Navigating Rough Waters: Public Swimming Pools, Discrimination, and the Law

Abstract

Historically, swimming pools have been a focal point of racial tension. Discrimination and segregation are inextricably tied to the history of public swimming usage in the United States. Pools are public spaces that are physically and visually intimate. History has revealed that both de jure (enacted through the law by the government) and de facto (occurs through social interaction) discrimination have contributed to segregatory practices in the United States. The purpose of this article is twofold: 1) to examine the social pattern of discrimination that has stymied the growth of swimming in communities of color in the United States; and 2) to examine key legal cases that helped to mitigate discriminatory practices in the use of public swimming pools in the United States. Landmark cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Topeka, and Dawson v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore each helped to cast a bright light on the practice of segregation and public swimming pools. In spite of the history of discrimination and segregation relative to public swimming pools in the United States, citizens, stakeholder groups and professional associations must be advocates to ensure that public pools are protected and that the patterns of discrimination and "neuvosegregation" do not persist.

“I’m Not an Expert, But…”: Perspectives on Aquatic Management for LGBTQ Participants

“…This is particularly true given the overrepresentation of White, cisgender, male research participants. Future research would benefit from a more diverse population (however, evidence suggests that the historical whiteness of aquatic spaces may make this difficult; see, e.g., Waller & Bemiller, 2018).…”

“…Historically, aquatic spaces in the United States have been the site of discriminatory policies resulting in inequitable access to these areas for members of diverse demographic groups both racially (Dawson, 2018; Waller & Bemiller, 2018) and socioeconomically (Beale-Tawfeeq et al, 2018; Waller & Norwood, 2009). These historical inequities have led to contemporary aquatic management techniques that have largely focused their diversity-related efforts on reactive measures rather than the proactive expansion of inclusion.…”

Advancing Diversity and Inclusivity in Ocean Sciences by Re-Envisioning Overlooked Barriers in Scientific Diving Training

“…For those without extensive swim training, the AAUS swim test can represent a significant obstacle and one that disproportionately impacts people of color. Due to discriminatory policies that excluded people of color from pools and beaches (Waller and Bemiller, 2018), Black and Latina/o children participate in swimming lessons at rates ~50% to 30%, respectively, lower than White children (Rajeh et al, 2023) and are 35 and 15 times less represented, respectively, in competitive swimming (USA Swimming, 2021). Therefore, the AAUS swim test is more likely to be a barrier for students of color, contributing, at least in part, to the exceptionally low representation of Black and Latina/o individuals in the ocean sciences.…”