He then added "Also, we were worried about the buoyancy of watermelons. And that the black would wash off and stain the pool."

Someone needs to tell this guy to shut the fark up.

ooooooooooh you're going to want to take a mulligan on that comment.

/He later clarified: "Not that blacks can't swim, I mean, they're generally athletic people, just that these particular blacks looked like they couldn't swim. Blacks."

it's a pool, not an ice skating rink. The owner should get his stereotypes right.

They see me drownin',
they hatin'.

"Well, I'm sure they can sing and dance really great, but, see, uh, I don't know about the swimming..."

SushiJoe: it's a pool, not an ice skating rink. The owner should get his stereotypes right.

you've never heard the blacks can't swim stereotype?

Wow, I thought the quote was a joke. What a farking idiot.

St-rike two!

I wonder what strike three will be. I predict: either something about not having fried chicken at the concession, or something about how he isn't racist, because there's a black President, so racism is obviously over!

He followed up with, "What I meant to say is that their head pubes would probably clog up the pool filter. That's all. Oh yeah, and then there's that whole having to skim the rapidly-accumulating layer of KFC grease off the top every 15 minutes or so. Did I mention that I'm clinically not supposed to interact with the public in any fashion ever since the Brillo Pad incident?"

mercator_psi: He followed up with, "What I meant to say is that their head pubes would probably clog up the pool filter. That's all. Oh yeah, and then there's that whole having to skim the rapidly-accumulating layer of KFC grease off the top every 15 minutes or so. Did I mention that I'm clinically not supposed to interact with the public in any fashion ever since the Brillo Pad incident?"

I laughed so hard at this my officemates noticed

bobbette: I wonder what strike three will be.

"I'm not racist...my chauffeur is black, my poolboy is Mexican, and my cook is a Chinaman!:

Someone needs to shut this guy up before he causes even more outrage.

He's liable to make it to China with his next comment the way he's digging a hole.

"They aren't allowed to swim here because we require a signature from the father and we all know that none of these kids even know who their dad is. I said that out loud didn't I?"

Good thing he didn't have a monkey named Obama. He'd really be screwed then.

Mudflap and Skids approve.

gopher321: Mudflap and Skids approve.

i wish i had some rotten vegetables.

"look people. we did them a favor. crack is very water soluble."

The Swim Club President continued, "Its a well-known fact that negroids and water just don't mix. I mean, how many colored hockey players are there? none. And champion water-skiiers? no negros. I am just looking out for their safety by denying them access to the pool. If those darkies were in the pool, they'd sink like rocks. THEN who'd have a ton of paperwork to fill out? Me, that's who."

"I don't like to do jokes about stereotypes, but we all know basketball players can't swim very well."

-Daniel Tosh

Between this and a couple other threads, I need a ton of popcorn for this afternoon.

but honestly though, it wouldn't be hard to teach them how to swim, just tell them to try to break dance across the pool. i mean, the breast stroke is basically doing the worm under water.

When I was a kid, one of the public pools required you have a certified "Safe Swimmer" card, in order to swim during "Free Swim" hours, without flotation devices. I'm wondering if that's what they're trying to say.

Of course the only way you could get the not-free card was by taking their not-free lessons.

thomps: the breast stroke is basically doing the worm under water.

That would be the butterfly that's like the worm. But I did LOL at your post :)

Maybe he should have opened with a joke.

Q: What did the kid from Creative Steps Day Camp get for his birthday?

A: My bike.

Sgt Otter: I'm wondering if that's what they're trying to say.

Well the kids were part of a camp and they likely handled things like they did when I was in day camp. If you can't swim, don't go into the deeper water. And the camp counselors help keep on eye on things. To my knowledge, it's an entirely common thing. Accept Mr. Pool President isn't happy with such arrangements.

WhyteRaven74: Accept

Should be Except

WhyteRaven74: Should be Except

Balls to the wall, man!

WhyteRaven74: Well the kids were part of a camp and they likely handled things like they did when I was in day camp. If you can't swim, don't go into the deeper water. And the camp counselors help keep on eye on things. To my knowledge, it's an entirely common thing. Accept Mr. Pool President isn't happy with such arrangements.

so you're advocating sectioning these kids off in a roped off shallow end and posting people in guard towers to keep an eye on them. i hate to tell you, but you might be racist.

You can't make this shat up

He'd do well to learn how to craft an apology that doesn't include an excuse.

"It was just too many kids on top of each other," said Duesler

Translation: "OMG, those dark-skinned savages are simulating coitus in the presence of innocent white children!"

Jeez Louise. He knew the group consisted of a whole lotta kids the day he accepted the check.

alonzinator: Balls to the wall, man!

\m/ \m/

thomps: i hate to tell you, but you might be racist.

*snort* well done, well done!

Any threads on freerepublic.com defending this?

This guy really should've quit while he was behind.

Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

He meant because they were kids, and the shallow end of the pool wasn't big enough for the quantity of children.

But you all are right. He's a racist.

I cannot stop laughing at this story. My god.

"Darkies don't know how to behave, and when they pretend to behave, they get all uppity. This is why we have to take a hard line with these types. They don't even know how to act in a pool. Do you blame us for not wanting them around? I mean look at them!"

LOL, this is hilarious. One of my childhood friends was black and he would always win our races by just a hair, but he is the only black I've ever known to enjoy swimming so much, and excel at it to boot.

I think it's funny you never see blacks in the swimming competitions but they sweep up track like nobody's business. You know there's always a little truth to stereotypes, the swim club president in question is just an asshat though.

Please stop talking and settle out of court already.

robmilmel: "I'm not racist...my chauffeur is black, my poolboy is Mexican, and my cook is a Chinaman an oriental!"

FTFY

This guy is the Mark Sanford of the swimming industry. He's in a hole and just keeps digging

PC LOAD LETTER: "Darkies don't know how to behave, and when they pretend to behave, they get all uppity. This is why we have to take a hard line with these types. They don't even know how to act in a pool. Do you blame us for not wanting them around? I mean look at them!"

Dude,

These are children you are talking about here. Tar Babies is the preferred nomenclature.

Isn't the point of a swim club for kids so that they can learn? So why exclude them if they can't swim well?

sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

Stereotypes are based on fact, so I don't see a problem with them.

This entire situation has been impossibly hysterical.

thomps: WhyteRaven74: Well the kids were part of a camp and they likely handled things like they did when I was in day camp. If you can't swim, don't go into the deeper water. And the camp counselors help keep on eye on things. To my knowledge, it's an entirely common thing. Accept Mr. Pool President isn't happy with such arrangements.

so you're advocating sectioning these kids off in a roped off shallow end and posting people in guard towers to keep an eye on them. i hate to tell you, but you might be racist.


If only they had some separate pool for them. One that was equal to the regular one.

Jack: Well, well, well Lemon. Steven's a good man; he's on partner track at Dewey, and he's a Black.
Liz: A black?!? That is offensive.
Jack: No, no, that's his last name: Steven Black. Great family.
Liz: Oh, yeah, of course.
Jack: They're remarkable people, the Blacks; musical, very athletic, not very good swimmers. Again, I'm talking about the family. Black is African American, though.

Tried to find the clip on Hulu, couldn't.

maybe the guy is an asshat but then again maybe he just chose his words poorly. Look at at all the things you CANT say or automatically be considered a racist. Oh, and add 'complextion' to that list becuase thats new.

FTFA: PHILADELPHIA, July 10 (UPI) -- The head of a swim club said Friday he regrets how he explained why his site would not host kids from a predominantly minority day camp in Philadelphia.


Philly? Seriously? The city of brotherly love?

Alabama I could see, even Florida.....but Philly?

Did he kick the Urban Youth out before the shooting started? Maybe he deserves the Hero tag.

Donald_McRonald: This guy really should've quit while he was behind.

I LOL'd

ScottHimself: This entire situation has been impossibly hysterical.

someone needs to link all the fark articles in a comment so we can show everyone the progress.

In related news, the other groups the club canceled don't think racism has anything to do with it.

well first off,,,if you could get em' to keep there pants from baggin, like there back in da hood with 3 inchs of hip and crack showing, they might make it off the diving board without losing their drawers. That would be the biggie to tackle. Next plenty of lifeguards, cause everyone knows the brothers don't swim worth a hoot.

What? Black people can't swim.

I worked as a lifeguard for many a years -

Whenever the day camps of under privileged kids came, we had the hardest time. Without money none of them had the swim lessons most of the white kids were getting since they were 2.

As an LA beach lifeguard we are practically taught to be racist. We are told to look for latinos who are wearing jeans and wifebeaters in the water becuase they are the most likely to drown.

There is a huge safety concern when they have young minorities all jumping in a pool when they don't know how to swim. Just because it is racist does not mean it is not true.

The swim club president:



/now we know
//unless it's too obscure
//hot

We had an African-American kid join our almost-entirely-white suburban summer swim team when I was 12 years old.

He had grown up in the inner city and his mother had managed somehow to finish college and get a good job as a C.P.A. despite having two kids and being all alone, and his new stepfather was a local lawyer who also coached JV basketball -one of maybe three black families in our whitebread-with-occasional-Asians neighborhood.

