Red Cross Apologizes for Racist Pool Safety Poster
A pool safety poster has the Red Cross is some hot water.
The organization has come under fire after it distributed to community pools around the nation a poster advocating safety by depicting "cool" and "not cool" things to do. The problem? Almost all of the not cool things cool are done by people of color, while white people correctly do things.
On Monday, Red Cross issued a statement apologizing for the poster, saying, in part:
We deeply apologize for any misunderstanding, as it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone. As one of the nation’s oldest and largest humanitarian organizations, we are committed to diversity and inclusion in all that we do, every day.
To this end, we have removed the poster from our website and Swim App and have discontinued production."
Ebony Rosemond, who runs a group called Black Kids Swim, is disappointed with the Red Cross, claiming blacks have long been discriminated against at pools, resulting in no chance to learn how to swim or to swim in dangerous places. "How can an organization that prides itself on being so open-minded, so understanding of the diverse populations of the world create something like this?" she added.