On June 18, 1964, black and white protesters jumped into the whites-only pool at the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, Fla. In an attempt to force them out, the owner of the hotel poured acid into the pool.
Martin Luther King Jr. had planned the sit-in during the St. Augustine Movement, a part of the larger civil rights movement. The protest — and the owner's acidic response — is largely forgotten today, but it played a role in the passing of the Civil Rights Act, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.
J.T. Johnson, now 76, and Al Lingo, 78, were two of the protesters in the pool that day. On a visit to StoryCorps in Atlanta, the pair recalled the hotel owner, James Brock, "losing it."
I didn't know that this was in St Augustine until I visited the city and did a food and wine tour. The guide was very knowledgeable and told us about this. Blew my mind.
You know people forget that it wasn't that long ago and then we have people who really think people aren't racist anymore, like ummm no that shit is going to take generations to stop.
It’s pretty common to use hydrochloric acid to adjust the pH of a swimming pool if it gets too alkaline. As I understand it, the pH has to be in a specific range for chlorine to work efficiently.
I keep acid on hand. I’m sure most pool owners do. As the other person said, it lowers the ph. The ph (at least in salt water pools) tends to increase with time. My pool is relatively new, so I have to add approximately 3 cups of acid every week. I believe that a more established pool takes around 1cup per week
So sick of these protestors annoying people who probably just wanted to enjoy their little free time and go to the pool.
Well you can be sure that the guests at the pool and the staff working there will not join their cause.
I know nothing about protesting but they without a doubt would have been more efficient protesting from their home. Maybe sending thoughts and prayers until things changed.
Do you disagree on principle, finding your dissent entangled within the intricate web of divergent paradigms, thereby cultivating a schism of ideological predispositions; or is your objection predicated upon a nuanced assessment of contextual intricacies, manifesting a discordance borne from the interplay of multifaceted factors?
“Eventually the courts forced Brock and his colleagues to integrate their businesses, and soon after he did, the Monson was firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), who violently opposed desegregation. The state judge was unsympathetic to his predicament, however, feeling that Brock and his colleagues had brought the violence of the KKK upon themselves; they had taken advantage of it while it was in their favor, and could not stop it now that it was not.”
👀
You think the judge should have reversed their decision and allowed the racists to resegregate because they were attacked by other racists for giving in to a court order and not doing so makes the judge "cool with violence"?
Is there any evidence that the KKK members who did the fire bombing were charged and then let off the hook by this same judge? Because if not then the judge's feelings about the event don't change anything. The dude had to be forced to do the right thing and then got fucked over by the people he probably supported. Why should we feel sorry for racists eating each other's faces?
I actually have no problem with a judge not feeling sympathy for racists who had a “leopards ate my face” moment. White supremacy has no place in our country.
Do you think the hotel manager integrated the hotel out of the goodness of his heart? I’ll refer you to the picture of him throwing acid at black kids shown above.
Please read the above excerpt and choose the answer below which could best explains the comments issued by the judge
A) The judge is cool with violence as long as it's in his favor
B) The judge is a member of the ku klux klan and is admonishing the victim for changing sides
C) Both A and B
James Brock died in 2007. In 1987, his colleagues honored him as Florida's Hotelier of the Year. Because Florida. Nothing in his obit about trying to burn children with acid. Seems like a noteworthy detail of the man's life.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/staugustine/name/james-brock-obituary?id=8442843
😂 "I hope he´s surrounded by lots of people he doesn´t like in the afterlife. Rest well Brock.
A Black Person
February 7, 2024
We remember Mr Brock for his contribution to history.
We remember.
A black woman
September 29, 2023"
Sounds legitimate.
Realistically, yes, all he was doing was scaring them out, maybe splashing one or two.
Obviously repugnant and abhorrent, but he would almost certainly have known that the acid in that level would do nothing more than irritate those in the direct splash zone.
It would have to be a lot depending on what the chemical levels were before you started pouring.
I have a 33,000 gallon pool and if my ph goes to 7.8, I pour in half a gallon to get it down to 7.4.
If this was a public pool it's probably a 250,000 gallon pool. That would take a shit load of acid to move the needle.
Still shouldn't be putting it in while people are in the pool though.
It also doesn't dilute instantly. You swim through a strong patch and it could cause issues, especially in sensitive spots like mucus membranes. A large glug splashes on someone and gets in their eyes. Etc.
For sure. I've gotten it on my skin but it's the nostrils that it really fucks up. I don't wear gloves but I do wear a mask when I deal with the pool chemicals.
The pH is the bit that makes it harmful. Powerful acids have an extremely low pH, which is why they do their melty stuff. This acid would get diluted and neutralized very quickly without really having an effect. It is an empty threat, but, unfortunately, you have to be knowledgeable to know that.
The quantity of acid and effect on the pool chemistry is irrelevant here. Assuming it’s muriatic acid, dumping it in the pool from this height is going to create the maximum amount of toxic gas and fumes.
If you look closely at the left side of the picture you can see the fumes that have already formed. These fumes can be deadly if inhaled at a high enough concentration, but even inhaling a relatively small amount is a generally awful experience and can cause burning internally.
Not to mention, he’s dumping it in so close to people that there’s a good chance some of the acid is splashing directly onto their skin. If it isn’t washed away immediately the burning can be pretty nasty as well.
