5 Feet of Fury

How much more goddam ‘awareness’ do you frickin’ need?

If indeed “African-Americans drown at a rate 20 percent higher than whites,” then “lack of awareness of how important it is that children learn how to swim” should be already be 20 times higher to begin with.

There’s the obligatory convoluted “Legacy of Slavery, Inc.” namecheck in this story but as it turns out, “Parental fear and lack of parental encouragement were the top two reasons children and parents gave for not swimming, Anderson said, adding that fear trumped any financial limitations in the study.”

I wonder what else that extends to.

No mention of bellybuttons.

Or hair (black women obsess over hair the way white women obsess over weight):

More than three-fourths of black women say they are nonswimmers. Many coaches and black athletes say that hair care and maintenance is one of the issues that keep them out of the water. Some white aquatics professionals don’t realize the time and money black women spend to maintain and style their hair. Chemically treated water tends to undo styles quickly, and causes frizziness and other problems.