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Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday's DN: Hot In Huntingdon Valley Over Racism Charges

Things are certainly heating up in Huntingdon Valley, where a local swim club is accused of racism for ejecting day-campers from Northeast Philadelphia.  The state Human Relations Commission is on the case, rallies are being held and politicians were weighing in.  Ronnie Polaneczky steps back to look at how far this story has traveled.

A federal judge rejects former state Sen. Vince Fumo's request for a new trial on corruption charges, setting the stage for his sentencing on Tuesday.

And another mystery solved by PhillyClout -- former Mayor John Street's archives have been discovered in a hideaway room in the City Hall tower.

Posted by Chris Brennan @ 8:00 AM  Permalink | 12 comments
Comments   
Posted 11:36 AM, 07/10/2009
BarryGoldwater01
Re: Huntington Valley. Private Club - they can do whatever they want. Not that I'd set foot in the place. They are claiming they did not have enough lifeguard staff to safely watch over the children. I remember a drowning a while back where the pool was overcrowded.
Posted 11:55 AM, 07/10/2009
jeandarc
Huntington Valley, private swim club hmmmmm. Want to bet it has mostly Jewish members?
Posted 12:36 PM, 07/10/2009
tr88
First, it's impossible for Swim Clubs to be racist. They are made up of bricks, mortar and people of whom some could be racist, but it's bigoted to paint all members with the same brush. Secondly, the manager should be fired for stupidity or at least for the worst possible choice of words as an explanation. Thirdly, I will tell you what I think happened because similar issues are happening at private clubs of all sorts in this economy - it is happening at my private Golf Club and the friction comes from private members paying in most cases big money and then watching the management of the club allow people who arent paying the same money equal privileges. For example, let's say you are a member of a Private club who pays $10,000 a year for the privilege of playing golf with fewer golfers on the course and a certain club decorum that has to do with tradition and just how the paying members want it to be. All of a sudden, you show up on a beautiful Friday morning to play a round of golf and there are 60 we'll say white people putting their shoes on in the parking lot, acting like idiots because it's their rare opportunity to play an exclusive club. If you're a paying member of that club, you're going to raise hell with the club manager and it has nothing to do with color. I would suggest to all Club managers that when they get confronted with this - and they will to have a better explanation ready.
Posted 12:51 PM, 07/10/2009
Delco Conservative
jeandarc - you anti-semite piece of trash.
Posted 01:14 PM, 07/10/2009
real american
WOW the Nazis come out of the woodwork
Posted 01:24 PM, 07/10/2009
Bruce Davis
someone gave it away by having to add,"acting like idiots" behind white people. Nobody said that the black children were acting badly!
Posted 02:21 PM, 07/10/2009
ant2010
No employee of the club ever made a racial remark from what I have read so why are they being accused of it?
Posted 03:20 PM, 07/10/2009
PaulDeon
Duke Lacrosse...watch
Posted 03:56 PM, 07/10/2009
jeandarc
Delco, you do not know me, so STFU. So what is anti-semitic about a know fact? Stay in delco with the rest of the shanty ..... from SW Philly.
Posted 04:41 PM, 07/10/2009
ericrich
This is an outrage!! The U.S. Constitution guarantees everyone's right to swim. There should be no private swim clubs whatsoever. This club is just another example of the atmosphere of racism that still exists in this country. I am deeply saddened that children are prevented from swimming in the U.S. in the summer time. This is just plain wrong.
Posted 04:52 PM, 07/10/2009
jreese
We don't know what happened because the Club won't comment. Probably a far more subtle set of issues are at work but this is what happens when you plead, "No Comment."
Comment removed.
12 comments
About Chris Brennan and Catherine Lucey
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.

Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002. Since then she has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. For the past two years, she covered the 2007 mayoral election. Now that the battle is over, she has moved down to the City Hall bureau where she will report on the Nutter administration.

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Catherine Lucey
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