A black woman was at the pool on vacation. Then a man insisted she shower before swimming.
A black woman was at the pool on vacation. Then a man insisted she shower before swimming.
By Eli Rosenberg
June 15 at 10:35 PM
Carle Wheeler was doing what one does on a vacation in the sun, hanging with her 5-year-old daughter in the pool of the hotel in Pasadena, Calif., where they were staying, when a man approached them.
The man, who is white, asked Wheeler and her daughter, who are black, if they had showered before getting into the pool, Wheeler wrote on her Facebook page, because people carry diseases into the pools and he doesnt want the health department to shut the pool down.
The two moved to the other end of the pool, but he approached again and she confronted him on what appeared to be blatant racism, she said. He claimed he worked for the health department when she asked, Wheeler said in an interview with The Washington Post.
I let him know that being black is not a disease and showering would not wash the BLACK off our skin, Wheeler, 33, a software engineer and single mother from Dallas, wrote on her Facebook page. I think its awful that ANY man would think its okay to essentially ask a woman and a little girl if we took off our clothes and scrubbed our naked bodies before getting into a hotel swimming pool.
More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/06/15/a-black-woman-was-at-the-pool-on-vacation-then-a-man-insisted-she-shower-before-swimming/?utm_term=.bad346c24758
Kilgore
(1,733 posts)If the they were singled out, there is a problem.
Its not uncommon to see "shower before swimming" signs posted at public or hotel pools. Our local city pool has one posted
http://www.health.com/mind-body/clean-pools-can-still-pose-health-hazards
radical noodle
(8,003 posts)but has anyone here ever been asked if they showered unless there's a person checking everyone going into the pool area?
Kilgore
(1,733 posts)We had the pool shut down for contamination a few years ago and since enforcement has been tightened up.
radical noodle
(8,003 posts)The article stated the guy did not work for the hotel, nor was he a health inspector. He lied about that. He also didn't ask anyone else in the pool about showering (the rest were white).
Harassment on any basis is not tolerated, the statement said. We are continuing to investigate this serious matter and deeply regret that one of our guests experienced this type of behavior.
The Pasadena Health Department told the television channel KTLA that the man is not a health inspector and that no inspector had been at the Westin recently. And an inspector would not confront patrons if there had been any sanitation issues at the pool, a spokeswoman said.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)to put up with that harassment on thier property . Phone vid helps prove its happening though
radical noodle
(8,003 posts)Someone recorded part of the confrontation when a hotel employee tried to settle the problem. Here's a video of the news report on Youtube:
lunasun
(21,646 posts)but the daughter will remember.
Like the woman said no progress and kids experiencing the same things as the 60s just a new generation of haters
Oh and a software engineer at a Westin now how's that economic equality conquers any racism thingy work again ?
radical noodle
(8,003 posts)Anyone who thinks economic equality fixes racism isn't paying attention at all.
Judi Lynn
(160,545 posts)radical noodle
(8,003 posts)Kilgore
(1,733 posts)The guy was a fool.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)anyone here would comment about supposed health department procedures without learning more about this incident. I hope the hotel identifies and blacklists this despicable harasser.
spike91nz
(180 posts)I have been told several times over the years though, in fairness, not so often since I have advanced toward retirement. I was told at community pools and at a motel pool. Seemed to be more an issue when the was young. My appearance is quite caucasian. So, maybe a power issue as much as it is racial, though each time I was told it was the rule as justification.
Girard442
(6,081 posts)It won't be pretty. It won't be comfortable. You'll probably feel you're making an ass of yourself. But we gotta do it.