Said kid did not know how to swim. There were no pools where he'd grown up, and yet his mother insisted he learn -and the fastest way, she thought, was to put him onto the summer team.

He learned in one hour and was promoted to third-lane in practice despite being only eleven. (For perspective, sixth-lane was 17-year-olds who swam varsity during the schoolyear. Most eleven-year-olds were only in first.)

Today, he is enjoying a full-ride athletic scholarship to a prominent university for swimming and diving, majoring in computer science and seeing a lovely Indian-American girl who was in the second lane on said swim team so long ago. His record for the 300-meter freestyle still stands and last summer he worked as a lifeguard while coaching the team for his second triumphant year. He is the only man I trust with the task of teaching my autistic godson to swim, especially given that only two weeks after he joined the team, I slipped and hit my head on the cement edge of the pool and he saved my life. He was eleven and I was a clumsy, pudgy twelve, yet he still managed somehow to haul my unconscious carcass out of the water before the grown lifeguards had a chance to see what happened.

Point being, just because a kid hasn't tried a sport before doesn't mean he isn't perfectly capable of kicking enough ass in it to make racist club presidents look stupid. And then some.

Is this story going to be dragged out everyday?


/move on, people.

sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

This. His concerns were valid as many of them have never had lessons and with any large group like this there will be behavioural issues. Unless they were offering swim lessons with plenty of lifeguards, his ass should be covered.

It's also harder to see black people in the dark. However, they do have rhythm, so there's that.

But seriously, did they clarify (when they were offering their facilities to the general public) that everyone has to know how to swim, and did they further take steps to see that there was a proper ratio of lifeguards/attendants to the number of children so as to ensure safety? If not, why not? If someone paid you nearly two grand and told you they were gonna show up with 60 kids, wouldn't you make some attempt to prepare for that? Rather than make excuses afterwards as to why you decided to kick them out and refund their money?

These people are clearly way more stupid than they are racist. I know that's a fine distinction, but...

Pezfel: There is a huge safety concern when they have young minorities all jumping in a pool when they don't know how to swim. Just because it is racist does not mean it is not true.

Though I agree with this, is there any evidence that these kids didn't know how to swim? Wouldn't a swim club ask a group beforehand if the kids could swim or not?

I think what he actually meant to say is that he was worried they would be urinating in the pool excessivly after drinking all that grape soda.

12349876: Pezfel: There is a huge safety concern when they have young minorities all jumping in a pool when they don't know how to swim. Just because it is racist does not mean it is not true.

Though I agree with this, is there any evidence that these kids didn't know how to swim? Wouldn't a swim club ask a group beforehand if the kids could swim or not?

and one other question, did the group have supervisors that were watching them and also trained as lifeguards?

Maybe he was afraid of too much Soul Glow clogging the filter and making the water smell funny?

Alleyoop: //unless it's too obscure

for a lot of Farkers, yeah that guy isn't a part of their memory, but for those old enough, I'm in my mid 30s, not obscure at all. Was for many of us the first example of someone nuking their own career we can remember.

AbbeySomeone: Unless they were offering swim lessons with plenty of lifeguards, his ass should be covered.

When I was in day camp during the summer, I don't recall many kids actually swimming in the pool. Chasing each other around and stuff? Yep. Actual swimming? Not so much.

Poorly chosen words, indeed. Unfortunately, he's probably right about the simmer/lifeguard ratio. He saw a bunch of lawsuits come walking into his club and did what he thought he had to do. You know the first time Ja'Neesha slapped M'leeqwa upside her damn fool haid and and caused her to drown he would have immediately been sued for failing to provide an adequate number of lifeguards.

/and some more from me

I really don't see how this issue warrants an "investigation" as it states in the article. Should we investigate the KKK for not allowing black members in their group too? When did it become illegal for a private organization to discriminate certain people from their group? It's not like they were applying for a job or trying to buy a house.

So this the thread where all us white Farkers bring out the racist jokes they've been collecting, because we can just say "this is the kind of joke this asshat would have made". I mean, we'd never make these jokes ourselves or anything.

For example, I'd never make a joke like, "We can't let them in the pool because our insurer doesn't accept food stamps." Not me.

Shadow Blasko: sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

I don't see any water in that picture. That is obviously some sort of tribal jumping ritual.

12349876: 12349876: Pezfel: There is a huge safety concern when they have young minorities all jumping in a pool when they don't know how to swim. Just because it is racist does not mean it is not true.

Though I agree with this, is there any evidence that these kids didn't know how to swim? Wouldn't a swim club ask a group beforehand if the kids could swim or not?

and one other question, did the group have supervisors that were watching them and also trained as lifeguards?

As to the evidence of whether they did not know how to swim, of course not, there have been 2 articles. All I know is from my experience, many of the kids coming from those type of camps are not strong swimmers.

Most of the camps that came to my pool the supervisors are not lifeguards. The pool I worked at always had a ton of extra lifeguards on duty whenever we had the inner city camps come in.

When we had camps from more affluent families we did not have as many lifeguards on duty. Is that considered racist?

TSE: Unfortunately, he's probably right about the simmer/lifeguard ratio.

I agree, but unless those black kids are lying, there were definitely some racial sentiments floating around the club.

Also, something about Gordon Ramsey and never overbooking would be applicable too.

Pezfel: When we had camps from more affluent families we did not have as many lifeguards on duty. Is that considered racist?

If you know ahead time what kinds of swimmers there are going to be then no.

When I was a youngster, and we joined the local YMCA, I had to prove to the life-guard that I could swim well enough to be allowed in the "free swim" sessions.

Also, the they guy say "Many of those *insert plural racial epithet* couldn't swim, or did he say "Many of those children couldn't swim"?

It's a matter of liability.

Honestly, I think he meant "many of them couldn't swim" in regards to the number of children in the pool. There was no room.

This is the same reason the club gave to the other groups that were refunded their money. Only the "black" group is complaining of racism being the cause.

"GET OUT OF THE POOL!!!"
High in temp, Yadda, Yadda...

Can Obama's kids swim?

SpiderQueenDemon: Point being, just because a kid hasn't tried a sport before doesn't mean he isn't perfectly capable of kicking enough ass in it to make racist club presidents look stupid. And then some.

And if he had been one of a mass of 50 or 60 kids who all came into the pool at once and started raising hell, he would have gotten kicked out.

Ah, good 'ol Bruce Willis.

He's someone in Hollywood I'd actually invite into my house.

I worked in a water park in NJ.

Every 4th of July we would get people from Brooklyn, Bayonne, Edison, Elizabeth, etc, who had never been in a pool in their lives.

This didn't stop them from going on the big slide that dropped you in a 10 foot deep pool.

If you worked that pool, you just stayed in the water all day.

AlanSmithee: Can Obama's kids swim?

Yea, they're only part black.

/had to say it.

We had a big school group come to the local KOA pool and waterslides. Little (insert minority name here) couldn't swim, drowned due to not enough lifeguards and the family sued and won. No more KOA/Waterslides/Campground. And the school district paid out considerably too.

Glad to see the American tradition of witch hunting is alive and well.

Scant evidence, a couple kids making accusations...he must be a !!

skinink: "The day camp kids are ni***BONNNNNNNNG***!!!"


"What'd he say?"


"He said 'The day camp kids are nice!' "

Ha! That's on AMC right now!

My dad, a research scientist and professor, worked at an HBU (historically black university) in Durham, NC for years. He said that his colleagues told him that their families and friends enjoyed being down in the South more because racism there is more overt than being up in the North, where its an undercurrent of everything. In the South, people don't hide it and so you know who to stay away from. In the North there is this low-tension boiling under the surface and it erupts sometimes without warning, like in this article. That was the main reason behind black families returning to the South after the great migration up north after the Civil War.

He also said that each semester without fail he'd have undergraduate students come in and say if he didn't give them an A they'd go to the Dean and claim he was a racists... but that's a story for another day.

Funny, eh? Oh multiculturalism and its crazy viewpoints.

/Yankees, as a group, are as racist as anyone else in this country
//they just think they aren't because of the lack of opportunities to be racist

gulogulo: Glad to see the American tradition of witch hunting is alive and well.

Scant evidence, a couple kids making accusations...he must be a !!

His public statements are not helping the case much. Someone get that guy a Twix.

TSE: He saw a bunch of lawsuits come walking into his club and did what he thought he had to do.

Thing is, the club accepted the money from the camp. I highly doubt they weren't told upfront how many children would be showing up.

If most of those children were raised in urban areas--especially economically opressed areas--they probably can't swim. There's just no where to learn. I was lucky to grow up in well-funded suburban neighborhoods and/or military bases where there were well-tended pools and swimming lessons for little or no cost.

During the summer, if too many kids showed up at once, everybody swam in 1/2 hr shifts. You sat on the side until it was your turn. Kids who couldn't swim played in the shallow end. If you were unruly or if a kid unable to swim tried to go to the deep end, they got a 1 hour time-out. What's so hard about that?

However, my parents and other black parents had to be there to make sure all us black kids got our turn.

