Whites Only? What Year Is This?

As many may have read, a private club in PA contracted with a summer camp to allow the kids in the camp (K-7th grade) come to swim every Monday. However, apparently, some parents objected. In front of the kids. Oh, and did I mention that the kids were black? And the parents objecting - who pulled their kids out of the water - were white? And that they said the day camp kids "fundamentally changed the atmosphere" of the club? First of all, kudos to the two or three white kids who stayed in the pool. Someone had some smart, caring parents. Second, the club should be ashamed. You have no honor and no class. While you claim to have “…a diverse, multiethnic membership,” apparently some of the people in attendance on Monday didn’t get that memo. Or the multiple ethnicities you are referring to include mostly white backgrounds from different parts of pale European countries. Do you let brown and black people clean up after yourselves? Even if ONE parent made remarks which you are now categorically denying, there is no excuse to cancel a paid contract. Where are your guts? Where are your morals? The parents who pulled their children out of the water are nothing but small-minded, unenlightened and ill-educated bigots with more money than sense. What exactly were those people afraid of? Remarks regarding “fundamentally changing the atmosphere ” are more telling and Freudian than you can imagine. Words don’t often fail me, but I do admit that when I first heard this story, my jaw dropped and there were a few moments in which I thought, “Hang on, that can’t be right.” But as the story circulated more and more, it became a blot on the flag. Yes, a blot on the flag. To have such an incident occur in one of the battleground states which formed this United States of America is contrary to everything this nation stands for. I simply cannot believe, private club or not, that such a thing can happen in this day and age. And where’s your calendar? Don’t you realize that it’s 2-0-0-9 – not 1-8-0-9??? Anyone wishing to enlighten the pool club is encouraged to e-mail info@thevalleyclub.com or call them at 215-947-0700. I'm sure they'd be happy to hear from you.