Racism Claims Surround Pa. Swim Club, Specter Calls For Federal Investigations

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Sen. Specter Calls For Pa. Swim Club Investigation

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Jul 12, 2009 3:21 pm US/Eastern

Sen. Specter Calls For Pa. Swim Club Investigation

Reporting
Ben Simmoneau

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: The Valley Swim Club, a private club outside Philadelphia, has been accused of racism after denying 65 minority campers entry.
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It looks like a Montgomery County swim club accused of racial discrimination will be investigated by federal officials.

Friday evening, Sen. Arlen Specter sent a letter asking the Department of Justice to investigate the allegations surrounding the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

"If these allegations are true, then there appears to be a violation of Title II of the Civil Right Act of 1964," Specter wrote to Justice Officials. "I would appreciate it if you would review this matter, to determine what action, if any, is warranted by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice."

This comes just hours after state officials announced they would also investigate the club.

But those in charge at the Valley Club say it was all a misunderstanding, not a racially motivated incident.

"We never meant to offend anyone here," club president John Duesler told reporters Friday after two days of relative silence.

The Creative Steps camp in Northeast Philadelphia had contracted for 65 children at the day camp to go each Monday afternoon to The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, camp director Alethea Wright said Thursday. But shortly after they arrived June 29, she said, some black and Hispanic children reported hearing racial comments

"A couple of the children ran down saying, 'Miss Wright, Miss Wright, they're up there saying, 'What are those black kids doing here?"'

Wright said she went to talk to a group of members at the top of the hill and heard one woman say she would see to it that the group, made of up of children in kindergarten through seventh grade, did not return.

"Some of the members began pulling their children out of the pool and were standing around with their arms folded," Wright said. "Only three members left their children in the pool with us."

Several days later, the club refunded the camp's $1,950 without explanation, said Wright, who added that some parents are "weighing their options" on legal action.

But Valley Club officials say the camp kids simply overwhelmed the capacity of the pool. They also turned away two other day camps for the same reason.

"They turned our club from a safe swim club into an unsafe swim club because of the sheer number of children in our shallow section who are basically unable to swim."

A quote from Duesler's wife Bernice Duesler, who also addressed reporters:

"There may have been 10, 15 kids in the pool. Now there's 60, 80 kids in the shallow end of the pool. That changes what we call the atmosphere. Maybe complexity would have been a better word."

Girard College will be hosting the campers from Creative Steps for the remainder or the summer.