Search
Close this search box.

Something about those pools

Published BlackCommentator, July 23, 2009.

When Pools Reflect Racism

27c6cb00-0d5c-11e5-9ec3-e71e013ad632_enhanced-20254-1433689549-4

Recently, the Fairgrounds Park race riot of 1949 was acknowledged. The riot erupted when the City of St. Louis attempted to integrate the pool. For the occasion of the 60th anniversary, I interviewed civil rights activist Robert Gammon, one of the black kids who got the word that they could swim in the once segregated Fairground pool.

For years, African-American youth have passed the pool as they crossed the racial neighborhood boundaries. Occasionally, they would stop and watch the white kids – splashing, laughing – and wished they could take a dip in the coveted pool.

Read more.

Recent Posts

The hostile takeover by the state

The attempt to seize local control from the citizens of St. Louis will be met with organized—and might I add–hostile resistance (think pension, think future raises). That’s because citizens voted for local control of their police department in 2013 by a majority of citizens. That historic vote was the result of more than a decade of tireless organizing under the leadership of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR).

Read More »

Black Women are struggling to stand tall

Racial capitalism is a grinder of our very humanity. Black Lives Matter is not just a slogan; it is a daily reminder to resist the infectious virus of self–loathing and self-destruction spawned and perpetuated by our oppressors.

Read More »

Get Updates

All Rights Reserved © 2013 - 2024