next day, the club told the summer camp that their membership would be canceled and that they would refund their money. When asked why, the club’s leader said the kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club.”

A “Whites only” pool in 2009 should not be tolerated. The club’s actions appear to be a violation of section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act. Whether or not any laws were violated, a “Whites only” pool should be something every American condemns.

Please join us in doing exactly that, and please email your friends and family and invite them to do the same. Your signature will also be used to call on the Department of Justice to evaluate suing the facility under federal law. It takes just a moment to do both, here:

http://colorofchange.org/swim/

Obama is President but that doesn’t mean that suddenly all is fine when it comes to race in America. This is a vivid reminder of what we know still lies beneath the surface.

We all know stories like this one — similar incidents play out quietly every day in different communities across the country. The difference in this case is that folks got caught and there was a contract in place that makes for a potentially illegal act.

Standing up now isn’t just about making things right for these kids in Philadelphia or bringing consequences to this swim club (called the Valley Swim Club). It’s about creating a climate of accountability everywhere. If we can publicly shame the Valley Swim Club and hold them accountable for this incident, it will make others think twice before engaging in this kind of discrimination.

Please join us in condemning the Valley Swim Club’s blatant discrimination and calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether they violated civil rights laws. And please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 9th, 2009