The Valley Club in a Philadelphia suburb has a sign outside that says "Swimming since 1954." It's a rich and obvious irony; that was the year of Brown versus Board of Education. And the actions of the private pool's white management in ejecting a daycare group of black children seems like something out of a bygone era.

But it isn't. It happened in the Obama era. If nothing else, it would appear to be proof that the election of President Barack Obama may have signaled a shift in many racial attitudes in the nation but the many of the old feelings are still clearly alive and well.

This Associated Press story contains more details:

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. (AP) - A suburban Philadelphia swim club accused of kicking out a group of minority children visiting from the city denies any racial discrimination.

 

The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley says accusations of racism toward the Creative Steps day camp are untrue. It says it was overcrowded and returned funds to more than one camp.

Creative Steps director Alethea Wright says the camp paid for weekly swim time at the gated club, which is in a village that straddles two townships with overwhelmingly white populations. But she says on June 29 some of the children said they heard people asking what "black kids" were doing there.

The club says any comments that may or may not have been made bymembers aren't shared by its board.

Sen. Arlen Spector, Pennsylvania Democrat, urged the swim club to allow the black day campers to use its facility and he has promised to look into the matter.

Some of the parents of the denied children are considering legal action, sounding a lot like those parents whose lawsuit led to Brown versus Board of Education in 1954.