COLOR OF CHANGE

[VICKIE ANDERSON]

Dear friends,

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

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

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

I've just joined ColorOfChange.org in doing exactly that -- will you
join me, and email your friends and family asking them to do the same?
We're also calling on the Department of Justice to evaluate suing the
facility under federal law. It takes just a moment to do both, here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/?id=2389-826222

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

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

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

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

http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/?id=2389-826222

Thanks.

Here are some links to more info:

"Pool Boots Kids Who Might 'Change the Complexion,'" NBC Philadelphia,
07-08-09
http://bit.ly/90Zyr

"60 Black Kids Booted from Philly Pool For Being Black -- Speak Out,"
Jill Tubman at Jack and Jill Politics, 07-08-09
http://bit.ly/GkJTs

"Valley Swim Club: Day Two," Adam B at Daily Kos, 07-08-09
http://bit.ly/qbpSA

"Section 1981 Summary," Employment Law Information Network
http://www.elinfonet.com/1981sum.php

[Phatfirm Radio Network]

I think this is a terrible situation ,am goin join to the link that you just post , but i will also send
a message to the network to come see the discussion you start so they could go in the link and join too .

[Sufferahsmusic Media]

WE SHOULD BE TEACHING YOUNG BLACK WOMEN AND MEN ABOUT TAXES, PAYING BILLS , CREDIT , HEALTHY EATING , THE STOCK MARKET.......FORGET THE USELESS FUN....YOU THINK WE GOT TIME TO BE SOAKING UP IN THEIR ALL WHITE POOL?... HTTP://SUFFERAHS1TV.BLIP.TV ALSO TEXT 48000 TYPE GET AMANI AKA SPECIALIST FOR EXXXCLUSIVE RINGTONES

[Sufferahsmusic Media]

I DONT COMPLAIN ABOUT INUSTICE...I ASK, IS THERE JUSTICE FOR THIS GREAT GREAT GRANDSON OF A SLAVE?
I SAY NAY....THIS IS MY REALITY HTTP://SUFFERAHS1TV.BLIP.TV

[Hally]

The question we had befor the election was ;Will the Election of Obama Change Racism in America and Canada?
Barack Obama’s election to the Presidency of the United States was heralded everywhere as a breakthrough in race relations. But has it changed speech and daily behavior? It hasn't if observations and scientific study are correct.
It will likely take more than an election to do that.
Recently at a public gathering a woman was overheard to describe someone who had been standing in the door blocking traffic of customers coming in and out. She was described as African American. Someone said that’s what “those people do.” No one said anything about the remark at the time, nor later. There were those who had nodded agreement and others who kept silent. This happened after Obama’s election and shows that racial remarks and apathy about them continues, but what does science say?
A recent study shows that there is a remarkably high tolerance for racism. Even though there is a high stigma associated for racism, and many folks proclaim they are free of it, there has been an ongoing concern about why discrimination towards African Americans continues anyway.
In the study, 120 graduate students were exposed to an experiment where a black person accidentally slightly bumped into a white person. The white confederate either said nothing, or "I hate it when black people do that," or said, "clumsy n____." These students were divided into groups, some of whom had the incident described, some watched it on video, and still others saw the incident when it happened. Specifically, a white person has been shown to have made a racist comment about a black individual after he leaves the room.
After the experiment, students were asked to respond by selecting a partner to work with on a subsequent experiment. It was found that those students who had not watched the incident but only had it reported to be upset by the white individual’s racist remarks enough not to want to work with the individual. If they witnessed the incident and actually heard the racist comments, they were still willing to work with the person who had made those comments.
Kerry Kakami, a professor who led the research, said that the research shows is this: "What we found was that students were more likely to choose the white confederate as a partner (63 per cent), despite the fact that the white person had made a racist comment about the black person And the racist comments ranged from moderate to one of the most powerful anti-black slurs in the English language."
The study was a joint Canadian – American one done at York University, and one blogger in news and politics said that the results were realistic based upon observations of such situations, although disturbing nonetheless. Nevertheless, this writer observed that countering racist remarks isn’t always easy to do. Sometimes a boss will say negative in general about African American to an employee, putting the employee in an awkward situation. There are similar situations where countering racism can be difficult.
Rush Limbaugh’s approach is different. He is concerned about racism from the African American community since Barack Obama became President of the United States. But the issue is racist speech referencing African Americans. Rush believes the mere election of Obama won’t make changes in racism, however; and that seems supported by the study, at least when it comes to racism involving whites towards African Americans..

[VICKIE ANDERSON]

Thank you very much for anyone who wants to make a change. For those that say there will never be a change, you are part of the problem. Words like NEVER, CAN'T, WON'T are words that shouldn't be taught to our children.

I ask you AMANI SMITH, don't you think children should have any FUN? That is supposed to be a special part of your life, being a child. There is enough time to teach out children about what we have to do as adults.

One more thing, THE PRESIDENT OF THE USA DOESEN'T HAVE ANY POWER. I am going to put up a video and suggest that everyone takes the time to watch it.

Thank you

I do agree that racism is still alive and I " hate " racism. We are a multi racial family and my family gets it from both sides. Yet I still do not teach my child to judge anyone by the color of their skin but by their charater.

[Gigi]

You know in life nothing seems to surprise me at all. It is an unfortunate situation however people have blinders on. Racisim exist still almost everywhere. I pray for people like that because they lack knowledge or just plain ignorant to what is going on around them. These type of people have their own little world which from time to time which gets exposed. We just have to learn to educate one another better so that way the generation that is coming up,the generation after this generation,and so forth will know how to handle situations like these.

Remember the educating starts at home

[Boss Hog Entertainment]

the director at the pool said he would rather refund the money to the group than to allow a bunch of bad ass kids to come tear up their community's shit...So that's to general conscientious. White folk ain't gonna let black folk come tear up the shit. Where's the black folk pool why they going to them folkz pool? See if blacks work to have there own and take care of theirs(community) they wouldn't be running over to the "white side" of town to soak in there stuff.. bottom line build your own nice thing in your own community and stop try to use other communities stuff...there tax money bought that for they kids not yours. Try investing in your own community. I dont think it was about race...It was about protecting our community interest. Not color.

[MTL]

Racism has existed throughout human history. It may be defined as the hatred of one person by another -- or the belief that another person is less than human -- because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.

Racism must stop this is the reason why we are talking about it !

You did not decide what color you would be or where you would be born.

All colors and all people are all singled down to one word. HUMAN.

Most racists are insecure and find comfort in hating someone else to make themself feel better. Inside, they are hurt and want to be loved (even though they say they don't want to be loved).

If you are a racist, then you hate yourself and the one who created you as God created all people from one man and woman.

I have hope that one day it will be over like Martin Luther King said "I have a dream that one day ..."
a part of that dream did come true so one day it will end let's keep moving on and we will have some change