By BaxterA private swim club in Philadelphia has apparently gotten caught in one of those "Star Trek" wormholes or time warps and has transported all the way back to 1957.
There couldn't be any other explanation for the Valley Club rescinding a contract with a day camp to allow the camp's children, most of whom are African American and Hispanic, to swim there one day a week. Half a century after the birth of the civil rights movement, and with an African-American family in the White House, the club surely wouldn't kowtow to regular members objecting to minority kids in their pool.
Oh. Apparently, we're mistaken. The Valley Club's president told a local T.V. station that "there is a lot of concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion . . . of the club."
We cats couldn't be more appalled. We know too well the superstition and fear routinely inflicted upon those of us felines who happen to have ebony fur. So we don't take too kindly to people asking, "What are all those black kids doing here?" in stage whispers. People, you are damaging these children, and you should be ashamed of yourselves.
But then, we can't exactly say we're surprised. Our experience has been that the City of Brotherly Love isn't terribly loving. Try going to a Phillies home game wearing a Mets cap sometime.
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