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Racism in Action
Posted by Stillthinking • 7/08/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: philadelphia, racism
This is so disgusting. A private pool in Philadelphia suspended the membership of a minority day camp and kicked out 60 black kids claiming "it would change the complexion of the facilities."
Outrageous that this is happening in this day and age.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Pool-Boots-Kids-Who-Might-Change-the-Com...
Why do people think behavior like this is acceptable?
User Comments
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Oh man this and the Fiji incident narrated in the cultural shock thread of mine. Did I travel back in time?
Outrageous truly.-
It's mind boggling.
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- Disgusting! Unacceptable!
No! No! A thousand times NO!
In a recent incident here where I live, a middle aged loud mouthed man with a beer gut that looked as though he was carrying twins made a racial slur directed towards the First Nations children in the ferry lineup. The ferry staff accidentally forgot to flag his SUV onto the boat until all the others vehicles had been loaded. He was shunned when he tried to speak to people on the deck and in the lounges.-
What is amazing to me is how no one in the pool management spoke up for these kids.
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Where I live the only rednecks we experience are from another country and they only come here during tourist season. The vast and overwhelming majority of tourists are not racists. They are wonderful people.
Well, here the grapevine AKA moccasin telegraph works just fine. (Oh, and did I mention that there is no cell phone reception.)
We locals have the power to make sure that those who make racist remarks do not get served in restaurants or bars or anywhere else for that matter. Once identified they also experience business people and shopkeepers who suddenly lock their business doors when they are approaching, and those in the accommodation business suddenly lose their reservations.
Within about 48 hours of being on island we are giving them the single finger salute as they board the ferry and leave. -
Wow, if only American communities were as united against discrimination. As it is, racial discrimination almost always manifests itself as economic class divisions and therefore, allows a convenient excuse for those who would propagate continued racism.
They all claim that it's not race, but poverty that holds minorities down. Does that make it any better? -
We are a very small community and that's the key. No racist remarks are tolerated in any schools, playgrounds, clubs, organizations, etc. or in any public places and spaces. The policy is zero tolerance and we quietly enforce it as individuals. In small communities shunning is a very powerful behavior modification tool.
The man from a neighboring country who bought a bar and who thought he would have his own free speech rules found himself drinking beer all alone with his wife night after night. Those who used to regulars at the business he bought deserted it within a week and within a month the new owner was history.
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What?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
There is a twitter campaign about this. I want to know why the AP, CNN, MSN, and all the major networks aren't all over this story. It's blatant racism.
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I seriously thought that the world was better than this, but obviously not. Correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that Philli had a pretty big afican american community. Just seems silly and unfair to me-
They have a really large African American community, but it is also one of the most segregated cities in the country. Not by law, but by socioeconomic class.
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That's really sad, I wonder if I'll ever live to see the day where racism is a thing of the past.
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wow this is still happening in this day and age. this is depressing. suddenly i am losing my appetite*slams cup and saucer*-
Horrendous.
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I think what really bothers me is that this is an issue that affects us, here in the US and it's not getting any attention. Whereas Iranian protesters halfway around the world riled up top political commentators across the country.
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That is so sad! Poor kids!
"When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool," Horace Gibson
And we know who are going to continue with this kind of behavior 10 years from now. :-(-
Yes! Exactly. This is why racism continues from generation to generation. Mother/Father to child.
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i who has dark complexion would surely and is offended upon hearing this. but then again, to think clearly now like a citizen of the world, this is something to do with a small town mentality. and it is all about education and exposure. i think the more people go out to the city, or the world ,their perspective will change. i still hope that these very people who evacuated the premises would still change their minds...it's just that, that's what tradition has taught them. it's what social stigma has taught them to feel. i don't really blame them personally. it's the system that must change.
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Small town? This is Philadelphia, one of the largest and most diverse cities in the US.
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which makes one wonder indeed.oh well my travel plans have to wait a bit. sigh.
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Please don't think the entire US is like this. I think international tourism is one of the best ways to promote understanding and friendly relations between countries.
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Well not just the US this is happening all over the world. There is even this one incident( i wont name the country) and this friend who is working there as a domestic helper overheard some guys saying thatthe definition of a Filipina is a maid.Nothing wrong with the term...just the context of how it is used.
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I don't understand? Is that the true meaning or just someone being racist/stereotyping.
There are two cultures ( and possibly more ) here, where the meanings of their word (in their own language) for caucasian translate to "white pig" and "pea soup". But the terms are so widely used throughout the country that even the caucasians use the term. -
Well, if you say true meaning it means that , "it is the only thing that we're good at".So I think it is a racial comment.
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Oh ok I was thinking that perhaps you were saying that the actual word Fillipino when translated to english means "maid".
Either way its not a cool thing to say
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This actually doesn't surprise me being a Philadelphia resident. It is one of the most integrated segrated city ever and it will probably be that way for a long time to come.
It's sad but not shocking in the least.-
Chicago is also segregated by economic class. Predominantly poor black communities on the south side with pockets on the far north side. Poor Hispanic communities on the west side with pockets of wealthy white neighborhoods in University Village, Bucktown and Wicker Park. Loop, South Loop, River North, and pretty solidly the north side are white and very wealthy.