They did everything they could to keep us out of the water. Kids would say, "My mom said black people are dirty."

But that was 35 years ago.

HappyLittleTree: His public statements are not helping the case much. Someone get that guy a Twix.

His first public statement was highly truncated and one in which he admitted was a poor choice of words. Someone trying to hide their racism doesn't use words like "complexion." The rest of the story was a lot of "He said/she said" with no one substatiating it..just running with the story.

And what he said today? Forget the stereotype for a moment. Having been a camp counselor that had to use private swim club pools, it is a madhouse when you bring 60 campers in. If the majority are showing poor swimming skills how many life guards do you think you are going to need? After their first swim he realized that it was a bad idea and he didn't have teh support staff to watch all of them. That makes him a racist now? Or are you pushing his words into a racist context because that's the story that's selling now?

Oh come on...

Everyone knows apes can't swim.

/What?

12349876: I agree, but unless those black kids are lying, there were definitely some racial sentiments floating around the club.

The thing about kids, black or not, is that they lie like hell. I don't know what to believe about this story (the public statements aren't helping at all), but I don't trust kids one bit.

/huge liar as a kid
//not that bad anymore
///...OR AM I?

WhyteRaven74: TSE: He saw a bunch of lawsuits come walking into his club and did what he thought he had to do.

Thing is, the club accepted the money from the camp. I highly doubt they weren't told upfront how many children would be showing up.

Good point. And he probably knew they were an inner-city mostly minority daycamp when he accepted their money. Why would he do that if he was racist? Why wouldn't he just try to turn them away with some bogus story in the first place about not having room?

gulogulo: HappyLittleTree: His public statements are not helping the case much. Someone get that guy a Twix.

His first public statement was highly truncated and one in which he admitted was a poor choice of words. Someone trying to hide their racism doesn't use words like "complexion." The rest of the story was a lot of "He said/she said" with no one substatiating it..just running with the story.

And what he said today? Forget the stereotype for a moment. Having been a camp counselor that had to use private swim club pools, it is a madhouse when you bring 60 campers in. If the majority are showing poor swimming skills how many life guards do you think you are going to need? After their first swim he realized that it was a bad idea and he didn't have teh support staff to watch all of them. That makes him a racist now? Or are you pushing his words into a racist context because that's the story that's selling now?

Wow. Take a deep breath, my friend. My comment was just a critique on his phrasing, which I why I implied that he "need[ed] a moment."

HappyLittleTree: gulogulo: HappyLittleTree: His public statements are not helping the case much. Someone get that guy a Twix.

His first public statement was highly truncated and one in which he admitted was a poor choice of words. Someone trying to hide their racism doesn't use words like "complexion." The rest of the story was a lot of "He said/she said" with no one substatiating it..just running with the story.

And what he said today? Forget the stereotype for a moment. Having been a camp counselor that had to use private swim club pools, it is a madhouse when you bring 60 campers in. If the majority are showing poor swimming skills how many life guards do you think you are going to need? After their first swim he realized that it was a bad idea and he didn't have teh support staff to watch all of them. That makes him a racist now? Or are you pushing his words into a racist context because that's the story that's selling now?

Wow. Take a deep breath, my friend. My comment was just a critique on his phrasing, which I why I implied that he "need[ed] a moment."

Mea culpa. I am sorry.

Hmm.

I have no idea what he meant by 'changing the complexion', even as a directly racist comment it doesn't ... make much sense. It would only be racist if you went into it believing it to be so already.

Perhaps the guy is just terrible speaker who was trying to use his word-of-the-day calendar to the utmost?

It's noted that it's a small pool, other large groups were canceled at the same time, and it doesn't seem to be racially motivated. Seems like some folks are trying to play the race card for some ulterior motive.

Though I will say this; in 4 years as a lifeguard for a large city pool, as a swim instructor for the deaf, blind, and mentally disabled (as well as a whole host of non-disabled kids), the only times I actually had to save anyone from a dangerous situation, they were always mexicans over the age of 20 who forgot they couldn't swim.

Dunno what that's worth though. Mexicans made up less than 1% of the population that used the pool; heck 20 year olds were less than 1% to start with. Still, 4 of them needed saving by me, and 2 more by another guard at different times.

Non-scientifically gathered info ...

Doppleganger871 2009-07-10 06:30:21 PM
Ah, good 'ol Bruce Willis.

He's someone in Hollywood I'd actually invite into my house.

Because I'm sure all the movie stars in Hollywood are clamoring to get and invitation to your house.

So the daycare center thinks it was an O.K. thing to bring 60 kids to one pool? I would have freaked out too. Split them up and bring them on different days. If my kids were being supervised at a pool I would expect at least 1 adult for every 5 kids or so. Tell me that they had 12 workers there.

Oh wait, this is Fark. I have to say something racist, Yeah, and the little nigglets were probably raising hell. There that's better.

He's an Obama supporter, so we should believe him. Nahhhhhh

Sarcasm: Cause having no black people in the pool makes the white people safe.

Voting Democrat is not a get out of being a racist free card. It just makes you a hypocrite.

As proud of I am of my City, there's always some asshat that farks it up.

alonzinator: Duesler said his original comment was intended to detail how his site simply does not have an adequate number of lifeguards to properly supervise the visiting campers, the Inquirer reported.

"It was just too many kids on top of each other," said Duesler, whose Huntingdon Valley, Pa., club has been tabbed for a racial discrimination investigation by a state agency. "Many of them couldn't swim."

The comment can be read as, "There were too many kids and not enough lifeguards, therefore, many of them couldn't swim."

I guess Subby went to the FoxNews school of selective editing.


That being said... I swear the Add-art Add-on in FF is sentient.

THIS.

This is not a farking racial issue. Outrage is over. Last one out, turn off the lights and lock the door.

gulogulo

Heh, no worries. This is going to raise such a sh*t storm for him, and it would suck if the situation was really just a misunderstanding.

Shadow Blasko: sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

Idiot. That's a black guy high on crack who thought he was Black Superman and could fly. He fell to his death on the blacktop.

Check Snopes.

G'head.

"I swear, I don't see color! Although that might be because I make sure to keep it that way."

FTA:"It was just too many kids on top of each other," said Duesler, whose Huntingdon Valley, Pa., club has been tabbed for a racial discrimination investigation by a state agency. "Many of them couldn't swim."

Somebody should check and see if this guy has Al Campanis' face tattoed somewhere on his body.

Would like a song...

Blacks: if they're not drowning in your pool, they're accusing you of discrimination.

gulogulo: Why wouldn't he just try to turn them away with some bogus story in the first place about not having room?

It wouldn't even need to be bogus, just say it's more kids than he feels they can safely handle. As it is, I suspect it's not so much him, though he's not exactly helping things, as it was some of the members complaining.

Rann Xerox: Somebody should check and see if this guy has Al Campanis' face tattoed somewhere on his body.

Niiiice!

/for you youngsters, go to wiki and look up Al Campanis

vartian: Someone needs to tell this guy to shut the fark up.

No, don't! This is turning into a fabulous trainwreck!

IL has a law requiring mandatory swim class for high schools. I think there are exceptions if your school doesn't have a pool or something. We had to do a lap walking around the pool looking for bodies. The coach said, "Pay attention to the lane divider lines. There might be some black kids hiding there."

But yeah, none of the black kids knew how to swim.

sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.
My daughter and her black friends
/Maybe it's because they go to a Oak Park school instead of Chicago

In the interviews, both the day-care workers and the kids said they were playing when "something happened" and the next thing they know they're being told to leave. What was that "something" that caused management to make them leave? They never said.

The daycare worker also said that the kids came "running up to her" after this "something" happened. Hmmm.

WhyteRaven74: Rann Xerox: Somebody should check and see if this guy has Al Campanis' face tattoed somewhere on his body.

Niiiice!

/for you youngsters, go to wiki and look up Al Campanis

Reminds me of Marge Schott.

WaltzingMathilda: SushiJoe: it's a pool, not an ice skating rink. The owner should get his stereotypes right.

you've never heard the blacks can't swim stereotype?

I think it's a corollary to Rule 34 that, if you say anything that might be construed as negative about a person who happens to be black, there is a well known racist stereotype for whatever negative thing you said.

Example: Lance Armstrong could probably beat Tiger Woods in a bike race.
What, you didn't know that black people are stereotypically bad at bicycling?

blah blah blah.. no one is racist until all these kids come to their pool....

on our town/high school team we had a black swimmer and he was damn good.

If this guy keeps it up he is going to be the Harbinger of Lulzageddon.

I'll bet that guy is sweating like a slave right now. How could he be so stupid?

SeamusFerrell: IL has a law requiring mandatory swim class for high schools. I think there are exceptions if your school doesn't have a pool or something. We had to do a lap walking around the pool looking for bodies. The coach said, "Pay attention to the lane divider lines. There might be some black kids hiding there."

But yeah, none of the black kids knew how to swim.

What school did you go to
/Whitney Young
//Swimming was best when helping chicks out the pool

Damn those racist Southern Rednecks. How dare they.

