Friday, July 10, 2009 | By: Tonya Keitt Kalule

Valley Club, Absolutely Unbelievable

There is an ongoing debate on whether the day campers were turned away from The Valley Club because they were black and hispanic. These sentiments were verbalized by various adults surrounding the pool as they retrieve their own children from the now tainted environment. The debate should be what to do about this situation not whether it happened or not. Some of these kids were in tears, from shear disbelief and from the fact that there were adults not accepting them because of the color of their skin.

We so often don't want to believe that these things are still happening in such a developed world, but hatred is very much alive, and racism is merely a form of this hatred. We see this in the media all of the time, just look at the frenzy surrounding Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, and many other people of color.
This is why it is so important for us as African- Americans to build strong families and a strong communities to safeguard our young children and give them the strength and foundation necessary to help them cope with what they may have to endure in their lives. We need to own more of what we use, and this is what I truly admire about the Tyler Perry's and Ervin 'Magic' Johnsons of our time.
Our children experienced this hatred in the 50's and 60's but this fifty years later and our children are still feeling the pain of discrimination. If law suits are necessary then so be it, but use the award to build a beautiful community center where these children have a beautiful pool where the various day camps can go and not feel the humiliation, but a senses of pride.

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