say some prayers for us the next few days. Some developments have come up, and Adam and I have a lot of thinking and praying to do. I wish I could say more, but we’re prohibited by the agency at this time.
CNN and just about every other news outlet recently had an article (http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/09/philly.pool/index.html) about a swim club in the Philadelphia area, who had allowed the children from a day care swim at their facilities, and after one day, refunded the money to the day care, and told them that the kids were no longer welcome for a myriad of reasons. Parents of the children claimed racism, and one parent filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Convention.
People from the club are saying that is not true and the reason was that that they did not expect so many kids and they don’t have enough room. Parents of some of the children are saying that comments were made around the children that they feared the children “might do something.” I do realize that is the word of the children against the word of adults told by a second party. However…
Could it still be…Racism? Well, I did find it odd that the club president told two different news outlets that “the children had changed ‘the complexion’ and ‘atmosphere’ of the club.” Complexion? How would that word be used to mean anything else? There are a lot of simple words in the English language that can describe the problem of having too many kids in the pool. ”Complexion” is not a word that comes to mind.
According to Messers Merrium and Webster (http://www.m-w.com/), the definition of complexion is:
1: the combination of the hot, cold, moist, and dry qualities held in medieval physiology to determine the quality of a body
2 a: an individual complex of ways of thinking or feeling b: a complex of attitudes and inclinations
3: the hue or appearance of the skin and especially of the face complexion>
4: overall aspect or character
Which definition do you think he meant?
Was the whole thing blown out of proportion? Probably - though now the kids are allowed to swim there again, so maybe the intense media coverage did help in that respect. I don’t think suing the club is going to stop racism. I think the point has been made. Proper attention has been given. Move on.
The comment that the children “might do something” reminds me of people talking about the “black kids in the neighborhood” kind of in that same vein. White kids in the neighborhood I grew up in stole my car, and even though it was 15 years ago, I’m still pretty upset about it. When I would describe that incident, I wouldn’t say the “white kids.” I also played street football (which I will not let our kids partake in) with other white kids in the neighborhood growing up. I don’t think I ever described them as the “white kids” before either. They were just kids. Why can’t black kids be just “kids” and why the assumption that they would be troublemakers? I wonder if those members at the pool went home to tell their friends and family about “the black kids at the pool.” I bet they did. I’m sure our kids are going to be known as “the black kids” in our neighborhood no matter what they do. Last week my aunt passed away. At the visitation one of my relatives found out what we are doing. Their first response was “why, were there not enough white kids to adopt?” The relative wasn’t thinking before speaking, and I don’t anticipate problems from them, but it’s another example that racism is everywhere and I don’t have to go looking for it.
So, still think I’m overreacting when I say I have to worry about race? Just loving our future kids is not going to protect them from this. Talking about it, making people aware of it, and having a plan in place will go a long way.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/06/24/bia.black.hair/index.html#cnnSTCText