Swimming In The Black Community: How Racism Is Drowning Us

Dellas

Well-Known Member
Racism ,and unsafe communities because of structural racism. Growing up I was less active outside due to fear. Can't walk around the park and get exercise and vitamin D due to fear.
 

EssenceOfBeauty

Well-Known Member
Like @FlowerHair mentioned, swimming was part of my school curriculum in Zambia. So everyone in class knew how to swim. We would get certificates for each level too. Like if you can pick up objects from the pool floor you got a black certificate which was the first one. Then each level got progressively harder like treading water for 5 minutes etc. Anyway, I swam in the country amateur league so fortunately I am teaching our kids how to swim myself.
 
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MzRhonda

Well-Known Member
My only biological uncle drowned at 13. My mom, his sister watched it happen and was powerless to do anything because she couldn't swim. She made sure all her children learned to swim and enrolled us in summer lessons early. I started when I was 4. Some of my best early childhood memories are going to summer school in the morning and then playing around until teachers would walk us to the pool a couple blocks away, especially on days we had free swim before lessons. I took lessons until just before HS and I trained for months and got a swim trophy at the end after diving in a 13 foot pool and bringing a brick up to the surface. I was so nervous because diving was something I really struggled with.
I got all the way to the Lifeguard lesson and we had to jump in the pool in all of our clothes and then take them off and use our pants as a flotation device by blowing the pants legs up, knotting them etc etc as well as being able to tred (sp) water for a certain amount of time and some other life saving procedures.
 

IslandMummy

Well-Known Member
I know what you're saying, but poor ppl stay affording cable. They stay affording the latest cellphones and video game consoles. PPl don't prioritize and don't want to sacrifice. So to answer your questions:
You have 4 kids, then each year a different kid takes swim lessons enough to try swimming on their own.
You live an hour away from the nearest pool? Catch a bus. Unless you live out in rural country, there's usually a bus somewhere. Or round up a carpool in your neighborhood or hook your kid up with some classmates. These options aren't just accessible to soccer moms in the 'burbs.
Tennis was a luxury, yet the Williams sisters prevailed.

Yes, there are times when things are just too impossible...BUT those who want it bad enough find a way.

Buses are not a thing unfortunately. When I was at school in philly I could catch a bus, the trolley, the sub, taxis, Amtrak anything. Moved to SC? If you don't have a car you are screwed. Even something as simple as a Bi-Lo or Winn Dixie can be a good hour walk.

Charleston has a public transportation system but it is inadequate. Hilton Head? You're looking at $20+ one way for a taxi ride, forget public transportation all together. The little towns out in the middle of nowhere? Please. Some parents worked two hours away from home and had to take the commuter bus to and from work. Four hours everyday on a bus. There are very few 9-5 Monday to Friday jobs in a tourist trap. Hotels are 24/7, restaurants are open 7 days, even banks are no longer 9-5. I'm not going to begrudge the poor and/or working class in rural areas who would rather an iPad over swimming lessons their kids will probably never use. That's a simple cost benefit analysis. If you live closer to a metro area something's are not impossible to access but when you live in Tumbleweed, USA? Nah.

In the county I live now if someone tells me they can't swim, they'd get an IMMEDIATE side eye from hell. Swim coupons are issued for kids 4 and under and every single town has a community center with a pool. Plus not only does the county have public transportation but most of the towns have shuttle services. Every child in kindergarten has to take swimming lessons mandated through the district. If the school doesn't have a pool, they bus them to the town's pool to learn.
 

IronButterfly

Well-Known Member
Buses are not a thing unfortunately. When I was at school in philly I could catch a bus, the trolley, the sub, taxis, Amtrak anything. Moved to SC? If you don't have a car you are screwed. Even something as simple as a Bi-Lo or Winn Dixie can be a good hour walk.

Charleston has a public transportation system but it is inadequate. Hilton Head? You're looking at $20+ one way for a taxi ride, forget public transportation all together. The little towns out in the middle of nowhere? Please. Some parents worked two hours away from home and had to take the commuter bus to and from work. Four hours everyday on a bus. There are very few 9-5 Monday to Friday jobs in a tourist trap. Hotels are 24/7, restaurants are open 7 days, even banks are no longer 9-5. I'm not going to begrudge the poor and/or working class in rural areas who would rather an iPad over swimming lessons their kids will probably never use. That's a simple cost benefit analysis. If you live closer to a metro area something's are not impossible to access but when you live in Tumbleweed, USA? Nah.