Seems a lot of this thread is saying "Don't stereotype." A sentiment with which I entirely agree. But really, how often do we farkers stereotype the South?

And shame on you Philadelphia -- trying to take the Brother out of they City of Brotherly Love.

I haven't seen anyone be this stupid in a coon's age

Conservationist: Maybe they just didn't want "We've been told to only hire minorities.' and "This is a black world".

Funny how people are acting like this story is so important, but then the story you linked never got any attention. Poor black kids didn't get to swim, boohoo. White family gets their asses beat, who cares. I can identify with that family. This shiat happens a lot in Columbus as well.

vabeard: Is this story going to be dragged out everyday?


/move on, people.

FARK might not be the right place for you.

He was just worried about their curved thighbones not being able to kick hard enough to stay above the waterline.



Ain't that right, Jimmy?

Radio Boy: I worked in a water park in NJ.

Every 4th of July we would get people from Brooklyn, Bayonne, Edison, Elizabeth, etc, who had never been in a pool in their lives.

This didn't stop them from going on the big slide that dropped you in a 10 foot deep pool.

If you worked that pool, you just stayed in the water all day.

Action Park?

/even if it wasn't, I'm going to pretend it was
//slashy slashy!

Burning_Monk: Reminds me of Marge Schott.

Schott was worse since she owned a team and was known for being a nutbar even before she went off the deep end. Or rather it came out how far off the deep end she was.

drjekel_mrhyde: /Maybe it's because they go to a Oak Park school instead of Chicago

Ohh burrrnnnnn.

/grew up in Cicero

/Whitney Young

shiat and I went to high school just a hop skip and a step away

/Ignatius

/maybe the pool just needed a better sign?

Spike Lee's Favorite Farker: PC LOAD LETTER: "Darkies don't know how to behave, and when they pretend to behave, they get all uppity. This is why we have to take a hard line with these types. They don't even know how to act in a pool. Do you blame us for not wanting them around? I mean look at them!"

Dude,

These are children you are talking about here. Tar Babies is the preferred nomenclature.

you really need to get with the times, they prefer to be called "pickaninny-Americans" now

Exactly at what point did this guy start returning checks? All at the same time? before this group showed up? One at a time after each group showed up the first time?

Here's another angle -- maybe they try sneaking in extra members every year hoping the regular members will not notice the pool is slightly more crowded than what they had expected.

Another less sinister angle -- the guy just doesn't know how to run a swim club. The more he opens his mouth, the more I am inclined to believe this one.

gulogulo: And he probably knew they were an inner-city mostly minority daycamp when he accepted their money. Why would he do that if he was racist?

The club president is inept...but the jury is out on whether he's racist. If there's racism afoot, I suspect it's coming from the club membership rather than from the administration.

ez-reader: The more he opens his mouth, the more I am inclined to believe this one.

So he's the Sarah Palin of swim club presidents?

/yeah I went there

Roook: I haven't seen anyone be this stupid in a coon's age

ez-reader: Exactly at what point did this guy start returning checks? All at the same time? before this group showed up? One at a time after each group showed up the first time?

Here's another angle -- maybe they try sneaking in extra members every year hoping the regular members will not notice the pool is slightly more crowded than what they had expected.

Another less sinister angle -- the guy just doesn't know how to run a swim club. The more he opens his mouth, the more I am inclined to believe this one.

I used to work in the bartending / banquet business in Philly.

It's a law of nature with golf courses, country clubs and swim clubs: the General Managers are phenomenal in their ability to say JUST the wrong thing to news media when Something Bad Happens.

I'm taking bets on just how far this moran can put his foot up his own ass. Looks like the kneecap just went in...

WhyteRaven74: So he's the Sarah Palin of swim club presidents?

No wonder all the racists and crypto-racists are defending him.

/swimmin wif my riches

Krymson Tyde: Roook: I haven't seen anyone be this stupid in a coon's age

He was just callin' a spade a spade...

calbert

Ha, I always smile whenever I drive past that sign.

I think we will find out there is more to the story. Just like Twana Brawley and Duke LaCrosse. Life isn't like the movies where whites are often evil racists and blacks are innocent, noble victims.

DAMMIT! Don't they know that the first rule of Swim Club is not to talk about Swim Club?!?!?

SpiderQueenDemon: We had an African-American kid join our almost-entirely-white suburban summer swim team when I was 12 years old.

He had grown up in the inner city and his mother had managed somehow to finish college and get a good job as a C.P.A. despite having two kids and being all alone, and his new stepfather was a local lawyer who also coached JV basketball -one of maybe three black families in our whitebread-with-occasional-Asians neighborhood.

Said kid did not know how to swim. There were no pools where he'd grown up, and yet his mother insisted he learn -and the fastest way, she thought, was to put him onto the summer team.

He learned in one hour and was promoted to third-lane in practice despite being only eleven. (For perspective, sixth-lane was 17-year-olds who swam varsity during the schoolyear. Most eleven-year-olds were only in first.)

Today, he is enjoying a full-ride athletic scholarship to a prominent university for swimming and diving, majoring in computer science and seeing a lovely Indian-American girl who was in the second lane on said swim team so long ago. His record for the 300-meter freestyle still stands and last summer he worked as a lifeguard while coaching the team for his second triumphant year. He is the only man I trust with the task of teaching my autistic godson to swim, especially given that only two weeks after he joined the team, I slipped and hit my head on the cement edge of the pool and he saved my life. He was eleven and I was a clumsy, pudgy twelve, yet he still managed somehow to haul my unconscious carcass out of the water before the grown lifeguards had a chance to see what happened.

Point being, just because a kid hasn't tried a sport before doesn't mean he isn't perfectly capable of kicking enough ass in it to make racist club presidents look stupid. And then some.


Sounds like a nice guy, too bad he's black.

C'mon, it's a pool, not a sandbox.

/window seat, please

eraser8: No wonder all the racists and crypto-racists are defending him.

well observed!

DarthBrooks: the General Managers are phenomenal in their ability to say JUST the wrong thing to news media when Something Bad Happens.



Wishes to inform you that you will get nothing, and like it!

Still trying to figure out where he's wrong.

eraser8

No wonder all the racists and crypto-racists are defending him.

Lol?

So you're positing some kind of racist conspiracy in which the other groups the clubs canceled are saying it had nothing to do with racism...because they're secret racists?

Nobody makes a farking mistake like that, nobody. He said what he meant and now he has to backpedal.

Seriously, just like with Mel Gibson and other racists, what slips is only what you're thinking anyway, if you're not racist that shiat isn't there to accidentally fall out.

No wonder. It's landlocked.

vabeard: Is this story going to be dragged out everyday?


/move on, people.

Its a follow up. Don't like it? Don't click it.

True statistic from the lifeguarding days when I worked a huge waterpark:

On the average day you'd have to go in about 1-2 times for a "save" (most of them frivolous)

On the days when the inner city kids were there, you'd have to go in about 7-8 times. The conversation was always the same: Can you swim? Answer: No. Why were you in the deep end then? *shrug*.

By the way, it wasn't uncommon to have to save the same kid more than once.

Conservationist: Did someone literally change the complexion of the pool water?

gulogulo: Glad to see the American tradition of witch hunting is alive and well.

Scant evidence, a couple kids making accusations...he must be a !!

Atheist? Pothead? Liberal?

Lorelle: "It was just too many kids on top of each other," said Duesler

Translation: "OMG, those dark-skinned savages are simulating coitus in the presence of innocent white children!"

Jeez Louise. He knew the group consisted of a whole lotta kids the day he accepted the check.

Knew or should have known. Unless this man is mentally defective how could he NOT have asked the question "How many kids are you bringing and how well can they swim?" when he accepted the farking check?

A pool is a potentially deadly environment, that's why you have life guards and other safety measures in place, which include knowing how many people you are going to have at any given time in the pool.

Frankly his explanation still doesn't wash because A)It's not at all what he said yesterday, and B) Eyewitnesses say that the kids were very well behaved and the trouble started when some soccer mom complained that her precious children were going to have to share the pool with these kids.

FAIL HARDER, RACIST COUNTRY CLUB.

/Jeebus.

White kids are not allowed on the basketball courts because they can't jump (and they have no butts). Seems fair to me.

Facetious_Speciest: So you're positing some kind of racist conspiracy in which the other groups the clubs canceled are saying it had nothing to do with racism...because they're secret racists?

What are you talking about? How the fark did you come up with that from what I wrote?

eraser8

What are you talking about? How the fark did you come up with that from what I wrote?

Your "racists and crypto-racists defending him" bit.

I obviously just didn't get the joke.

lordaction: I'll bet that guy is sweating like a slave right now. How could he be so stupid?

Krymson Tyde: Roook: I haven't seen anyone be this stupid in a coon's age

both good

I feel that I should put in an appearance here, as I made one in the pool the other day, y'know, just to be fair.

I also practice Laundry Apartheid. So I know I'm a racist.

HI i HAPPEN TO KNOW THAT BLACKS DON'T PLAY HOCKEY OR SWIM WELL

If what Mr. Suck-my-racist-a$$ Pool Director said is true, why didn't employees explain that on the day it happened. Why wait almost a week to pull that flimsy piece of dookey from his nether-hole?

