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Evidently officials are willing to compromise those “effective services” at 29 public swimming pools spread throughout the city. To diversify the lifeguard force, Phoenix will spend thousands of dollars to recruit minorities even if they’re not strong swimmers, according to an official quoted in a news report. Blacks, Latinos and Asians who may not necessarily qualify can still get hired, says the city official who adds that “we will work with you in your swimming abilities.”
There’s a good reason the city is hiring lifeguards that can’t swim. Public pools are largely used by Latino and African-American kids, but most of the lifeguards are white and this creates a huge problem. “The kids in the pool are all either Hispanic or black or whatever, and every lifeguard is white and we don’t like that,” says a Phoenix official quoted in the story. She added that “the kids don’t relate; there’s language issues.”
Originally posted by trollz
Here's two questions for them to ponder:
If everybody is equal, why does it matter if all the lifeguards are white?
If everybody is equal, why is race a factor in determining who to hire?
They want to create "equality" from their admittance of inequality.
"Oh, everybody is equal! Black, white, hispanic, it's all the same!"
"Hey, look, all the lifeguards are white!"
"What? No, that's racist! Let's hire more black people who aren't even qualified!"
“The kids in the pool are all either Hispanic or black or whatever, and every lifeguard is white and we don’t like that,” says a Phoenix official quoted in the story.
Originally posted by jrod
As someone who has been around water my entire life I can tell you that you can to teach someone how to swim effectively enough to rescue someone who can't pass the basic swim test in a few weeks or even a few months.
More than 90 percent of the students at Alhambra High are black, Latino or Asian. On a recruiting effort there over the winter, the city's Melissa Boyle tells students she's not looking for strong swimmers. Like many under-resourced schools, Alhambra doesn't have a swim team.
"We will work with you in your swimming abilities," Boyle says.
To help diversify its lifeguard ranks, the city raised about $15,000 over the past two years in scholarships to offset the cost of lifeguard-certification courses. Recruits who pass a swim test at the end can apply to be city lifeguards.
As the teens swim laps at Alhambra, it's clear many haven't had much formal training. But the coaches of the course aren't fazed and are prepared to put in the time to teach.
Originally posted by jrod
While not impossible, it is highly unlikely that a non-swimmer though a few months of training will be a strong swimmer capable of rescuing someone.
This is no different than hiring an a person with no flight experience and expect him to be able fly a plane full of people after a few months of training.
You just can not lower standards for a job
It is next to impossible to take a marginal swimmer(say someone who can swim the initial 500M qualification non-stop but no where close to the time needed to qualify as a lifeguard) and turn them into a first class swimmer with a few months of training.
While the city's policy is to hire ethnic lifeguards and invest in training them to be first class swimmers may sound like it could work, the reality is it won't.
Originally posted by Southern Guardian
You seem to be under the impression that all these minorities do not possess the swimming skills comparable to those of the life guards, and will never have the capability to do so. This is a flawed assumption. I've already mentioned to you that there are individuals out there who possess good swimming capabilities, or at least the ability to reach those capabilities, but they just haven't thought of investing time and effort into them.
Originally posted by Southern Guardian
While the city's policy is to hire ethnic lifeguards and invest in training them to be first class swimmers may sound like it could work, the reality is it won't.
Well then we'll just have to wait and see what success the program will bring in the end.
Originally posted by jrod
Please don't assume I am a bigot.
Most agencies I've worked for, you get one shot at the initial tryout, if you fail and still want to be a lifeguard then you better train before the next tryout. By allowing someone to continue training after they fail the initial tryout is lowering the standards,
To help diversify its lifeguard ranks, the city raised about $15,000 over the past two years in scholarships to offset the cost of lifeguard-certification courses. Recruits who pass a swim test at the end can apply to be city lifeguards.
As the teens swim laps at Alhambra, it's clear many haven't had much formal training. But the coaches of the course aren't fazed and are prepared to put in the time to teach.