In the county I live now if someone tells me they can't swim, they'd get an IMMEDIATE side eye from hell. Swim coupons are issued for kids 4 and under and every single town has a community center with a pool. Plus not only does the county have public transportation but most of the towns have shuttle services. Every child in kindergarten has to take swimming lessons mandated through the district. If the school doesn't have a pool, they bus them to the town's pool to learn.
But none of this has anything to do with the original post blaming what went on in 1950 for the lack of swimming among blacks today.
If ppl choose to live in rural areas void of transportation, that's on them. They are not trapped. But segregation is no longer a relevant factor when it comes to learning to swim or accessing a swimming pool.

I recently saw a short news report of a little boy living in rural South America who walked two hours everyday to school both ways. The human spirit is amazing when it really wants something.
 

Miss617

Always left of center
I learned how to swim growing up. I've forgotten most of it over the years, but I can keep myself from drowning. Same for DH, he can do just enough to stay alive but that's about it. I want my son to take lessons but we have other stuff we need to work on first before we can even think about that.
 

Duchesse

Well-Known Member
I felt like such a loser a couple summers ago that I spent with my friend and her family in Tobago. I was the only one who couldn't swim (im from queens and my parents don't swim either). I told myself that that's the last time that would happen.

I haven't started yet, but now that I have a son I definitely want him to not have a fear of water. Plus, there's so many free pools down here including one at my job so I have no excuse.
 

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
That reminds me of this Inside Edition story about what to do if you see someone drowning, and how easy it is to not notice that someone is drowning because people drown quietly in real life instead of yelling and splashing like they do in the movies and on TV.

And this story showing 3 kids who were drowning (it's okay to watch - the video also shows all 3 kids being rescued by lifeguards) and how the other people in the water didn't notice.

I almost drowned in a wave pool :look: I'd just had some lessons and decided I was doing well enough to go into the deep area. My friend, who took swim lessons with me, said she saw my head bobbing up and down and reached out to me, but couldn't reach me. She said the lifeguards were signaling each other and almost jumped in to get me, when I managed to struggle my way back to the shallow end :lol: After that, I told my friend that I needed to get back in the deep end because my fear would be too great if I didn't. She gave me the side eye right before the life guard saw me heading to the deep end and blew his whistle at me :lachen:

Swimming lessons for me and my four-year old daughter is a must this summer. I hated that I went to Jamaica and just posed in the water but didn't get in it! Lmao! My daughter is mild on the autism spectrum so it's doubly important since the drowning rates are so high amongst autistic children.
I didn't know this!
 

Chromia

Well-Known Member
I almost drowned in a wave pool :look: I'd just had some lessons and decided I was doing well enough to go into the deep area. My friend, who took swim lessons with me, said she saw my head bobbing up and down and reached out to me, but couldn't reach me. She said the lifeguards were signaling each other and almost jumped in to get me, when I managed to struggle my way back to the shallow end :lol: After that, I told my friend that I needed to get back in the deep end because my fear would be too great if I didn't. She gave me the side eye right before the life guard saw me heading to the deep end and blew his whistle at me :lachen:
You went from :drowning: to trying to get back in the deep end like:hottub: and the lifeguard was like :naughty::busted:.
 

BEAUTYU2U

Well-Known Member
Non-swimmer.

It was required to graduate high school but someone clearly wasn't paying attention and I wasn't about to remind them when I noticed my last semester that I hadn't been put in the class.

I wouldn't do this to my future children. I'd put them in lessons immediately. My mom dropped the ball on swimming lessons and getting us baptized. I almost drowned when I was about 6. :look: I'd say the majority of black people I know do not swim.

ETA: I'm surprised no one mentioned a possible spiritual reason for black people and water. :look: I'm just saying.
 
