The PG Pool is racist [MD]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it racist that a lot of houses in Mount Rainier are now going for almost $1 million?

That’s the thing- I know somewhat recent home buyers to Mt. Rainier who are in the waitlist for the pool-gotta think they would be included in the priority zip codes OP is thinking of, but most of them are white. My guess is that OP is white too and is just frustrated with the waitlist and wants priority admission. Otherwise they’d be advocating for actual priority to POC to make amends for the racist past.

They could start with just prioritizing people who live in West Hyattsville and Chillum. Not so hard.

[Anonymous]

I’m confused. I was a visitor to the pool a few weekends ago. I went with a friend to see a band there. There seemed to be a good number of black members. Children and adults seemed to be enjoying the pool in family groups and mingling with other members. This pool maybe majority white but it is definitely not all white at all. This is a really really long and strange thread.

[Anonymous]

It’s incredible to see PG Pool members on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s incredible to see PG Pool members on here.

Having a multiple day meltdown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found this link, about the racial history of Adelphi Pool, to be very illuminating.

https://adelphipool.org/about/racial-history-of-adelphi-pool/

"It is tempting to read the absence of a written history as meaning that Adelphi pool was always welcoming. This is dishonest and disrespectful. Adelphi pool was not the one honorable pool founded in the Washington DC suburbs in the 1950s. It was the same as all the other pools: a place for white families to socialize without any possibility of interaction with a black person." .....

"Adelphi Pool was brought back from the brink of closure in the last decade. The families who helped bring it back to life were not the same families that founded it. Those of us who have chosen to live in Prince George’s County or the neighborhoods in DC that border the county have chosen not to run or to hide our children from diversity. We don’t have to apologize for what happened in 1950. That said, we do need to recognize that it happened and that it continues to happen today. Today, white families are being asked to acknowledge the reality of being black in America and to recognize that if they are silent, they are complicit. I believe we need to be honest that the pool was built by racists and, at least in part, for racist reasons. It is not a neutral place."

According to that link, all private membership pools founded in the 1950s in the DMV share a racist past.

[Anonymous]

And not just the DMV...

"America’s swimming pools have a long, sad, racist history.
They've long been contested spaces where we express prejudices that otherwise remain unspoken."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/10/americas-swimming-pools-have-a-long-sad-racist-history/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it racist that a lot of houses in Mount Rainier are now going for almost $1 million?

That’s the thing- I know somewhat recent home buyers to Mt. Rainier who are in the waitlist for the pool-gotta think they would be included in the priority zip codes OP is thinking of, but most of them are white. My guess is that OP is white too and is just frustrated with the waitlist and wants priority admission. Otherwise they’d be advocating for actual priority to POC to make amends for the racist past.

They could start with just prioritizing people who live in West Hyattsville and Chillum. Not so hard.

Yeah this would be perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And not just the DMV...

"America’s swimming pools have a long, sad, racist history.
They've long been contested spaces where we express prejudices that otherwise remain unspoken."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/10/americas-swimming-pools-have-a-long-sad-racist-history/

The current members of the PG Pool posting on here claim that they have no responsibility for the racist and discriminatory past of their pool. They have even tried to argue that it did not exist until people had to being receipts. Now they claim that there is just nothing that they can do. But the truth is that they don’t want to do anything. They are more than happy with the status quo where they can keep the rewards of the racist past while disclaiming accountability for justice. All so they can continue to lie to themselves that they are good liberal progressives and not one of those bad racist conservatives. Turns out when push comes to shove, no white people ever want to give up their privilege even when it’s proven to be borne directly from racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it racist that a lot of houses in Mount Rainier are now going for almost $1 million?

That’s the thing- I know somewhat recent home buyers to Mt. Rainier who are in the waitlist for the pool-gotta think they would be included in the priority zip codes OP is thinking of, but most of them are white. My guess is that OP is white too and is just frustrated with the waitlist and wants priority admission. Otherwise they’d be advocating for actual priority to POC to make amends for the racist past.

They could start with just prioritizing people who live in West Hyattsville and Chillum. Not so hard.

Yeah this would be perfect.

