No colored allowed at The Cove at Fretz Park in north Dallas on the anniversary of Juneteenth. A grim reminder of why the holiday exists.
Sunday, an African American family was not allowed to enter the Cove at Fretz Park. All three – with four children – had paid their entrance fee. They said they were there to sunbathe, picnic, and swim. Staff said they could not enter because of their clothing. One was wearing a Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey. They had bathing suits also.
This happened on Sunday, Father’s Day and on the Juneteenth holiday. Juneteenth is the anniversary of the 1965 Emancipation Proclamation. It appears Dallas Aquatics wants to lock African American out of recreation opportunities.
Anglo and Latino familes entered wearing similar clothes and food items. This subtle no colored allowed behavior by staff “is awful,” said the person reporting to us.
Per one bystander this was “Dallas being Dallas. You give a city employee a bit of power and they think they’re king.”
No Colored Allowed or ADA Complaints
Another family with a child with an ADA issue stated they were not allowed to use a swim mask. The child uses it to avoid water entering his nose to avoid anxiety attacks.
A second bystander at Fretz on Sunday said the swimmer’s parent informed staff that this was not a rule. He offered to show them the rules from Dallas Aquatics Director Robin Steinshnider. Afterwards, the staff supervisor said they “make their own rules at Fretz.”
The rules are here on the Dallas Aquatics site:
Dallas Aquatics Still Recovering From COVID19
It appears Dallas has still not handled confusing, and inconsistently, applied rules from one facility to the other.
Post lock down, season tickets had to book entry times.
There were several people who had season passes for last year and were never able to use the aquatic facilities due to coronavirus. In many cases they were slow to get a refund this year due to red tape.
Still it seems Dallas Aquatics staff have trouble knowing their own rules.
These events on Father’s Day and the anniverary of Juneteenth are ugly. They remind local neighbors of times gone by when city staff catered to whites only. No signage says no colored allowed, but the mindset is on full display.
Other Side Dallas has been following some of these incidents at Fretz Park for almost a month.
Staff has not responded to our many requests for comment. Park Board members are equally silent. Jeff Kitner is the Park Board member for District 11 City Council Member Jaynie Schultz. Neither he, nor other Park Board members, responded to Other Side Dallas.
It isn’t clear if staff receive training on racial sensitivity and stereotypes. It also is not clear if they receive training on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). What is clear is a bias for no colored allowed or persons with disabilities.
Kitner works as Chief Operating Officer for the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce.