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"   Margaret Sawyer was traveling with her family when she saw a pool safety sign in Colorado that concerned her. The poster shows a group of kids playing at a pool, and text points out whether their activities were &amp;quot;cool&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;not cool.&amp;quot; It just so happened that all the kids doing &amp;quot;cool&amp;quot; activities were white, and the kids doing &amp;quot;not cool&amp;quot; activities had darker skin. KUSA reports that the posters have caused an online outcry, and even prompted an apology.\u00A0 The African-American community has had a tense history when it comes to public pools, as they were segregated in the past, and even when they weren&amp;#039;t, white residents would pressure black residents into avoiding pools and beaches. &amp;quot;When I saw the poster, I just, was just very saddened that the Red Cross had chosen to put out an image that might discourage African-Americans from trying swimming if they were new to it, and also something that would extend a negative stereotype,&amp;quot; Ebony Rosemond, who runs an advocacy group called Black Kids Swim, told KUSA. The story spread online and sparked outrage on social media.      Seriously...did no one #AmericanRedCross see the #unconsciousbias in this &amp;#039;super racist&amp;#039; pool poster https://t.co/Ks7xyMiGZx \u2014 Star Jones (@StarJonesEsq) June 27, 2016         Uh, yeah. This poster is not okay. https://t.co/vkDlFyELfi \u2014 Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) June 27, 2016    &amp;quot;This educational series reflects a serious lapse of judgment that we believe is harmful for young people. 70% of African Americans and 60% of Latino Americans cannot swim,&amp;quot; a Change.org petition calling on the Red Cross to review its policies reads. &amp;quot;Your poster extends existing negative stereotypes and further discourages people of color from participating in swim activities.&amp;quot;\u00A0 According to\u00A0NBC News, the American Red Cross has discontinued the poster and removed it from its website and app. &amp;quot;We deeply apologize for any misunderstanding, as it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone. As one of the nation&amp;#039;s oldest and largest humanitarian organizations, we are committed to diversity and inclusion in all that we do, every day,&amp;quot; the group said in a statement. &amp;quot;Going forward, we are developing more appropriate materials that are more representative of our workforce and the communities we serve. Our aquatic instructors have been notified of these concerns and we will advocate that our aquatic partner facilities remove the poster until revised materials are available.&amp;quot;\u00A0 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/news/a39141/red-cross-swimming-safety-poster-called-racist/>