White Men Can’t Jump, Blacks Can’t Swim…

The following article, sent by alert reader Eric Falkenstein, speaks for itself. (The only question is what it says….)

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. — The North Miami police department dropped a swimming requirement for applicants, saying they need new officers and want to encourage blacks to sign up.

North Miami police say they are dropping the requirement for a year. They say few departments require swimming and their officers rarely save people in water.

“Our swimming requirement may give the false perception that we are not serious in our efforts to hire Haitian police applicants,” police chief Gwendolyn Boyd-Savage wrote in a memo explaining the decision. Boyd-Savage is black.

“They have been intimidated because they don’t swim, very few of them swim,” said Mayor Joe Celestin, who is Haitian-American. “They have the ability to learn how to swim, but many of them are not that great of a swimmer as the standard, current requirement that we have. We want to bring them in and give them a chance to learn.”

UPDATE

Dave Huber also discussed this swimming requirement.

UPDATE II

A somewhat more complete version of the swimming issue is presented here. (Thanks again to Fred Ray.)

Say What? (1)

  1. Richard Nieporent April 23, 2004 at 5:55 pm | | Reply

    It’s been said that history repeats itself — the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. Al Campanis must be rolling over in his grave.

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