The mother of an 11-year-old boy is demanding more action from a YMCA in Georgia after a summer camp experience turned into a racially traumatizing experience for their child.
According to 11Alive News, the boy’s mother said while her child was at a July 2022 camp hosted by the Athens YMCA in Tallulah Falls, Georgia, he saw more than a dozen Confederate flags painted and displayed on buildings in the camp location. Additionally, on several occasions, his camp counselors called him “little Black boy” rather than his name.
“I felt uncomfortable and unsafe there,” the boy, whose identity has been withheld, told 11Alive. “We were playing a group game in the water. I basically got to the end goal of the game and then one of the counselors told his team to ‘get that Black boy.'”
His mother, Maria Pinkleton, said she was shocked to learn of the flag displays and the treatment of her son.
“Obviously, I was aghast as a parent — entrusting my child in the Y,” Pinkleton said.
When the family attempted to get answers from the YMCA, they reportedly sent them the briefest of responses that didn’t address her concerns and confirmed they’d be issued a refund.
“They sent them a two-sentence letter saying, ‘Here’s your money, sorry he didn’t have a good time.’ And it’s more than that, what this is, is harm, racial harm,” said family attorney Mawuli Davis. “Clearly, they had not gone through and looked at this in any real way, how a child, a Black child would feel coming into a space with Confederate insignia and flags all over the place.”
The Y released the following statement in response to the news of this incident:
“At the Y, our cause is to strengthen community and we believe that in our diverse world, we are stronger when we are inclusive of all. In the Fall of 2022, it was brought to our attention that our residential camp had camper created signs on display from the past that did not reflect our cause to create strong communities through inclusion and belonging. Those signs were immediately removed. We will use this experience as an opportunity to continue to grow and serve our campers as we have for over 100 years.”
The family is not looking to sue the organization but is pushing for a change in culture.
They sent a letter to Athens-area social justice organizations requesting support for a thorough investigation into the matter. The letter included events of the boy’s camp experience as well as a list of demands for the Y.
The family is urging the directors of the Athens YMCA to publicly apologize, order racial sensitivity training for their camp counselors, remove the Confederate flag paintings, and fire the Athens Tallulah Falls YMCA camp executive leadership, including Camp Director Edward Schaefer.
Davis says the family is working with the National YMCA to discuss and execute an action plan of accountability for the Athens YMCA and ensure that the standards of equality and inclusion are upheld.