OH YEA, he's full of dookey!

"get in the pool, shake"
"No!"
"Damn, you ARE black!"
/Paraphrasing
//Hilarious episode

________________ is racist!



(ANYTHING can be put on the above line... as long as you meet certain criteria)

THE Black has a extra bone in his leg that gives him some flexible ability and he is more athletic than most whites in such dry land sports like Basketball and Football. If you put a Black Person on a Surfboard you are looking for trouble same with Hockey or swimming we should all just chill and learn to call a spade a spade

I think this is the most racist thread I've ever read on Fark.

aerojockey: So this the thread where all us white Farkers bring out the racist jokes they've been collecting, because we can just say "this is the kind of joke this asshat would have made". I mean, we'd never make these jokes ourselves or anything.

That seems to have nailed it.

On a related note, many faculty, staff, and Midshipmen refer to the dive well at the Naval Academy as the "Ink Well," as it is where remedial swim is taught.

That is all.

WaltzingMathilda: SushiJoe: it's a pool, not an ice skating rink. The owner should get his stereotypes right.

you've never heard the blacks can't swim stereotype?

I hadn't either.

Well, honestly, if the people can't swim they should be regulated to the kiddy pool or forbidden from the water all together.

LouisvilleMale33: ________________ is racist!



(ANYTHING can be put on the above line... as long as you meet certain criteria)

Yeah, racism for one.

Who the hell cares?!

It's a private club, they can exclude whomever they want.

Stop crying and go some place else.

private club yeah but these people PAID their membership and were to be considered members, madblader.

go be ill-informed and ornery somewhere else.

IT was his original use of the word 'COMPLEXION' that pretty much farked it for this guy.

gadian

Well, honestly, if the people can't swim they should be regulated to the kiddy pool or forbidden from the water all together.

That's apparently what helped cause the problem. Only a third of the pool is shallow, the rest deep. You can't go in the deep part unless you've passed some swimming test (for liability purposes?). This resulted in all the visitor children being crammed into one end of the pool.

At least one of the other groups that was refunded says this was the entirety of the problem, and racism had nothing to do with it.

davynelson: private club yeah but these people PAID their membership and were to be considered members, madblader.

go be ill-informed and ornery somewhere else.

Yes, I do read, and they did get a refund...what's the problem?

madblader: Who the hell cares?!

It's a private club, they can exclude whomever they want.

Stop crying and go some place else.

Account created: 2009-06-18 08:29:54

Looks like we got ourselves another one of them Iran thread trolls

WaltzingMathilda: SushiJoe: it's a pool, not an ice skating rink. The owner should get his stereotypes right.

you've never heard the blacks can't swim stereotype?

You know, being Canadian, i never really heard of that stereotype... until i watched Survivor.

WhyteRaven74: Well the kids were part of a camp and they likely handled things like they did when I was in day camp. If you can't swim, don't go into the deeper water. And the camp counselors help keep on eye on things. To my knowledge, it's an entirely common thing. Accept Mr. Pool President isn't happy with such arrangements.

thomps: so you're advocating sectioning these kids off in a roped off shallow end and posting people in guard towers to keep an eye on them. i hate to tell you, but you might be racist.

How is that racist?? It is common sense that if you can't swim don't float into the deep water because you will drown. And the camp counselors also keeping an eye on things makes sense too. Are they not paid to watch the kids..? And most pools have some type of rope or line across the bottom of the pool indicating the shallow end from the deeper end of the pool. I don't understand how you pulled racist out of that?

Shadow Blasko: sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

...Touche'

Maybe he should have opened with a joke.

Q: What did the kid from Creative Steps Day Camp get for his birthday?

A: My bike.

I LOL'd so hard I woke my room mates up.

The members just don't want to swim in a pool full of that smelly, greasy crap black people put in their hair.

Cross posting? Me?

Because everyone knows black people cannot swim, right?

I've seen a fair amount of kids who can't swim in my time...you can tell by the color of their skin....

/farging iceholes

The only thing I regret about dropping out of swimming when I got to university was that there was always two or three tall gorgeous Bermudian girls on the team.

/Men's and Women's team change rooms were linked by a door...
//couldn't keep up with the drinking, studying, and swimming; something had to go...

What bothers the hell out of me is not the pathetic racism angle, but the fact that "day camp" is NOT in any way, shape, or form a "camp". It's urban/suburban adolescent day-care and nothing more.

A "camp" involves CAMPING!!! I.E.

1) - sleeping in some type of primitive shelter that is NOT your own home

2) - eating junk food on a stick that was carbonized by the flames of a wood fire

3) - cavorting in bodies of water bound by dirt and rocks, not tile and concrete.

4) - doing battle with blood-sucking insects and woodland creatures

5) - taking a dump in the woods and wiping your ass with poison ivy or stinging nettles

Most importantly, "day camp" leaves out THE most important aspect of "camp" - that parents get to unload (for money) their rotten devil spawn on trained professionals who take them out in the wilderness for a week or more, giving said parents a glorious 7 days of peace and quiet!

vertiaset: My apologies to the African Americans in Farkistan. I know racism is alive and well. Thank God, we have reached the stage when we can look back with bemused detachment at the type of racism which was so prevalent in our country just a generation or two ago. Now if we can only keep moving forward to the point where we never have to read a story like this again.

THIS.

CigaretteSmokingMan: No wonder. It's landlocked.


My dad calls it..how do I get around the fark filter?..."N-wordgeria"

..hopefully that did it.

Of course the black kids can't swim.. the swim club won't let them in the pool.

\why do I come to these race-bait threads?I
\\I hate you all

maybe if the black parents will realize their children need to act more white

/ welcome to the real world kids

dervish16108: Any threads on freerepublic.com defending this?

I'll check.

Link (new window)
106 comments
Begins with shocked responses that something like this could actually happen in 2009. Then there were a bunch of posts doubting that this was the whole story. There were 10 posts wondering if the kids were behaving badly. There was one poster who was quite racist, named "Bon Mots", who posted:

"Flame me for pointing it out, but groups of black children behave differently than groups of white children.

How many of the white people on this forum who are aghast at this send their kids to majority black schools?"

Then, there were posts calling "Bon Mots" racist and demanding he be banned. Then he defended himself. Then more people shocked that something like this could occur in this day and age. Then off-topic posts. Then posts saying that Philly is a pretty racist place. Then posts saying the whole northeast is racist. Then posts saying liberals are usually more racist than conservatives. Then posts about how the swim club president was an Obama supporter. Then other stuff.

I hate to say it, but there is some truth to all these jokes.
I worked as a life guard at a very small pool for 6 years, and that whole time I only had to save 11 kids- 7 of them on the same day. There was an after school program for African American kids around the ages of 6-12 who came one afternoon for a party. Less then half the kids could swim, and yet they continued to jump off the diving boards into the deep end. We asked the counselors several times to keep the kids who can't swim off the boards and we were accused to being racist. They refused to make the kids use flotation devices so me along with 3 other life guards had to keep watch over 30+ kids PLUS the regular members of the pool. It was a NIGHTMARE, and in the end we asked them to use another pool and they pulled the racist card.
It's very hard for lifeguards to watch that many people. I really don't think this particular incident is one of racism. If they were racist they wouldn't have accepted the money from the daycare center in the first place. I just think this is a stupid man who needs to stop talking because he obviously is not good with PR.

fark is farking slackin'.

Southern black/white/brown/yellow/red country kids can swim 'cause they learn in ponds, lakes, and some in rivers....guess now ya know what her and Billy Joe was throwin off the tallahachie bridge huh?
We never even learned about how you are supposed to stay with you'r own color group till it was too late to teach us.
Nobody ever told us about lifeguards and stuff like that.
When we moved to the city the two lifeguards at the huge pool never dived in to save anybody, they just blew thier whistles and pointed, everybody knew you didn't want to make him have to take a break from flexing, or actually get wet, meaning he'd have to re-apply his suntan oil....hell, he'da drowned you himself.

vertiaset: John Duesler, club president having dinner at home.

My apologies to the African Americans in Farkistan. I know racism is alive and well. Thank God, we have reached the stage when we can look back with bemused detachment at the type of racism which was so prevalent in our country just a generation or two ago. Now if we can only keep moving forward to the point where we never have to read a story like this again.

quit stealin' my shiat, fool.

Sorry, i meant quit stealin' my photos fool.

No doubt something like this has been posted, but:

"The fatal drowning rate of African American children ages 5 to 14 is 3.2 times that of white children in the same age range."

http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factshe e t.htm

Duesler said many of the kids could not swim. There is very little doubt he was correct.

Pezfel: When we had camps from more affluent families we did not have as many lifeguards on duty. Is that considered racist?

Of course - it's like you are saying it's OK if white people drown.

Trust fund babies are people, too, if only slightly.

Apparently playing the race card from the bottom of the deck still works.

