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<p>The line between HV and NE Philly is quite fluid and people going about their everyday business (shopping, etc.) “float” back and forth between the areas. HV is not some kind of privileged, gated enclave at all where people never encounter people not-just-like-them. Many people in HV have relatives in or came from NE Philly. It is not an area where people have no experience with city environments.</p>
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I agee.</p>
<p>I don’t doubt that there was some racial language and that some members were especially offended by race. That being said, I don’t think the overall reaction was race-base. if I paid for a private pool membership and 65 kids showed up? I would be very unhappy.</p>
<p>Reportedly they had also turned away a group of 25 and refunded its money earlier in the summer. At that point, why didn’t they refund all of the groups of over 25 people that had paid fees to use the facilities rather than waiting?</p>
<p>Mrs. Weasly, if what you are saying is true, then it appears teh pool management were teh rascist ones –</p>
<p>Watching this on the local news I was couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
That 12 year old boy in tears just broke my heart. Is this 2009?
Whoever made the deal with the camp has a lot of explaining to do.
It’s one day a week. Unbelievable.</p>
<p>kayf, I got the information about them turning away a much smaller group from the link in post #22.</p>
<p>maybe if many of the public pools weren’t being kept shut because of budget cutbacks, this would never have been an issue at all.</p>
<p>We here in Philly are bracing for a possible increase in the sales tax, real estate tax, and state income tax. If enacted, some are supposed to be temporary, yeah right !!!</p>
<p>Hit me with your best shot, fire away…</p>
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<p>I think that you’ve probably put your finger on it, Pizzagirl.</p>
<p>Our neighborhood pool had the daycare kids come in during the mornings, in some cases before the pool was open to the regular membership. I think one summer people complained, and then daycare groups weren’t allowed after a certain time.</p>
<p>Reading stories like this really does hit close to home. What’s sad is that I can see the same parental reaction happening here that happened at the private swim club in PA.</p>
<p>Whether the PA swim club’s management truly dismissed the group from their club because of race or overcrowding remains to be seen.</p>
<p>I’m telling you, I have BEEN to the pool in question and it’s quite small. No way it could handle 65 kids.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, was it a 25 yard, or possibly a 50 meter pool? That would help to know the size. Thanks.</p>
<p>I read that one issue is that 2/3rds of the pool is deep water and the only kids who could go there had to pass a swim test of some sort. That means that all of the camp kids had to stay in the shallow end - 1/3 of the pool. Failure to factor that in would have been a big mistake on the part of the pool management.</p>
<p>Here is the pool on Google map - zoom in to get a decent shot of the pool dimensions.</p>
<p><a href=“Google Maps”>Google Maps;
<p>I didn’t see the news video of the young man who was in tears over the incident, but I hope that his impressions were completely his own and not at all influenced by the analysis of one of the frustrated adults who accompanied him (or a parent who heard about things afterward). </p>
<p>That being said, if the “Where did all these Black kids come from?” remark was made, I agree with Poetsheart:
What Pizzagirl offered as a contrasting example is not what happened: </p>
<p>Pizzagirl
But the pool in question was already filled with Caucasian kids. If instead there was an overwhelmingly African-American and Latino pool membership/administration, and a bunch of Caucasian kids showed up, it certainly WOULD be racist if someone said, “Hey, where did all those White kids come from?”. Why mention skin color at all, unless it is in fact an issue for you? </p>
<p>It sounds like there was mishandling of the pool (in pursuit of profit), and then a few bigoted members turned a management screw-up into a very painful incident.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, the management knew the pool was too small for even 25 kids before the group of 65 showed up, according to one of the news stories linked here. Why didn’t they make different arrangements with the much larger group after refunding money to the smaller group?</p>
<p>People who manage private clubs can sometimes be shockingly inept. The idea of members being coddled happens only in rare places. Frequently, once they have your money and a contract, your needs are no longer all that important. It doesn’t surprise me at all to hear that the club management did what it wanted, despite what might be best for the comfort and enjoyment of members.</p>
<p>I have seen private club members during swim meets look askance at people who they perceive as lower on the socioeconomic ladder. In the instances I witnessed, it had nothing to do with race. The idea, of course, is to hide that reaction, or share it only with a trusted friend. You can feel the feathers bristle when pampered moms with implants, Botox, and Juicy sweat suits (or instead with acreage, horses, and four kids in boarding school - whatever the stereotype) are forced to interact with the riff raff their swim team season calendar forces them to endure. Having to spend time at less exclusive clubs is just one of those things that make it a tough day for these parents. The only thing they can do is have an extra glass of Chardonnay while they make dinner to help them to get over the stress of it all.</p>
<p>Basically, human beings are simply awful to each other sometimes. Over race, over looks, over money, over education, over whatever.</p>
<p>You’re not describing Huntingdon Valley, though. It’s not pampered Botox moms or to-the-manor-born elitists. It’s pleasant middle to upper middle class. This isn’t a privileged or snooty club at all. It’s merely private, which just means it’s not public. </p>
<p>Mrs weasley, why are you asking me? I don’t know why the club mgt didn’t figure out that 65 kids were too much.</p>
<p>spideygirl - I could not agree more. Sometimes it is so obvious when you meet someone and they have made the determination that you are beneath them. It is not about only money- you may not be hip enough, good looking enough it could be one of so many different factors. My wife gets annoyed because on the weekends I go around town like a homeless man. She says people judge you and I say who cares. I’m nice I hold the door open, say thank you, show respect to everyone. I always liked the story about the old guy who goes to a car dealer dressed like he is poor and the will not give him a dimes worth of customer service even though he is there to buy the most expensive car with cash.</p>
<p>Sigh. I would be bothered by (and complain about) 65 kids showing up at the pool I belong to and it doesn’t mean I think I’m “better” than them. Do you not think it’s possible for people to be bothered by the presence of lots of kids at a small pool? Why you keep turning this into “they thought they were better than…” ?</p>
<p>I used to be a member of a large tennis/racquetball club. I paid for a family membership, and on Friday evenings I would take the D’s to the indoor basketball courts for them to practice. At one point, the management decided to rent out space to youth groups for activities. So instead of a quiet evening with a hoop to ourselves, we were subjected to sharing the space with large groups of kids on the courts and running through the facility.</p>
<p>I was angry. I went to management and complained that as members who paid a monthly fee to belong to the club, we should have use of the facility during regular hours without the youth groups. Management didn’t care, so I eventually cancelled our membership.</p>
<p>My family is white. The youth groups that came in were predominantly white, in fact sometimes they were our neighbors. The point is, we paid for a membership to a private club and the youth groups did not. Allowing the groups to use the facilities changed the atmosphere that we signed up for when we joined.</p>
<p>I’m on the side of the private swim club members…the board should not have contracted with ANY outside groups to allow them in the pool during regular member hours.</p>