by Bro. B. Smith
07/18/2003

In a closed-door meeting held on Friday the town of Normal continued its efforts to discriminate against an African-American Fraternal organization by refusing to allow the group to rent Fairview pool and slide for a private scholarship fundraiser in July. This marks the third year in a row the town has been unwilling to allow the community based organization to rent the facility.

“The thing that bothers us the most is that the town is willing to break policy and allow dogs to swim in the pool but is unwilling to allow large numbers of African-Americans to use the facility, that sends a clear message to us and other taxpaying minority members of the Normal community,” stated Bryant Smith, a member of the fraternity.

The meeting on Friday was called in order to get the local NAACP a chance to see first hand the type of discrimination African-American fraternal organizations face when trying to reserve public facilities in Normal. Representatives from the Normal Police, the Normal Parks and Recreation Department, the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, the Normal Human Relations Committee and Omega Psi Phi fraternity, inc. were all brought together in order to offer their perspective on why the event was not going to be allowed.

Omega Psi Phi is an international organization whose list of prominent members include civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson, and Vernon Jordan as well as leading entertainers Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Steve Harvey. The event in question was used to provide college scholarships to minority students in the Bloomington/Normal community. This denial is the latest in a long history of subtle actions on the part of the town of Normal to relegate the lives of African-Americans and other underrepresented residents to that of second class and invisible citizenship.

We the members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, inc. Chi Beta Beta chapter have had a presence in this community for three decades and will not allow the blood sweat and tears of ancestors to be given in vain. We plan to take civic and legal action in order to protest the decision of the town of Normal. It is our fervent belief that the town of Normal has violated our civil rights and in doing so should be met with the same type of legal resistance and social unrest as any town in the “Jim Crow” era of the South.

To this end we will be sponsoring a series of protest in the Town of Normal at the Fairview Pool. The first event “Pissed at the Pool” will be on Saturday July 19, 2003 from 11:30 until 12:30. Community organizers and activist from all over Central Illinois will be invited to speak out against racism as it exist throughout Central Illinois. For more information contact Bryant Smith at (217) 362-6411 or Tim Howell at (309) 310-2570.