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NAACP Blasts Philly Swim Club Over Racism

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Uploaded by on Jul 10, 2009

Welfare recipients:
Race
White 53.8%
Black 22.2
Hispanic 13.8
Asian  4.8
Other 5.4

NEW YORK (CBS) ―
At their annual convention Friday, the NAACP denounced the actions of a swim club in Pennsylvania that is being accused of racism, WCBS-TV reported. Leaders said the actions by the club owners take the U.S. back 50 years.

"This is also evidence of modern day segregation," said Hilary Shelton, VP for Advocacy of the NAACP. "Here you have a country club that's clearly not integrated."

"It's kind of an overt racism. It's the kind racism that is not as pronounced but is subliminal," said James Rawlings, president of the Greater New Haven chapter of the NAACP.

The situation unfolded June 29 when a group of children from Creative Steps Day Camp in northeast Philadelphia arrived at the Valley Swim Club, WCBS-TV reported. Camp Director Alethea Wright said she had contracted for 65 children to go to club.

After the group arrived, however, Wright said some of the children reporting overhearing members ask why "black kids" were at the pool.

"Some of the members began pulling their children out of the pool and were standing around with their arms folded," Wright said. "Only three members left their children in the pool with us."

Wright said she went to talk to a group of members and heard one woman say she would see to it that her group did not return. The club refunded the group's money without explanation, Wright said.

The board of directors later issued a statement saying having the campers at the facility would "change the complexion of the club."

"I was shocked because I live around there and I didn't know people still thought like that," 12-year-old day camper Marcus Allen said as he fought back tears.

Thursday, the swim club's president called the situation a misunderstanding. President of the board of directors John Duesler said the club simply did not have enough room for all the children, and that student groups from other camps had also been turned away.

"It was a poor choice of words, but it was never my intention to imply anything in terms of racial makeup," said Duesler. "This does not represent out position at the swim club."

Sen. Arlen Specter has issued a statement saying he is looking into the matter.

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission will immediately investigate, chairman Stephen A. Glassman said Thursday.

"Allegedly, this group was denied the use of a pool based on their race," Glassman said. "If the allegations prove to be true, this is illegal discrimination in Pennsylvania."

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  • Damn right. Get those filthy stinking toxic niggers out of our white swimming pools. If negroes are allowed in, there will be trash and chicken bones strewn in and around the pool, niggers pissing and shitting in the water, drive by poolside shootings, brutality, crime, drug dealing, gang banging, niggers running amuck attacking, robbing and raping humans (the usual nigger chaos that occurs when these apes are around.) Blacks are destroyers.

  • black teens are terrorzing upper darby , attacking so far only white and indian descent people.....funny how that isnt anywhere on the news like this was....talk about a liberal bias slant to reporting....now, when one of the attackers gets his ugly face shot off, well have protesters galore saying that he was just a poor misunderstood kid....what a crock of shit...

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  • Typical whites, nothing new!

  • So I am thinking several kids whom were removed, they decided to use the race card as the reason for why there were kicked out. I am not saying that is the reason, no, but just a possiblility given how many times the race card has been played. Either way though, however, I do feel very bad for the children because they are the ones who suffered from this incident.

  • @ImperialWizardOfOz

    obvious, troll is obvious

  • Undelay!!! Undelay !!! La migra!!! La migra!!!!

  • you summed it up perfectly...

  • lol ramen noodles...lol no I commute so I save a lot of money. But I agree, it is sad. Nothing that is worth it- is easy. That's the prob with us Americans (not as a whole, but a majority). We have it so good compared to others that we don't take advantage of the opportunities. There are many foreigners at my school that are so grateful for America's opportunities. We as a nation need to stop being lazy!

  • lol....i like your poverty line about being a full time college student....i guess your living on ramen noodles and cup of soup....but see, the good thing is, youll have a degree soon and will be able to call the shots on your life...but it took hard work on your part to get there and so many kids ( white and black) would rather take the "easy" way out and just steal...its really sad

  • i know right!!!!

  • Yeah those teens need their butts whooped for that dumb display of ignorance. Btw i am blk. And I live in poverty(still a full-time college student). Poverty gives no one the right to prey on others! That was just pure evil.

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