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Well one thing I can say about memphis is it is definately integrated. You can be in the projects on one block,and be infront of an estate 2 miles down the road
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Sad.
Truly sad.
When the world finally realizes we need each race - and we need each person to keep moving forward - and press on... Then we shall be free of hatred.
And we shall move forward.
Until then - we will continue to hamper the progression of the HUMAN race.-
I honestly think that the pool managers and the white families who protested don't even consider what they did was racism, that is how distorted their world views probably are.
Racism is more than white sheets and burning crosses. Racism is in everyday actions like this one.
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just whoa!! the next gen of racists starts early I guess. Poor kids!!-
It's all about leading by example. The white families and the pool should have set an example by embracing these kids.
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What it all boils down to is that some people just don't care enough. I don't understand how they can live a happy life with all those invisible walls of hate and prejudice
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I think we are doing something about it by just blogging about it and discussing the issue in this thread. i know it is not much but it just means that such behavior is not tolerated. also you can help by sharing the article through your networking sites. that should spread the news.
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I agree. I have shared on twitter and facebook and I hope everyone else will do the same.
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"The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately."
Outrageous.
Out*^$#ingrageous.
Is there a # tag on twitter? -
I'm shocked that the management was so stupid that they thought they could get away with this. It isn't 1950.
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I've been to New York City once, and the only racist comment that I receive from people is that almost everyone assumes that I came from a certain country whom people of my ethnic race form the majority there. Which in truth I do not have citizenship of that country.-
Well, I'm white, blonde, short and rotund, and I live in South Africa. I am regularly greeted in Afrikaans when I enter shops, I am handed Afrikaans-language menus in restaurants, I am addressed in Afrikaans by others wherever I go. I am not an Afrikaner, I am American, but I look like the stereotypical tannie and so I am addressed as such.
People will make assumptions based on appearance, but they are not necessarily racist in nature.
Interestingly, nobody here thinks my husband is from India, they all think he is from Durban (he is). In California, however, people immediately assumed he was from India. Not for any "racist" reasons, mind you, but because a significant portion of the Indian population in Silicon Valley came from India to work in the IT industry there. It would be a natural assumption. -
Still doesn't excuse kicking black kids out of a pool for being black though
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Racism, crime, war... all that shows we don't live in a civilized world. How we can make our world better. Only if we find a way out of the monetory system
Check the Venus project and you will see
www.thevenusproject.com/ (not my blog for sure) -
Racism is primarily the product of warfare. People see lines of soldiers with differently colored-skin out to kill them (remember, most nations were originally close to uni-ethnic, only in eras of empire does this change), and the memories of that contaminate people's conscious. It is then taught from parent to child, and the cycle continues (though somewhat waningly) for centuries.
AA racism may come from both Yakub's invasion of Iberia during the time of El Cid, warfare in South Africa, or Moorish pirates ("...To the shores of Tripoli!") during the 17th-19th centuries.
I know it sounds odd, but the best solution for racism may be territorial expansion or immigration, as the less a nation-state is associated with a single culture the less national divisions become racial or ethnic divisions (and the two quickly blur together), and national divisions are, sadly, inevitable. This may, in fact, be part of the reason why the Western United States, NYC & England had a much easier time getting over racism then most of America did, because the West was the only American region that had may colors of people on equal social footing from day 1 and their sheer vastness contributed to a kind of free-rangedness and open-mindedness towards people and ones self, while England's empire (Cowboys of the Sea, LOL.) and Hindu immigrants did much the same for them, and NYC had an extremely high level of immigration while places like Pennsylvania largely remained Old North. -
Good grief! Isn't that illegal in America? Or is it another thing that's gotten bundled up in the First Amendment rights?
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If it happened in the work place or a public facillity it would be illegal, but customer discrimination is only covered by state laws. And Pennsylvania's a pretty backwards state. I find it funny how the North likes to think of themselves as so much more civilized then the South on racism when in fact the only places in America where a black men can be beat up for being black are in Northern states (namely Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Irish areas of Boston.) In the South, things ain't perfect, but they've grown up for the most part in the last few decades while the North almost seems to get worst.
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Yet another reason why your system of government is barmy!
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No. I disagree. Those Pennsylvanians have to be responsible for themselves and if they can't handle their own darned responsibillities they deserve to be laughed at by the rest of the country.
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Well, it's a private pool. They are probably well within their rights. I think it's a really bad move and I'm sure they'll end up apologizing...Philly isn't exactly the WHITEST place in the world, anyway.-
I'm pretty sure that it would be illegal in the UK...and certainly should be.
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Unfortunately, for regions, being more heavilly populated by black people and the racism of the white people who live there almost seemed to be directly proportional.
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It really is mind boggling. Just when you think we have taken a big step forward--there is a reminder that we always take a half a step back at the same time. -
I wrote a post about it last night it infuriated me so. They knew how many kids were going to be there they had already taken the 1950 bucks, it wasn't until they got there and they saw that they were african american that they kicked them out.-
I think Racism is a human rights issue and should be a part of the next Bloggers Unite event. I am glad you wrote a post on this.
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I think it is a good topic for Bloggers Unite too--obviously.
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I thought Philadelphia was the city of 'Brotherly Love'. And...do these people still live in the era of Jim Crow?
'Change the complexion of the facilities'...what the hell!
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