Apparently they do.
There is an apartment complex in Cincinnati with a "Whites Only" sign posted in their pool area. They claim it's to "protect their assests", but in a community that boasts a 45% African American population, far higher than the rest of the state, is this really the best solution? Is this solving anything?
The apartment complex tried to defend this sign. Their reason behind it is that in May of 2011, a little African American girl swam in the pool and the chemicals in her hair "made the water cloudy". The family of this girl was uncomfortable and horrified that the landlord posted this sign, they moved shortly after to a move "diverse community".
The case has now been sent to the Ohio Civil Rights commission.
I really am shocked to hear that this type of discrimination has gone on since May (8 months) in such an ethnically diverse community. I'm really at a loss for words on this one.
How does the landlord know that it was specifically this little girls hair that caused the cloudy water? There are hundreds of alternate explainations for the cloudy water, like algae, the pump is too small, bad combination of pool chemicals, literally hundreds of other explanations.
The only comment the landlord would give is that she was "trying to protect her assests". So clear water is an asset? Cloudy water is not going to physically damage the structure of the pool, so I'm not buying this reason.
We all know that racism still rears it ugly head from time to time, what do you think? Is this racist?