I was a lifeguard in high school. My training manual listed various "vulnerable" groups of people to pay special attention to as drowning risks. Among the people who the manual said were most at risk were infants, the elderly, racial minorities, especially blacks, the physically disabled and mentally handicapped.

I've always been kind of torn about that. On one hand, it is blatant racial profiling. On the other hand, they're probably correct that a greater percentage of minorities are weak swimmers, if for no other reason than they are less likely to have pools in their communities. If a greater level of attention could increase our ability to save them, without disadvantaging them at all, is it bad?

Of course, what these douche nozzles did is inexcusable, and the head douche nozzle's apology is worthless. Its hard to argue for ambiguity when the plain meaning of your words is so astoundingly clear, and astoundingly racist.

Nuuu: I was a lifeguard in high school. My training manual listed various "vulnerable" groups of people to pay special attention to as drowning risks. Among the people who the manual said were most at risk were infants, the elderly, racial minorities, especially blacks, the physically disabled and mentally handicapped.

I've always been kind of torn about that. On one hand, it is blatant racial profiling. On the other hand, they're probably correct that a greater percentage of minorities are weak swimmers, if for no other reason than they are less likely to have pools in their communities. If a greater level of attention could increase our ability to save them, without disadvantaging them at all, is it bad?

Of course, what these douche nozzles did is inexcusable, and the head douche nozzle's apology is worthless. Its hard to argue for ambiguity when the plain meaning of your words is so astoundingly clear, and astoundingly racist.

...and of course our benevolent media has never been known to twist words and use them out of context for the sake of sensationalism. *rolleyes*

Presumption of innocence? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, and btw... if this is a private club they can flat out refuse entry to ANYONE and there's no law against it. That's what NAACP and office of Human Relations are currently investigating.

BTW, the comment about kids being rowdy - 100% true. Take a group of kids in our pool - white kids splash, play, yada yada. No excessive screaming and generally well behaved. At least they stop running when life guard tells them to. Black kids? Complete opposite and when lifeguard tells them to stop running they either ignore him or just go "pppffffshhhhtttt... you ain't my daddy". At that point I want to AXE that bright young lad and future dweller of some state incarceration facility nearby whether he even knows who "he daddy is" but I already know what Tyrone will say.

Yes, I deeeed go there gurrrlfriend. Hummm Hmmm. *zorro finger snap*

Say what you will but stereotypes DO PLAY OUT. Accept it - it's ok. Don't carry all that white guilt inside, let it out.

Sym_pathetic: He meant because they were kids, and the shallow end of the pool wasn't big enough for the quantity of children.

But you all are right. He's a racist.

this may be true...still a semantic fail

(when you need to make a public statement following an initial statement that was either racist or misunderstood- you write it down- you then carefully read it for clarity and possibilities for misreading...and then you read it again...just saying)

Definitely a poor choice of words.

I can see how complexion could possibly refer to the ratio of swimming-able versus accident-hazard in light of the staffing is sort of what he remembers.

No doubt in my mind the situation is just ridiculous and sort of sad, and people should move on. Perhaps to another pool. Then interview the next pool-steward-ass-on-the-line person for their politically correct opinion of the happenings.

Hell, the only reason I'm not surprised journalists and bloggers can actually spell complexion is because they either used Microsoft/Firefox that corrected it for them, or they simply copy+pasted what they were going to rant on for a while.

/signal to noise and all that

OK, I admit that when I said "I hate black people", that was a poor choice of words! But all I meant was that black people are inferior! So we're cool now, right?

cynep: ...and of course our benevolent media has never been known to twist words and use them out of context for the sake of sensationalism. *rolleyes*

Presumption of innocence? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, and btw... if this is a private club they can flat out refuse entry to ANYONE and there's no law against it. That's what NAACP and office of Human Relations are currently investigating.

BTW, the comment about kids being rowdy - 100% true. Take a group of kids in our pool - white kids splash, play, yada yada. No excessive screaming and generally well behaved. At least they stop running when life guard tells them to. Black kids? Complete opposite and when lifeguard tells them to stop running they either ignore him or just go "pppffffshhhhtttt... you ain't my daddy". At that point I want to AXE that bright young lad and future dweller of some state incarceration facility nearby whether he even knows who "he daddy is" but I already know what Tyrone will say.

Yes, I deeeed go there gurrrlfriend. Hummm Hmmm. *zorro finger snap*

Say what you will but stereotypes DO PLAY OUT. Accept it - it's ok. Don't carry all that white guilt inside, let it out.

One of the things I've always liked about race debates is, even though I'm never likely to change anyone's mind in any meaningful way, these debates give me a chance to mark out who the racists are so that I don't have to waste any more of my time on them. Its the next best thing to simply asking for a show of hands as to who is a bigot.

They're going to have a tough time proving racism with this one. Safety trumps butthurt, every time.

It's a terrible tragedy when 4 people lose their lives in a quick chain of events that just compounds the sorrow. I truly believe this. But there was a lot of absolutely batshiat crazy dialog following this event (new window) which, to me, detracted from the severity and sad lesson to tell in story form. You know, even beautiful and neat things can be dangerous...part of the 'scare your kids straight with reality' dialog that some parents may need. Swimming is great, but a cramp, undertow, or ignorance can be fatal.

gopher321: Mudflap and Skids approve.

Muffy and Skippy don't, however.

There is no more racism.

We have a black president.

/Thread over.

Nuuu: cynep: ...and of course our benevolent media has never been known to twist words and use them out of context for the sake of sensationalism. *rolleyes*

Presumption of innocence? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, and btw... if this is a private club they can flat out refuse entry to ANYONE and there's no law against it. That's what NAACP and office of Human Relations are currently investigating.

BTW, the comment about kids being rowdy - 100% true. Take a group of kids in our pool - white kids splash, play, yada yada. No excessive screaming and generally well behaved. At least they stop running when life guard tells them to. Black kids? Complete opposite and when lifeguard tells them to stop running they either ignore him or just go "pppffffshhhhtttt... you ain't my daddy". At that point I want to AXE that bright young lad and future dweller of some state incarceration facility nearby whether he even knows who "he daddy is" but I already know what Tyrone will say.

Yes, I deeeed go there gurrrlfriend. Hummm Hmmm. *zorro finger snap*

Say what you will but stereotypes DO PLAY OUT. Accept it - it's ok. Don't carry all that white guilt inside, let it out.

One of the things I've always liked about race debates is, even though I'm never likely to change anyone's mind in any meaningful way, these debates give me a chance to mark out who the racists are so that I don't have to waste any more of my time on them. Its the next best thing to simply asking for a show of hands as to who is a bigot.

I read you loud and clear: "I got nuttin. So I'll just call you a biggot". Roger that.

Blowmonkey: Seriously, just like with Mel Gibson and other racists, what slips is only what you're thinking anyway, if you're not racist that shiat isn't there to accidentally fall out.

Evelyone's a rittle bit lacist.

You want to see real racism? Go see some footie matches in Europe, where they throw bananas on the field when African teams play.

Shadow Blasko: sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

Jesus christ that guy is hardcore! He's swimming in the farking air!

syrynxx: I think this is the most racist thread I've ever read on Fark.

Don't spend much time in the Obama threads, eh?

Oh, I get it now....


Changing the complexion of the pool = safety issue because a lot of the kids couldn't swim


Well...That pretty much answers all my questions! Sorry for the misunderstanding.


//club manager's excuse is pathetic

jehovahs witness protection: Good thing he didn't have a monkey named Obama. He'd really be screwed then.

Oh, and I suppose you're going to get all huffy at me for naming MY monkey Hussein, which I did WELL before this guy got elected president.

Well, you wouldn't be the first. What is it with people???

Drunk like the rest of you on a friday night and didn't read the entire thread...
So, just in case this hasn't been posted yet


Copy and paste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFk5tsVKBWc

I'm sure he just needed time to cut up all the soda can rings so they wouldn't get stuck in the campers' blow holes.

Jormungandr: Shadow Blasko: sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

Jesus christ that guy is hardcore! He's swimming in the farking air!

I laughed at that comment till my ribs hurt and I'm still laughing.
Thank Mang, I needed dat!

hicksfa2: Oh, I get it now....


Changing the complexion of the pool = safety issue because a lot of the kids couldn't swim


Well...That pretty much answers all my questions! Sorry for the misunderstanding.


//club manager's excuse is pathetic

Sure, it's still pathetic, but so is the typical use of the language we call English here in the United States. The fact that he used a three syllable word is inexcusable. What do you mean 'misunderstanding'? I object to your racially insensitive ability to understand the situation. Why did you have questions in the first place? I can't believe your off the cuff remarks could be so shallow. Get it? GET IT? Didn't think so.

/You people are, for the most part, terrible with my language and I would like to kick you out of the writing pool for a multitude of reasons, mostly because you consistently drown in poor performance
//antidisetablishmentarianism

OK, I just did a CTRL +F on this page, and nowhere, not once until this post, has the word "Jew" shown up.

Which proves one thing: All you hundreds of posters here have no clue, nada, of what the Valley Club is, and what its infamous "complexion" is. I have a local connection in the very near neighborhood, and I have spent a lot of time in Huntingdon Valley, so I speak from experience.