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Femmefatal1981

Well-Known Member
I can swim. I remember I was the only girl in my troop that got a swimmers badge. The rest of the mother's declined to let their girls participate because they didn't want to have to redo their hair. And, no, I'm not joking.
I have 2 girls and I get it. We went to the beach 2 weekends in a row and my mom was like wth are you going to do about their hair? Wash, brush and go. They are kids, not porcelain dolls. On the flip side my oldest has her "moving up ceremony" this week then a class pool party 2 hrs later. Clearly there was no black women involved in the planning of this party. Swimming and special events on the same day are a black girl no no. So she will be wearing 2 french braids to the ceremony and pool party, THEN we will go get her hair braided for real later in the week.
 

TopShelf

Sewing & Growing Gamma Gal
I learned how to swim in college for some needed credit. The instructor was a horrible middle-aged white man, he kept making fun of the fact that he taught 8 years old children who were fearless unlike us. I cut all of my hair off so hair was never an issue. The class was full of adult black women all over the age of 30 who also could not swim.

I would not call myself a swimmer because I can not tell you the last time that I swam, so I plan on taking some personal lessons.
 

msbettyboop

Well-Known Member
I tried desperately to learn how to swim when I was a kid but my mother forbade us so I would just stare at other kids learning; very very sad. She didn't want us to drown and refused to accept that the obvious way to prevent that is to actually allow us learn swimmming.

As soon as I was old enough with time, I learned how to swim and it was hard. I'm still not perfect but at least I can waddle in water now. It's going to be a long time before I can swim properly in the ocean.

If I ever have kids, making sure they learn swimming will be top of the list.
 

nathansgirl1908

Well-Known Member
Meh. I think these articles/studi s are becoming like those articles/studies about how Nlack men are the most single women on the planet. After a time, it gets old.

My parents could swim. I took swimming classes in my youth and in college. I'm still not a good swimmer. So even though I will enjoy my aunt's pool in the shallow end, I don't get into the deep end. I also don't get into lakes and ponds. Many of the drownings in our local lakes aren't the result of not knowing how to swim. It's the result of certain aspects of the lake that would probably pull even the best swimmer under. Not to mention the snakes and flesh-eating bacteria.
 

nyeredzi

Well-Known Member
Swimming was part of my 9th grade public school physical education class. I had had swimming lessons before then, but I learned a lot more then, including different strokes. It should be a part of all public school PE in my opinion. I'm not a strong swimmer or anything, but I'm not going to drown in a pool. Now an ocean with currents still scares me.

My toddler is poorly behaved and we had to remove her from the swimming class she was in before :nono: I've now registered her for another one where the parent is in the pool with her, so that should fix that issue. She starts this Saturday. These classes are offered affordably through the county, $60 for 8 lessons. Swimming lessons is something that can be expensive, and wherever money is a factor, black people will have less access. I'm happy to report that the swimming lessons through the county are absolutely filled with black children, at least at the large swimming complex we went to. The classes looked about 70-80% black. Actually, these classes fill up super fast, so the demand is greater than access. Other swimming classes are far and/or expensive.
 
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Zaz

Well-Known Member
ETA: I'm surprised no one mentioned a possible spiritual reason for black people and water. :look: I'm just saying.
Would you care to elaborate? Don't think I've ever heard of a spiritual reason keeping black people from water.

Swimmer here, but grew up on an island. We had a pool at the house so all my cousins are swimmers as well and I can't really think of anyone I know who doesn't know how to swim. It was a requirement in high school not to learn because they assumed we knew the basics, but to learn different strokes and improve our stamina/speed...

I realise we're not the norm, but living on an island, going to the beach and having pool parties constitute about 80% of our fun :lol: I've signed up for an open water charity swim (10 miles) and have gone swimming with sharks, so feel pretty comfortable in ocean or pool, which I'm pretty happy about :yep:
 

B_Phlyy

Pineapple Eating Unicorn
Both my parents know how to swim and so do me and my brothers. My parents learned when they were teens and I learned when I was 6/7. My aunts and cousins don't know how to swim but their children do. If I'm ever blessed with children, I hope to get them in the baby classes and then moving up from their.
 

