“Knowing that they were losing “valuable product” due to their slaves’ propensity to swim, slave owners began taking drastic steps to protect their property. One of these steps was to instill a fear of the water by dunking disobedient slaves in water until they nearly drowned and by creating fear through stories of creatures living in the water. Thus it didn’t take long to excise or destroy the West African swimming tradition from African- American culture. The Jim Crow laws that were enacted after The Civil War prohibited blacks from the popular seaside resorts in places like Atlantic City, N.J. and Revere Beach, Mass. And by the 20th Century, as the swimming pool began to gain in popularity in the United States, the color line prohibited blacks from enjoying this pleasant recreational skill.
In addition, self-segregation also played a role in limiting those of African ancestry from getting in the water. I remember my Aunt saying to stay away from the pool because, “black folk don’t swim.””
Next time you hear someone ask questions like, “Why don’t black people swim?” Or “Why are so many black people afraid of dogs?” And, “Why are there do so many black people live in poverty?”…..let ‘em know that those aren’t coincidences. These things didn’t just happen naturally, all on their own. There’s a reason for it, and you don’t have to be an historian to know they’re all interconnected through slavery, endemic racism and persistently racist cultural norms.
good parents don’t raise children with extreme fear of touch
good parents don’t raise children who can’t say no
(continue the chain! reblog with “good parents don’t raise children” and write your own symptoms!)
good parents don’t raise children that fear their own emotions
good parents don’t raise children that don’t know what consent is
good parents don’t raise children to be silent about their reality
good parents don’t raise children that feel like their existence is a problem
good parents don’t raise children that hate themselves
good parents don’t raise children that feel guilty over basic needs (food, clothes)
good parents don’t raise children who are paranoid about whether their parents are mad or not (not at the children, just mad/not happy in general)
good parents don’t raise children who think “if I don’t get mad at someone else and pin the blame on them first, someone will get mad at me”
good parents don’t raise children who can’t ask for things and just learned to passive-aggressively hint at stuff instead
good parent don’t raise children who cry with confusion and happiness the first time someone accommodates their needs because the concept is so alien to them
good parents don’t raise children who feel they need to apologize for basic needs
good parents don’t raise children who think that anytime there a fight they might as well go down swinging, metaphorically or literally, because they are going to be hurt no matter what they do
good parents don’t raise children who blame themselves for uncontrollable events
good parents don’t raise children who think if they don’t make everyone around them happy they are worthless
good parent don’t raise children who expect to be mocked and ridiculed by the ones they trust
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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