Feb 27 Black History Swimming Fact#26&27 While posting these Black History Swimming facts. Ive been asked this question plenty of times especially from my white counterparts. If Africans and African American were such GOOD SWIMMERS!!! Why so many cant swim or they are scared of the water?Its time to answer your question. Even though our ancestors were great swimmers,their awesome swimming abilities came with a price. The salve owners knew that they were losing “valuable product” due to their slaves’ propensity to swim, slave owners began taking drastic steps to protect their property. One of these steps was to instill a fear of the water by dunking disobedient slaves in water until they nearly drowned and by creating fear through stories of creatures living in the water. This it didn’t take long to excise or destroy the West African swimming tradition from African- American culture. The Jim Crow laws that were enacted after The Civil War prohibited blacks from the popular seaside resorts in places like Atlantic City, N.J. and Revere Beach, Mass. And by the 20th Century, as the swimming pool began to gain in popularity in the United States, the color line prohibited blacks from enjoying this pleasant recreational skill. In addition, SELF-segregation also played a role in limiting those of African ancestry from getting in the water. I remember while working at Tate pool in Riviera Beach some of the kids would come up there to the pool crying cause they want to swim and the mom would say “come on boy you aint going swimming you dont know how to swim and, black folks don’t swim anyway.” Sadly this attitude is one of the principle reasons for drowning deaths amongst African American children. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the drowning rate in the African American community amongst children between the ages of 5 and 14 is 2.6 times higher than their white counterparts. Overall, nine people per day drown in the United States; six out of the nine are people of color. But fear is not the only factor keeping black people out of the water financial consideration has made things challenging. Consider that even if a child wants to learn to swim and doesn’t have a fear of the water, many of the most vulnerable do not have parents that can afford lessons, swimsuits, gear and transportation. And even though we now have a black president, it doesn’t mean that we’ve moved past the issue of racism in some places.I get a lot of comments from folks at the pools I work at asking why more black people aren’t members of the swim team? Or why are you the only black lifeguard working at the pool, Thats not right And I let them know its has nothing to do with racism. It has something to do with our way of thinking. But its impressive that USA Swimming is putting money into teaching swim lessons to kids of color in low-income communities with their Make-A-Splash Program, but where were they all those years during Jim Crow, or the 70s, 80s, and even 90s? (We must change our way of thinking) Why is that of the hundreds of thousands that are members of USA swimming, less than three percent are people of color? Some may think that we don’t feel welcomed. And as long as this is our perception that drowning rate figure by the CDC will remain constant, and possibly grow. (We must Change our Attitudes.) So What Can We Do? When I speak truth to power about the disparity of drowning in the African American community I always get the same question, “So what can we do about all this?” One obvious thing to remember is that we need to stop looking at swimming as a sport first. We need to approach it as a life skill much the same way as eating, reading, writing, walking or any other things we take for granted. When I speak to parents about the need for their children to swim I emphasize that not only is swimming a great sport, but also a valuable life skill. This is usually when eyebrows are raised and I say, “Did you know that the Earth is two-thirds water? Did you know that if your child learns to swim he/she is not only preventing another drowning, but also has access to employment in fields such as lifeguarding, the military, swim coaching, firefighting, law enforcement, SCUBA diving, underwater photography and a host of other jobs that require swimming skills?” (We must wake up People) Another thing that I feel is important is to have more role models in swimming. Cullen Jones is a good start for the younger generation, but they should know about the folks I been talking about this whole month, our ancestors who have contributed greatly to swimming. Now there are People and places that are making some big contributions to help minorities when it comes to swimming. Jim Ellis, the coach of the PDR swim club based in Philadelphia (Whom the 2007 movie “Pride” was based on) has been churning out national and Olympic swimmers for nearly 30 years. In Phoenix Arizona After noticing that most of the lifeguards at the public pools used by Latino and African American kids were white, the Phoenix aquatics department decided to try to recruit more minorities. To help diversify its lifeguard ranks, the city raised about $15,000 over the past two years in scholarships to offset the cost of lifeguard certification courses Annual swim meets like the Black Heritage Championship Swim Meet held in North Carolina over Memorial Day weekend brings together some of the finest age group swimmers in the country to compete. The meet has grown from 10 teams and 104 swimmers in 2003 to 29 teams and 758 swimmers in 2009. While all are welcomed to compete, the meets emphasis is to reduce the drowning rate of black children and encourages children to swim competitively. The Josh Project, founded by Wanda Jean-Butts, whose son drowned in 2006, offers free swim lessons to low income children and is planning on building a center in the not to distant future so that those who wish to swim competitively can be in an environment that fosters their potential. Naji Ali is a long distance open water swimmer based in San Francisco. He and his business partner, Ron Chism, introduced open water swimming to young African American and Latino youth in the spring of 2011. These are just a few of the folks that I know who are making a difference in their communities. We’ve come a long way to dealing with this issue, but we still have a long way to go. Often when I talk to parents about the value of their children learning to swim I hear this common refrain, “Swimming is a white person sport; we got basketball, football, tennis, and even golf now!” And I always smile and respond, “Yes you’re right. But as far as I know no one ever died not knowing how to make a lay up, throw a tight spiral, volley at the net, or shoot three under par.” LETS GET IT TOGETHER MY PEOPLE AND STOP MAKING THESE UNNECESSARY EXCUSES!!!!!!!
Posted on: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:43:10 +0000
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