In an effort to increase diversity among its lifeguards, the Phoenix public pools department is hoping to hire more African-Americans and Latinos for the positions, even if the candidates can’t quite swim yet. ”We will work with you in your swimming abilities,” said one of the department’s recreation coordinator at a recent recruiting event at a local high school.
“The kids in the pool are all either Hispanic or black or whatever, and every lifeguard is white, and we don’t like that,” said another official. She cited language issues as one of the department’s concerns with having mainly white lifeguards, especially among Spanish-speaking swimmers. The department also hopes that hiring minority lifeguards will encourage more kids to learn how to swim.
The city has raised $15,000 in scholarships for lifeguard-certification courses for candidates.
Via Judicial Watch.