Well, what a month it’s been right? By now I’m sure you’ve heard of the two stories that has been dominating headlines, the blogsphere, etc that last few weeks. The dismissal of the minority (black, of course) campers from the Valley Swim Club in Philadelphia and the high profile arrest of Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of Harvard university at his home (yeah, I know) in Cambridge Massachusetts. Predictably, conservatives (ok, white folks mostly) rushed in to declare immediately that these were not cases of racism, while folks from the Black diaspora claim the reverse, it was obvious racism. Ha, I gotta admit, I even had quite a time discussing it with people on Twitter and Current. Outside of the obvious narratives that we have seen taking place across color lines, I find myself drawn to a more glaring similarity that draws the issue into razor sharp focus. Where is the respect for due process and the concept you are guilty until proven innocent? Where is the fair play and dignity that is supposed to be shown to citizens of our country. Ok, let’s go in

From what I understand, the Valley Swim Club is a private club where members pay their dues and folks come and do their thing. Cool. So, the lil tikes of the Creative Steps Day Camp had their membership fees paid at swimming trunks at the ready, prepared to cause some splash damage at the club. Here in lies the rub.


“I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor.

The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers’ first visit to the pool suggested otherwise.

“When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool,” Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. “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.”

The next day the club told the camp director that the camp’s membership was being suspended and their money would be refunded.


Damn, for real? On the first day?? Besides the obvious temperament of the clubs patrons, I think there is a valid question of did the background of the campers have an adverse affect on them getting wet. Of, course the club says no, of course not.

“This has nothing to do with race,” member Lori Slowinski said. “I paid my money for a private swim club…if they’re gonna have it out to camps, then I want my money back.”


Ok, random white lady, even though one though campers said they heard another patron mention his skin color. But it has nothing to do with race, because… uhm… you say it isn’t? Ok, whatever. Eventually the club releases a statement as well, predictably saying it had nothing to do with color as well.


The Valley Club is deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism, which are completely untrue.
We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. All funds were returned to the camps and we will re-evaluate the issue at a later date to determine whether it can be feasible in the future.

Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any form, as is evidenced by our multi-ethnic and diverse membership. Whatever comments may or may not have been made by an individual member is an opinion not shared by The Valley Club Board.


Whew, that’s a relief. But I’m not sure if the pool attendants know this is your policy as the said minorities are not allowed, and asked them to leave. For that matter, I’m not sure anyone does, because initially the Valley Club just dismissed the lil kids with absolutely no reason as to why, choosing to release a statement only after getting pressure from local media. Ok, let’s say it wasn’t about color. Let’s say it is about overcrowding and all that. As members that have paid their fees, aren’t they entitled to an explanation as to why they are being denied service? Are they not entitled to at least know why they are being removed? It is this point, the lack of basic respect of a simple explanation that grabs my attention. If it’s not what you say it is, then why not avoid a nasty situation and explain that to the person responsible for the campers? Hm, unless you felt that you didn’t need to…


Skip Gates. Truth be told, I don’t really care for Dr. Gates. I find his social views white washed (ha, seriously no pun intended) and a big lazy for my tastes. He’s a brilliant man, no doubt, but socially he’s a little bland for me. Ok, now with that being said, let’s talk about it. The Arrest. You know the story by now. Belligerent upper class dude verbally assaults police officer. Police officer gets pissed and arrests him. Cool? Cool. Let’s break this down a bit. Unfortunately, the police call that was made to the house, framed the situation immediately. It was reported that ‘two black guys with backpacks are breaking in’. Ok, cool, I can live with that. Police show up and find a crippled old guy and a big brother already inside. Cool so far. Police then ask Gates to step outside. Hm, ok let’s stop here. Now according to the police report[PDF], it is said that he refused to show them ID. According to Gates, he refused to come out of his home, which is lawyer said was a good move. According to Gates, the officer then told him the was investigating a break in, to which he responded was ‘ridiculous’ because it was his home. Then asked him to prove that it was in fact his home, which he did giving him his Harvard ID and driver’s license. This is a particular point of interest because many who speak on this situation live out Gates version of the story, referring only to the police report. Hm. Here is where it gets muddy for me. We have an award winning professor who has proven that it is in fact his home, which is not recorded in the police report, which is filed not by the arresting officer, but the officer who arrived on the scene AFTER Officer Crowley had already begun questioning Gates. Suspect? Furthermore, the report states that he became ‘loud’ and refused to be ‘cooperative’. Two things here that fail to make the report as well. Gates states in an interview that he had a bronchial infection at the time of the arrest that would have made it difficult to yell. As well, Gates walks with a cane. To top it all off, Gates also states that he repeatedly asked for the officers identification, which is a civil right, which he did not receive, which was also omitted from the report. Look forgot all of the talk of color and class and all that for a second. Why were the police still questioning him after he proved it was his home? Why did they not give him their information when requested? Why is Gates narrative simply disregarded while the officer’s report, which is lacking substantially in detail, trumps the word of a world renowned scholar? For me, there are too many questions surrounding his treatment as an innocent until proven guilty citizen of our United States that I find troubling. It’s not necessarily that a white cop arrested a black man, but rather the shoddy professionalism, inaccurate record keeping, and yes an itchy trigger finger when it comes to the arrest, especially considering it was already proven that it was, in face his home. Many law enforcement agents would agree that it should have ended there. And from what I understand, Crowley was in fact an expert in profiling, which only baffles me even more as to why there was such insensitivity to Gates civil rights. Ok, fine, he’s being obnoxious or whatever. Word, that’s annoying. But let’s look at the context. He is a crippled old man that just got back from an international flight to find there is something wrong with is crib, and then here come a couple of cops that are questioning him in his own home, like a criminal. I think it’s safe to say anyone would be a little annoyed in that particular.

Look, one of the key components of racism in America is viewing minorities as less than people and undeserving the rights and liberties of the country which, ironically, the helped build. We can debate till we are blue in the face about whether these stories constitute a proper racist act. Cool. I love to debate. But, as an American citizen, you cannot ignore the disrespect and the outright dismissal of the narratives of the camp kids or professor Gates without asking yourself as to why. The constitution guarantees that every American is entitled to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In these two incidents, there was a breakdown in the application of these fundamental rights of every citizen in our country. For my money, I would seriously question the judgement of anyone who would, especially with the blood stained history of minority oppression that America has, simply ignore the narrative of a citizen, honestly, on no particular grounds at all. That, my friends is simply un-American. That has no place in a so called free and open society. And that is something we should all be against.