Hello Fellow Petitioners, 

Your signature of this petition is already making an impact!   The PG Pool Board met this past week to discuss this petition.  See below for some background on the racist history and some internal efforts of some members to address it.  Change typically occurs when there is internal and external pressure, so we should keep up the campaign while being optimistic about a receptive audience.   

If you would like to be part of the people communicating directly with the PG Pool, please drop a line in the comments.  (The person writing this post is a white person who recognizes that it would be much better to have people of color speaking directly about their experience and preferences for equity. While I do want local families of all colors to be able to enjoy it, the much more important issue is obviously racial and economic equity, so that should be prioritized in communication, and I'm happy to facilitate as an ally.)

Most people need to see a petition 7 times before they sign it, so please consider sharing this petition with your friends via social media and/or email.  Simply copy and paste the link below. 

Onwards! 

                                      ****

Appendix:   Some background on the racist history of pool and contemporary reparation ideas - Excerpt from a PG Pool member to their fellow-members or Board:  

...the PG Pool had a legal barrier for many years that prohibited people of color from joining our pool.  It was dismantled in 1975 through the efforts of a local Black family assisted by the NAACP.  In 2015 the pool took a great step to tell some of this history and to dedicate the then-new pavilion to Raymond Bowlding and invite some of his family members to come, spend the day at the pool and witness the naming of the pavilion.

Although the “legal” barrier at the PG Pool is long gone, there still remains the question of how the pool can think and work creatively to make sure that its members know its history and to hold the question of what it might look like for the PG Pool to make reparations for its past. We are an “institution” and like so many public and private organizations, it is appropriate for us to grapple with what it might mean to make reparations for our past.

I realize that we are a swimming pool and we all come here to relax and enjoy the summer.  Some might say that we don’t need to bring “politics” to the pool or to stir up the past.  Yet our predecessors did bring racist policies to the pool.  The impact of those practices is not gone from the community.

I trust in the good will and creativity of people and would urge the Board to continue to work closely and listen well to people on the DISCO committee to explore additional ways of  repairing the pool’s racist past. Ours is one of a number of pools in the area that have this history.  Perhaps our creative work can inspire other pools to do their part to create  more equitable and welcoming summer gathering spaces.  

I invite us all to hold this question, “What might reparations look like at the PG Pool?” and see what actions might arise from this question.  Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.