I am pretty sure that all of you are assuming that this is a case of W.A.S.P/KKK-ish racism getting exposed. I can assure you, from what I know of the area, and what I have heard from my contacts who actually know this club, that that is NOT the case. It is a case of predominantly Jewish-background clientele's Afro-phobia on display.

Remember this: The mainstream media, even in a sad and sensational story of real live racist exclusiveness in this day and age, will still NEVER present the whole truth to you. It is still too politically incorrect for them to handle! It suits them better to frame the story in such a way that you assume that WASP-ish whites are the perpetrators, and that is done at the expense of the truth.

/Lift the gauze, people.

I'm black and I can't swim, so I'm getting a kick outta these replies.

/i wish i could swim
//deathly afraid of drowning
///i go no further than five feet

Hey I dont swim in you toilet so dont put them in my pool

vertiaset: syrynxx

I think this is the most racist thread I've ever read on Fark.

aerojockey: So this the thread where all us white Farkers bring out the racist jokes they've been collecting, because we can just say "this is the kind of joke this asshat would have made". I mean, we'd never make these jokes ourselves or anything.

That seems to have nailed it.


Maybe so, but humor and especially mocking ridicule are good ways to show up the ignorant, the racist and the small minded. So, lighten up a little and enjoy the show.

---------------


Racist or not...you do have to admit that there is humor here.



The way I see it you are only a racist if you make strides to limit based on these differences...not simply recognize them. Skin color is, like it a not, a pretty reliable indicator of past cultural influence here in America. Nothing will be accomplished by ignoring that fact. Making judgement or decisions limiting the ability of that person is where it crosses the line

cynep: Nuuu: I was a lifeguard in high school. My training manual listed various "vulnerable" groups of people to pay special attention to as drowning risks. Among the people who the manual said were most at risk were infants, the elderly, racial minorities, especially blacks, the physically disabled and mentally handicapped.

I've always been kind of torn about that. On one hand, it is blatant racial profiling. On the other hand, they're probably correct that a greater percentage of minorities are weak swimmers, if for no other reason than they are less likely to have pools in their communities. If a greater level of attention could increase our ability to save them, without disadvantaging them at all, is it bad?

Of course, what these douche nozzles did is inexcusable, and the head douche nozzle's apology is worthless. Its hard to argue for ambiguity when the plain meaning of your words is so astoundingly clear, and astoundingly racist.

...and of course our benevolent media has never been known to twist words and use them out of context for the sake of sensationalism. *rolleyes*

Presumption of innocence? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, and btw... if this is a private club they can flat out refuse entry to ANYONE and there's no law against it. That's what NAACP and office of Human Relations are currently investigating.

BTW, the comment about kids being rowdy - 100% true. Take a group of kids in our pool - white kids splash, play, yada yada. No excessive screaming and generally well behaved. At least they stop running when life guard tells them to. Black kids? Complete opposite and when lifeguard tells them to stop running they either ignore him or just go "pppffffshhhhtttt... you ain't my daddy". At that point I want to AXE that bright young lad and future dweller of some state incarceration facility nearby whether he even knows who "he daddy is" but I already know what Tyrone will say.

Yes, I deeeed go there gurrrlfriend. Hummm Hmmm. *zorro finger snap*

Say what you will but stereotypes DO PLAY OUT. Accept it - it's ok. Don't carry all that white guilt inside, let it out.

What will Tyrone say?

/blacks can't swim
//is it a stereotype if it's true?

CigaretteSmokingMan: No wonder. It's landlocked.

Look, there's a little pond down there near Tchad!

Who says black people don't belong in the water?

Your Favorite Token Black Chick: I'm black and I can't swim, so I'm getting a kick outta these replies.

/i wish i could swim
//deathly afraid of drowning
///i go no further than five feet

I've often wondered what it must be like for blacks who read Fark. There's a lot of pretty open racism here. I'm surprised you put up with it.

/you're hot.
//how YOU doin?

Thai Mai Xhu: Jormungandr: Shadow Blasko: sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

Jesus christ that guy is hardcore! He's swimming in the farking air!

I laughed at that comment till my ribs hurt and I'm still laughing.
Thank Mang, I needed dat!

I was hoping people would find it as funny as I did. I do fancy myself as a bit of a funnyman so it makes me inordinately happy when people tell me they find something I've said funny.
On the topic of the article, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and most of them shouldn't be exposed in public.

captain_heroic44: //is it a stereotype if it's true?

White men can't jump.

Never met a black guy who thought of that as anything but a joke. Have met white guys who think it speaks to some truth. Chew on that one for a while.

onebadgungan: Don't spend much time in the Obama threads, eh?

One or two Jackson threads were worse than this, and even those aren't the worst of what you can see on Fark.

captain_heroic44: There's a lot of pretty open racism here.

There's a lot of open sexism, homophobia etc etc that rears its head on Fark. The only difference is, not very many blacks on Fark to stand up to it directly.

WhyteRaven74: captain_heroic44: //is it a stereotype if it's true?

White men can't jump.

Never met a black guy who thought of that as anything but a joke. Have met white guys who think it speaks to some truth. Chew on that one for a while.


Well, there's a difference. The reason blacks can't swim doesn't have anything to do with their actual ability to swim. It has to do with the fact that most of them just aren't trained to swim in childhood. Having worked as a lifeguard, I can attest that there really is truth to the fact that ethnic minorities, especially blacks, are especially at risk for drowning, because they are the least skilled swimmers. That is a reality, and one best not ignored by water safety professionals.

The presumption, at least, of the "white men can't jump" stereotype is that whites actually lack the genetic athletic ability to jump as well as blacks. I have no idea if that's true or not, but given what I know, it seems unlikely. People of different backgrounds play different sports, and develop different athletic prowesses. In WW2, Americans were known for their ability to throw hand grenades farther than their European allies. Why? Because they had developed the ability to throw through baseball.

I don't think there's any real truth to genetic variability in races, other than the surface appearances. But I do think there's a lot of truth to what people learn through cultural background. And I tell ya, swimming ain't one of the things African Americans learn as part of their cultural background. Given, there are exceptions, and no doubt, there are skilled black swimmers out there. But for the most part, that's just not the case.

Your Favorite Token Black Chick: I'm black and I can't swim, so I'm getting a kick outta these replies.

/i wish i could swim
//deathly afraid of drowning
///i go no further than five feet

That profile pic in the your bikini is ironic then.

/And hawt
//How you doin'?

WhyteRaven74: captain_heroic44: There's a lot of pretty open racism here.

There's a lot of open sexism, homophobia etc etc that rears its head on Fark. The only difference is, not very many blacks on Fark to stand up to it directly.

While there is some truth to what you say, I've noticed that the majority of the *ism comes from some very specific farkers, and the rest of them are meant as commentary on the racism of the article or the aforementioned chowderheads.

captain_heroic44:
I've often wondered what it must be like for blacks who read Fark. There's a lot of pretty open racism here. I'm surprised you put up with it.

It's like being on a bus with a broken air conditioner next to a 400 pound woman who neglected to shower for three days, is on her period, and decided to try and cover it all up with perfume she bought at the dollar store. In August. In the south. At 1 pm, during the worst heat wave in 100 years. The windows on the bus don't open, and both you and she get off at the last stop.

You learn to deal with it to get where you need to go. Doesn't mean you like it.

rewind2846: captain_heroic44:
I've often wondered what it must be like for blacks who read Fark. There's a lot of pretty open racism here. I'm surprised you put up with it.

It's like being on a bus with a broken air conditioner next to a 400 pound woman who neglected to shower for three days, is on her period, and decided to try and cover it all up with perfume she bought at the dollar store. In August. In the south. At 1 pm, during the worst heat wave in 100 years. The windows on the bus don't open, and both you and she get off at the last stop.

You learn to deal with it to get where you need to go. Doesn't mean you like it.

Dude. Leave my mom alone.

rewind2846: captain_heroic44:
I've often wondered what it must be like for blacks who read Fark. There's a lot of pretty open racism here. I'm surprised you put up with it.

It's like being on a bus with a broken air conditioner next to a 400 pound woman who neglected to shower for three days, is on her period, and decided to try and cover it all up with perfume she bought at the dollar store. In August. In the south. At 1 pm, during the worst heat wave in 100 years. The windows on the bus don't open, and both you and she get off at the last stop.

You learn to deal with it to get where you need to go. Doesn't mean you like it.

Fair enough.

WaltzingMathilda: you've never heard the blacks can't swim stereotype?

I had not heard of it until I got to boot camp and we had to qualify as swimmers. There are plenty of white guys that barely passed the first test, but there was only One black guy. (he ended up being one of the 6 best swimmers out of our company of 300)

WhyteRaven74: Racism ...not very many blacks on Fark to stand up to it directly.

Not very many blacks on Fark gullible enough to bother standing up to it directly.

/FTFY

Jormungandr: Shadow Blasko: sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

Jesus christ that guy is hardcore! He's swimming in the farking air!

He's not swimming through air! He's falling with style!