Langley park too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused. I was a visitor to the pool a few weekends ago. I went with a friend to see a band there. There seemed to be a good number of black members. Children and adults seemed to be enjoying the pool in family groups and mingling with other members. This pool maybe majority white but it is definitely not all white at all. This is a really really long and strange thread.

White people have a bias where they think anything below 90% white is "diverse" despite our country being only 60% white. If it doesn't mirror the surrounding area's demographics then it's appropriate to ask why.

(I learned this the hard way. I used to brag that my church was diverse until I read this statistic. Then I looked up our demographics . . . yup, 88% white. Embarrassing that I thought this was diverse. It takes practice to compensate for unconscious bias.)

[Anonymous]

Has anyone even identified the problem here? Other than that there's a waitlist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And not just the DMV...

"America’s swimming pools have a long, sad, racist history.
They've long been contested spaces where we express prejudices that otherwise remain unspoken."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/10/americas-swimming-pools-have-a-long-sad-racist-history/

The current members of the PG Pool posting on here claim that they have no responsibility for the racist and discriminatory past of their pool. They have even tried to argue that it did not exist until people had to being receipts. Now they claim that there is just nothing that they can do. But the truth is that they don’t want to do anything. They are more than happy with the status quo where they can keep the rewards of the racist past while disclaiming accountability for justice. All so they can continue to lie to themselves that they are good liberal progressives and not one of those bad racist conservatives. Turns out when push comes to shove, no white people ever want to give up their privilege even when it’s proven to be borne directly from racism.

I’m not even sure what you’re ranting about anymore. The “privilege” of moving to the neighborhood before there was an extensive waitlist? I mean, I get it to an extent, if we had been able to afford to buy a house earlier than we did we would have gotten it cheaper (and had a sitter waitlist at our neighborhood pool too!). But it’s just the way it is. Would never have occurred to me to lobby our pool to prioritize acceptance to families in the immediate blocks surrounding the pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused. I was a visitor to the pool a few weekends ago. I went with a friend to see a band there. There seemed to be a good number of black members. Children and adults seemed to be enjoying the pool in family groups and mingling with other members. This pool maybe majority white but it is definitely not all white at all. This is a really really long and strange thread.

Some random dude (probably white) thinks the pool is racist, therefore it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused. I was a visitor to the pool a few weekends ago. I went with a friend to see a band there. There seemed to be a good number of black members. Children and adults seemed to be enjoying the pool in family groups and mingling with other members. This pool maybe majority white but it is definitely not all white at all. This is a really really long and strange thread.

White people have a bias where they think anything below 90% white is "diverse" despite our country being only 60% white. If it doesn't mirror the surrounding area's demographics then it's appropriate to ask why.

(I learned this the hard way. I used to brag that my church was diverse until I read this statistic. Then I looked up our demographics . . . yup, 88% white. Embarrassing that I thought this was diverse. It takes practice to compensate for unconscious bias.)

We've gone from all-white to not non-white enough. Hmmm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And not just the DMV...

"America’s swimming pools have a long, sad, racist history.
They've long been contested spaces where we express prejudices that otherwise remain unspoken."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/10/americas-swimming-pools-have-a-long-sad-racist-history/

The current members of the PG Pool posting on here claim that they have no responsibility for the racist and discriminatory past of their pool. They have even tried to argue that it did not exist until people had to being receipts. Now they claim that there is just nothing that they can do. But the truth is that they don’t want to do anything. They are more than happy with the status quo where they can keep the rewards of the racist past while disclaiming accountability for justice. All so they can continue to lie to themselves that they are good liberal progressives and not one of those bad racist conservatives. Turns out when push comes to shove, no white people ever want to give up their privilege even when it’s proven to be borne directly from racism.

The members on here and on their website have repeatedly acknowledged the racist past of the pool. Where has anyone denied it?
Timeline:
1975 Pool desegregated
Early 2000s Extensive neighborhood campaign for new members
2013 Waitlist starts
2017-present lots of white families move into Mt Rainier and are sad they can't get a membership.

These are facts.

Are you arguing that the pool members who campaigned for new members in the early 2000s weren't non-racist enough? There were some black members at that time so it wasn't a matter of being the first at that point.