{"id":480777,"date":"2021-07-06T05:55:02","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T12:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=480777"},"modified":"2021-07-06T05:56:05","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T12:56:05","slug":"commentary-soul-cap-ban-another-blow-for-racial-access-acceptance-in-swimming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/commentary-soul-cap-ban-another-blow-for-racial-access-acceptance-in-swimming\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: Soul Cap Ban Another Blow for Racial Access, Acceptance in Swimming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commentary: Soul Cap Ban Another Blow for Racial Access, Acceptance in Swimming<\/strong><\/p>\n

Commentary \u2014 By Dr. Herman Kelly
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

In response to the ruling by the International Swimming Federation (FINA)<\/a> regarding swimming caps for women of color: This is racism, even in the swimming pool.<\/p>\n

African American women are born with a certain texture of hair, and this new invention called the Soul\u00a0Cap<\/a> helps with hair care as they swim.<\/p>\n

This cap does not give one a competitive advantage; it only helps with hair protection while swimming.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2284\"

Photo Courtesy: Herman O. Kelly, Jr.<\/p><\/div>\n

Swimming in the communities of color is already a phobia. I was taught to swim in a segregated swimming pool because my sister and I were not permitted to swim in the city pools. Therefore, if African Americans did not have access to safe swimming environments, many times they would swim in rivers, lakes and creeks. These unsafe conditions caused many young people of color to drown.<\/p>\n

This phobia is even present today. My mission is to eradicate this phobia by education and teaching swimming safety and swimming lessons. This ruling by FINA does not help our efforts.<\/p>\n

I am a masters swimmer, and I have been swimming in competition the last few years. I have been encouraged by the many young people of color I see learning to swim at the facility where I teach swimming. As a pastor, I organized a swimming ministry<\/a> named after my mentor and late swimming coach, Dr. James Haines of Morehouse College.<\/p>\n

As an African American swimmer, I have worked most of my adult life to remove and change the narrative regarding swimming in marginalized communities. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to learn to swim and compete in a segregated situation, but our parents knew the importance of swimming and encouraged us to learn. My sister and I would watch our father sit in the Florida heat while we learned to swim and became proficient in the water. I have this same type of commitment to help underserved persons learn to swim in order to save their lives and the lives of others.<\/p>\n

The Soul Cap was never a fashion statement, but a statement of inclusion and an attempt to help diversify the swimming community. The Crawfish Aquatics<\/a> Master\u2019s program and the entire Crawfish family have made me feel welcomed, and the program comprises a diverse community. Coach Nan and Coach Ashley have given me the opportunity to practice my craft and my mission to reach out to other\u2019s to save lives.<\/p>\n

This ruling by FINA does not help diversify the swimming community. It continues to marginalize people of color.<\/p>\n

Herman Kelly is an adjunct instructor in Louisiana State University’s African and African American Studies Department and pastor at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge. He is a certified CPR\/lifeguard trainer, a state champion in the Senior Olympics and the founder of the Dr. James Haines Swimming Ministry. An earlier version of this story appeared in the LSU Reveille<\/a>. <\/em>For further information, listen to an interview<\/a> by Black Swimming Association founder Danielle Obe<\/strong>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views\u00a0of Swimming World Magazine, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, nor its staff.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commentary: Soul Cap Ban Another Blow for Racial Access, Acceptance in Swimming Commentary \u2014 By Dr. Herman Kelly In response to the ruling by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) regarding<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8367,"featured_media":480526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,122077,17,9],"tags":[45040,184,128880,128380,4248,6176,128869],"class_list":["post-480777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-americas","category-commentary","category-masters","tag-crawfish-aquatics","tag-fina","tag-herman-kelly","tag-james-haines","tag-lsu","tag-masters-swimming","tag-soul-cap"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nCommentary: Soul Cap Ban Another Blow for Racial Access, Acceptance<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In response to the ruling by FINA regarding swimming caps for women of color: This is racism, even in the swimming pool. 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