ATHENS, Ga. — A north Georgia YMCA affiliate is facing allegations of racism following one of its summer camps.
An 11Alive viewer reached out, saying while at camp their son was referred to – not by his name but by his race and the camp location was full of Confederate flags.
“I felt uncomfortable and unsafe there," said an 11-year-old boy, whose parents asked us not to reveal his identity.
During an exclusive interview, he described experiencing racial harm while attending the YMCA of Athens summer camp in Tallulah Falls.
“We were playing a group game in the water. I basically gotten to the end goal of the game and then one of the counselors told his team to get that Black boy,” the child added. He said he was called "little Black boy" multiple times.
And, not being referred to by his name is just the beginning of the trauma he experienced.
“When he was at the camp, he saw no less than about 15 Confederate flags up and around the camp. Obviously, I was aghast as a parent-- entrusting my child in the Y,” the boy's mom Maria Pinkelton said.
After the experience, the family said they reached out hoping for an apology. They asked for the Confederate flags to be removed but instead, the YMCA of Athens responded with a refund and nothing else.
“They sent them a two-sentence letter saying, 'Here's your money, sorry he didn't have a good time.' And it's more than that, what this is harm, racial harm,” said attorney Mawuli Davis who now represents the family.
“What it says is, 'We don't get it,'” added Davis, while referring to the Athens YMCA's letter to the family.
Davis said they will continue to push for a change in culture at the YMCA.
“Clearly, they had not gone through and looked at this in any real way, how a child, a Black child would feel coming into a space with Confederate insignia and flags all over the place,” Davis went on.
Davis said they have not filed a lawsuit and their goal isn't to. He said they want to get the Confederate flags removed and ensure the counselors get racial sensitivity training so this does not happen to any other children.
11Alive received the following statement Monday night from the YMCA of Athens:
At the Y, our cause is to strengthen community and we believe that in our diverse world, we are stronger when we are inclusive of all. In the Fall of 2022, it was brought to our attention that our residential camp had camper created signs on display from the past that did not reflect our cause to create strong communities through inclusion and belonging. Those signs were immediately removed. We will use this experience as an opportunity to continue to grow and serve our campers as we have for over 100 years.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the location of the YMCA.