DarkJoy

Bent. Not Broken.
Thats how we were taught in our black neighborhood. go to the public pool around the corner and family or friends just threw you in to figure it out.:mad:

i actually shelled out a lot of cash to send my dd to swimming for 5 years. she's now at competitive level.
My sister is the only person that I knew growing up that did not know how to swim. My brothers and I have known how to swim since age 4. There was nothing else to do in my hood growing up but swim. I swam everyday all day long except when it was thundering and lighting. We even climbed the fence at night and swam. All of our kids/grandkids including my sisters how to swim. We were project kids with a pool right around the corner. No one taught us, we were thrown in and had to figure it out. I lived in an all black neighborhood.
 

pinkchocolatedaisy

Well-Known Member
I am at like the suuuuper beginner level of swimming. And this I learned about 5 years ago. Basically I can move with my face under water lol and get from one end to another. And that's hard as heck. Anything else, involving my head above water I struggle lol.

Swimming lessons are not cheap in my area and I need something one on one that is more than once a week. This is my goal for this year. I have 3 kiddos. My two older kids are good. My daughter is a great swimmer.
 

dancinstallion

Well-Known Member
So I just signed dd and ds up for the free houston parks swim lessons. Those few slots at the park were gone in 6 mins. I had to set my alarm so I didnt miss it.

So ds and dd have 2 free weeks and 4 paid weeks of lessons. And I'll take them to a pool to practice a few times a week.
Dd has been told she has the potential to be a very good swimmer so i want her to start taking lessons all year.
 

naturalgyrl5199

Well-Known Member
I like the concept of those specialized swimming classes for drowning prevention in toddlers. I forget the exact name of it but by the end of these specific lessons they are able to swim and be able to float wearing their clothes, shoes, and diaper. Its so freaking cool, adorbs, and fascinating at the same time.

I learned to swim when i was 3 thanks to my stepmother.

My bother is 26 cant swim. mom also can't swim.
I'm putting my 3 year old in it. Its expensive....like--car payment expensive...and the hours are not jiving with my work schedule. I gotta figure something out... and Yep... Its the kind of class where if the baby falls in the water by accident, they can kick and float themselves to the top. Its a REALLY specific certification and hard to find someone local. We are in Florida so it is a must. The local class that's like $35/class ain't ISH. A baby we watched grow from 6 days old to 3 years old drowned the other summer. My whole office was BROKEN. That mama brought her son to us every day to learn to nurse. She loved that boy to pieces and her family was giving her a hard time about being a single mom...UGH...

We are from South Florida. Learning to swim at the local pool in the hood was a Rite of Passage. My baby sister was the youngest to learn...I was 10, my brother was 8 and she was 4. She was in my brother's class by the end of the summer.
 

naturalgyrl5199

Well-Known Member
Ya'll I'm not saying that a lot of black people DONT know how to swim. I think it's been observed before that LHCF is not the average in a lot of areas.

Anecdotal evidence aside, the fact is that a higher rate of black (and Hispanic) kids drown than white kids.

My own anecdotal evidence where girls are concerned: A lot of moms don't want the kids hair getting wet, which I can totally understand. When I ran my hair blog, a lot of people didn't want to swim for exercise because their hair would be a wreck afterwards. I have to admit even now I will avoid swimming if my hair has just been done.
Being from Florida everyone knew that you rocked small box braids that lasted 8-10 weeks in the summer. That way mama didn't have to worry about that. We ALL knew---hey....over the summer we going to the pool in so and so community or this community to learn to swim. Or headed to Orlando for the theme parks or the local water parks. At-home braiders STAYED busy in May and June. Extra bonus cause everyone had a hair growth spurt when school started in August.
 

naturalgyrl5199

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately Cities got rid of community pools. The kids need something to do over the summer. The adults need to give the kids safe spaces-free of violence,drugs, and sexual intimidation.

I work in an inner city. Cost is a factor for a lot of parents. They don't know how to swim. They don't know anyone who knows how to swim. Lessons at the Y can get expensive for people on a budget or with more than 1 kid.

Off topic: in general a lot of activities that we took part in as youngsters are so much more expensive. I understand things will go up in price over the years. But I know people who spent $1000 for high school sports
In my area if your family receives food stamps or Medicaid, all the local community sports are FREE. Cheerleading too. You can get assistance with uniforms to a point. In HS we fundraised all the time. I attended a predominately black HS and many of the very talented kids in all area were poor. So we fundraised. Our little community came out. We raised thousands a year.
 
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