Berlin Pool Day For Black Children Scrapped Over Backlash

Plans for an exclusive afternoon at a Berlin outdoor swimming pool for Black children and their families have been abandoned after right-wing and conservative figures drew attention to the event and fuelled public outrage, organisers said.

The outing, scheduled for earlier this month, was organised by the Volksbühne theatre in the German capital. The theatre had extended an invitation in an effort to lower barriers that often prevent Black children from using public pools, organisers said.

Volksbühne said it hoped the arrangement would help dismantle some of the barriers that typically keep those children away from the water. The plan was based on the idea that other groups had used pools privately in the past without incident, but the concept of Black children having a reserved time at a public facility provoked backlash.

Criticism Sparks Emails And Threats

Berlin’s Volksbühne said the programme was called off after it became a target for hostile posts online and accompanying harassment. It said organisers were left dealing with racist emails and threats.

A Christian Democrat politician, Aileen Weibeler, criticised the event on social media, asking why “safe spaces” were needed in what she described as a diverse and free city. Far-right Alternative für Deutschland co-leader Alice Weidel also condemned the plan, saying it amounted to “an apartheid”, arguing that white people were temporarily denied access.

Organisers said the response was out of step with their intentions to reduce exclusion rather than widen it.

Pool Rows Echo Across Europe And North America

The Berlin incident follows a pattern in which swimming facilities have repeatedly become flashpoints for wider debates about race and access.

In the eastern German city of Halle, an open-air swimming lake faced criticism after it reportedly refused entry to bathers who did not speak German. In the Netherlands, the Institute for Human Rights ruled against a pool after it found a Black child had been singled out for an identity check.

Similar disputes have been recorded for decades. In 2013, the Swiss town of Bremgarten moved to restrict asylum seekers’ access to swimming pools. In Bulgaria, Roma groups have raised concerns about discrimination at public pools, while in 2022 a swimming pool in Romania was fined just over €2,000 (£1,716) for barring Romani children.

In the United States, the racial history of public pools dates back to widespread segregation. “Throughout much of the 20th century, swimming pools were homogenous spaces,” said Wiltse, describing “explicit racial segregation of public pools”. As public pools began to desegregate in the late 1940s, private pools increasingly appeared, often in suburbs that were overwhelmingly white.

Wiltse, who campaigns to tackle the issue by boosting public investment in community pools that can bring together people from different backgrounds, said the continuing legacy of those patterns has shaped access and participation.

Unequal Access Tied To Swimming Risk

Campaigners say the exclusion affects not only attendance but also swimming ability, with consequences for safety. In the US, the fatal-drowning rate for Black and African American children is three times higher than for white children.

England faces similar disparities: recent figures found children from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are 3.5 times more likely to drown than white children. Sport England data also suggests that 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children do not swim at all.

In 2022, Katrice Rodrigues launched Unity Swimming, a community organisation running weekly classes aimed at Black and Asian communities. Rodrigues said some critics questioned the approach, asking how it could be inclusive if it was limited to specific groups. She argued that “safe little spaces” can help make swimming overall more inclusive by bringing more people into the sport.

She said the programme’s impact depended on tackling a range of cultural concerns that keep minority families away, including parents’ fears of water and worries about feeling out of place, dressing modestly or protecting Black hair. Rodrigues added that some barriers persist, including a stereotype that Black people cannot float or swim, which she said she has had to correct with experienced swim teachers.

As summers bring more people into lakes, rivers and pools, Rodrigues said improving water safety knowledge matters for saving lives. She argued that learning to swim can have wider benefits for families and communities across generations.

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24 August 2026