Swim club investigated for racism

PHILADELPHIA, July 9 (UPI) -- The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is investigating charges a swim club canceled an agreement with a day camp because the campers are black.

Publicity about the case has made the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, just outside Philadelphia, a target of protests, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., has written the club, asking it to allow the Creative Steps camp back in its pool.

Homer Floyd, the commission's executive director, said civil rights groups have requested the investigation.

The club denies the allegations of racism. Fred Helbig, a member of the board, said the club has black members.

In a statement on its Web site, the club said it canceled agreements with Creative Steps and other summer programs after realizing its facilities were not up to handling large groups of children. But Creative Steps employees say some children overheard people at the club asking why black children were there on the one occasion they used the pool.

The club was founded in 1954, at a time when Philadelphia was being pressured to desegregate its public pools.