We went tubing down the river a couple weeks back. On the first log jam someone gets hung up, has to ditch the tube, and climbs up on the log. Then she tells us she can't swim.

/facepalm

Your Favorite Token Black Chick: I'm black and I can't swim, so I'm getting a kick outta these replies.

/i wish i could swim
//deathly afraid of drowning
///i go no further than five feet

And yet you are in a bathing suit in your profile pic.

cynep: Say what you will but stereotypes DO PLAY OUT

True! I'm Irish American...I have reddish hair, freckles, no liver, love Jameson and drink like a fish, pretty lazy, love potatoes, half of my family are or were firefighters, I'm short and get told often that I'm not welcome in certain establishments...

/no white guilt, my ancestors were indentured servants in VA.
//Escaped, fought with Irish Brigade in Gettysburg
///became firefighters in Ohio

Howard Stern went on one day about when he was young how black kids in his neighborhood pool would always poop in the water.

At Disney on summer the pool at our resort was almost closed daily due to the water having a floater in it.

Many blacks kids were playing in the pool those days. Very few could swim.

Diogenes: Maybe he should have opened with a joke.

Q: What did the kid from Creative Steps Day Camp get for his birthday?

A: My bike.



and now you can play the exciting video game!

vartian: He then added "Also, we were worried about the buoyancy of watermelons. And that the black would wash off and stain the pool."

Someone needs to tell this guy to shut the fark up.

He didn't say that. I think you're being disingenuous.

I read the article for you. The reason the camp was blocked from entering the pool site was that not enough lifeguards were on duty and with a high number of children present who may have been unable to swim, he decided to err on the side of caution.

See, that wasn't so hard, was it?

True story: A few years back my sons and I were in Panama City Beach. We were staying at a motel on the beach. We were walking by the pool on the way to our car. The pool had about 20-30 white people in it. A young black kid about 9 years old came out and jumped in the pool. Every, and I mean every, white person got out of the pool. All 20-30 of them.
Being from the West my sons and I were a bit shocked at the blatant racism. Later we heard this area is referred to as the Redneck Riviera.

Kozaru: Your Favorite Token Black Chick: I'm black and I can't swim, so I'm getting a kick outta these replies.

/i wish i could swim
//deathly afraid of drowning
///i go no further than five feet

And yet you are in a bathing suit in your profile pic.

Leave her alone! She was probably just working on her tan or something.

Actually, out of the dozen or so black friends/cohorts I've known, only 1 could swim. It strangely seems to be more than just a stereotype.

/always found it to be strange

rewind2846: captain_heroic44:
I've often wondered what it must be like for blacks who read Fark. There's a lot of pretty open racism here. I'm surprised you put up with it.

It's like being on a bus with a broken air conditioner next to a 400 pound woman who neglected to shower for three days, is on her period, and decided to try and cover it all up with perfume she bought at the dollar store. In August. In the south. At 1 pm, during the worst heat wave in 100 years. The windows on the bus don't open, and both you and she get off at the last stop.


To that I say this:

Jeez. It's not racist to point out that blacks ON AVERAGE, are configured by evolution during thousands of years of living in hot, tropical Africa, to have low body fat and denser muscle tissue, in order to shed heat easier, (and makes them less buoyant), and lots of pigmentation to resist sun induced skin cancer. Yes, it's unfair stereotyping to assume ALL individual blacks are like that, but as a group, they ARE.

There's a reason there are no natural native white populations in Africa. The environment kills them off.

WaltzingMathilda: SushiJoe: it's a pool, not an ice skating rink. The owner should get his stereotypes right.

you've never heard the blacks can't swim stereotype?

I don't know about GTA4, but I always thought it weird that the only GTA games where you can swim are the ones with black lead characters.

elismom: Because I'm sure all the movie stars in Hollywood are clamoring to get and invitation to your house.

Man you are such an assh..no no a douc.... GOD DAMN IT calling you "douchebag" doesn't even define how much you suck.

Radio Boy: I worked in a water park in NJ.

Every 4th of July we would get people from Brooklyn, Bayonne, Edison, Elizabeth, etc, who had never been in a pool in their lives.

This didn't stop them from going on the big slide that dropped you in a 10 foot deep pool.

If you worked that pool, you just stayed in the water all day.

ACTION PARK?????

Kozaru: And yet you are in a bathing suit in your profile pic.

Her profile clicks just went through the roof...

/yeah I checked...so what?
//nice.

mark12A: Jeez. It's not racist to point out that blacks ON AVERAGE, are configured by evolution during thousands of years of living in hot, tropical Africa, to have low body fat and denser muscle tissue, in order to shed heat easier, (and makes them less buoyant), and lots of pigmentation to resist sun induced skin cancer. Yes, it's unfair stereotyping to assume ALL individual blacks are like that, but as a group, they ARE.

There's a reason there are no natural native white populations in Africa. The environment kills them off.

Heh, believing in evolution is racist. Where's your high horse now, libs?

Nick Nostril: Because everyone knows black people cannot swim, right?

If they could, slavers would have had a harder time.

Your Favorite Token Black Chick: I'm black and I can't swim, so I'm getting a kick outta these replies.

/i wish i could swim
//deathly afraid of drowning
///i go no further than five feet

Seriously, you owe it to yourself to learn (it's never too late). One of life's simplest and greatest pleasures. The fact that it might somehow save your life some day (or someone else's, if you find you are really good at it) is just a bonus. Think of it as taking a practical measure against the thing you fear. ;)

Plus, you look amazing in a bikini, and we could all use more of that on our beaches and at our pools.

/went there
//(looks up thread)...just piling on

Jormungandr: Shadow Blasko: sonder: Show me an inner city black kid that can swim.

G'head.

Jesus christ that guy is hardcore! He's swimming in the farking air!

I never knew that was the reason it's called the 'butterfly'

onebadgungan: I've noticed that the majority of the *ism comes from some very specific farkers,

yes, yes they do. There are threads that as I scroll through comments, there are certain names that if I see I just roll my eyes and go "Do I even want to know?"

Alleyoop: Not very many blacks on Fark gullible enough to bother standing up to it directly.

Well, there's that view, also the view that if you don't stand up for something when it does effect you, why should anyone else stand up for you? Obviously, if it's a blatant troll that's one thing, but if the person means it, then it can come into play. Then again, this is an internet message board, not exactly real life.

/yes yes, it's still real to you ;)

captain_heroic44: Well, there's a difference.

I agree. I was just being a wise ass, not exactly trying to say the two comments are of the same standing, just throwing it out there :)

Your Favorite Token Black Chick: I'm black and I can't swim, so I'm getting a kick outta these replies.

/i wish i could swim
//deathly afraid of drowning
///i go no further than five feet


teh hotness + teh boobies = (swimming != matter)

Doucheler.

These are kids.a civil suit should be made against the club. How long will this ignorance go on.I'm sure minorities helped build and maintain the club. Farkers b honest this is less important than Iran.

MrSteve007: Actually, out of the dozen or so black friends/cohorts I've known, only 1 could swim. It strangely seems to be more than just a stereotype.

/always found it to be strange

There were two black kids in my neighborhood growing up, and since we had a pool we invited everyone to our house for parties, they jumped in the pool and swam like everybody else, just to even the odds up a bit. (Actually Marcus only swam the dog paddle, but he'd do it in the deep end)

But ASIANS? Man those yellow freaks cannot drive for shiat, man they be all over the road at like 25 mph.

neilbradley, I got a time-out for posting somebody puking a week ago.

*right-click* *save*

Non-story. CNN was reporting that the same swim club also canceled contracts with two other groups, neither of which had minority members. Admittedly, the swim club president could have handled the PR aspect a little better.

vertiaset: I am a Republican and a pacifist

syntax error

I'm glad this article and thread have tried to leave out that two other predominantly white groups (claimed on CNN to have no minorities in them) of kids were also asked not to come back.

vartian: He then added "Also, we were worried about the buoyancy of watermelons. And that the black would wash off and stain the pool."

Someone needs to tell this guy to shut the fark up.

Cocoa Krispies Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGdNKDC88B4 (pops)

// They even make the milk taste like chocolate!

farfigneugan: vertiaset: I am a Republican and a pacifist

syntax error

Hey, the Republicans tried to stay out of WWII

At least I was able to tell from the headline that he wasn't talking about mexicans.

the sad part is, the stereotype has some truth.

during boot camp, you should see all the "swim waivers" off to the side during combat swim crawl. there's 2 redneck white guys and about a dozen black dudes.

fakesanta: the sad part is, the stereotype has some truth.

during boot camp, you should see all the "swim waivers" off to the side during combat swim crawl. there's 2 redneck white guys and about a dozen black dudes.

I just wanted to say that, THIS is, sadly, true. I'd never heard that "brother's don't swim" until boot camp. From the black guys. And they thought it was hilarious.

This one is going to be in Public Relations textbooks for its many examples of how not to handle a racially charged controversy.

I wonder if this is the same guy from the swim club I saw on CNN yesterday commenting that he didn't like ht e "change in complexion" this brought.

All the words in the English language and you pick that one? At least pretend not to be a bigot.