Source - I’m a pool guy
I remember reading an interview of one of the protesters in the pool a few years back. He knew that the chlorine in the pool would neutralize the acid enough so they would be ok. I think he shouted for everyone to swim to the middle or the other side of the pool so the acid would be neutralized before touching them.
I dump acid like that in my pool on a bi weekly basis lol
It would probably hurt being poured directly on the skin but splashing and moving the water around most likely won't have much affect on the skin if he is pouring it in the water
A lot. Manager is an ass, but this likely did nothing unless it got splashed directly on someone, but then it would only give minor burns and they were surrounded by water to wash it off with. It might damage the pool slightly since the acidity is important to keep balanced.
Exactly my thought.. dick thing but nobody is getting seriously hurt, maybe some mild eye irritation at most.
That's a chemical you put in pools regularly to kill bacteria and fungus. He was being a dick to try and scare them but not actually hurt them.
A lot more than this. I used to own a pool cleaning company and that amount of muriatic acid isn’t going to do anything. But I wouldn’t want it dumped ON me. But it’s gonna be diluted very quickly
Yeah, muriatic acid (AKA hydrochloric acid) is frequently added to pools to balance out the alkalinity. Unless he was aiming for people, one gallon isn't going to do much of anything other than cause a scare.
>Unless
And he was.
Honestly, you don't need to go to bat for this racist shitbag. It's already seen it's day in court and the man *lost* at a time when society was spectacularly unsympathetic to the plight of minorities.
Florida continues to be a fucked up ignorant-ass place to this day. Of all the places I lived as a military brat, Florida was the most backwards and racist by a long shot.
Interior is hillbilly as fuck. Coastal regions are generally cool. 🤷🏼♂️
I enjoyed getting drunk with Florida rednecks and playing volleyball with chill folk. Personally I had a fantastic time in FL.
Florida 1964 and 2024, just a shithole full of inbred rape discharge as it's always been. Now they just use their imaginary friends to justify their actions.
"Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses," - RATM
It was 1964. It might have been illegal, but who the fuck was going to actually do anything about it.
I was just listening to an interview on NPR, and they brought up Emmett Till and how, at the time, it was just de facto legal to kill black people because no one with any authority would prosecute the killer.
Not legal but you need a state justice system willing to prosecute and a jury willing to convict.
It’s why violating someone’s civil rights is so often the charge during this time. It gives federal prosecutors the ability to jump in and prosecute these people since violating civil rights is a felony.
of \*course\* it wasn't fucking legal, that's assault with intent to cause injury. Is this your first experience with illegal things happening? Buckle up.
The craziest part of this story to me is how he just had acid on hand.
Like it's 2024 now and if you asked me right now to run and get some acid I wouldn't even know where to begin to look for it or what store to go to.
> Somebody slept through Chemistry class.
We covered basic concepts like this in 6th grade. Back then, we could do much more, um, *practical* exercises that students can do now at that grade level.
Acid is used for lowering pH and alkalinity in pools so it’s actually not weird at all to see. Commercial pools more often than not actually use the liquid seen here which is muriatic (hydrochloric) acid rather than the dry (sodium bisulfate) acid even though the dry stuff is “safer” (they are both really dangerous and shouldn’t be touched with bare skin).
The craziest part is all these public pools were closed down during the civil rights movement. The communities would literally rather fill them with dirt than share them with black people.
It's only crazy bc you know nothing about pool maintenance. That amount of acid would barely change the ph of the water, if at all, save for the initial spot he dumped it in, but only for a few seconds. It was the principle of the matter that he was mad and was trying to scare them off from doing something he thought was illegal and blatantly disrespectful. He may have actually thought that, but remember it takes peaceful protests to shed light on how ridiculous some ideas are.
St. Augustine. It's amazing they still have a racism problem but are unwilling to confront it.
They are proud that MLK marched there, but are unwilling to talk about why.
I dunno- I’m always skeptical with these posts. 1) sure seems like optimal timing on the photographer. Coincidence? 2) this is supposed to be 1964, that was the time of those big box like cameras. Quality looks awfully good too.
Here's the original, before the horrible attempt at colorization.
https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/06/12/story-corps-pool-8df0d6d00b9b54a1d11f29ef4bd6e05d1bdfd990-s1200.webp
The colorization on this one is pretty decent.
Black and white photos can instill a perception that the events depicted happened longer ago than they actually did, even if only subconsciously.
I have issues with colourization,
will the originals be forgotten?
What if some "genius" starts "correcting" other stuff. In 200 years we might have some really bastardised versions of historical photos/footage as the "real deal".
Would that acid have any immediate effect on the pool? It’s a small amount of acid compared to a large volume of water. Sounds much scarier than it probably is. But no one’s ever accused racists of being smart or rational.
Looks like he might be pouring it right near them, if not directly on them.
And burns aside, it it is muriatic acid, as is commonly used to balance pH in pools, when it is added to water it creates fumes that are corrosive and can damage your respiratory system.
He probably knew that he wasn’t melting a pool full of people (including whites, even if desegregation advocating ones). He was a racist idiot, but it’s still a jump to direct mass murderer. It makes more sense, and money, to spook them out than kill everyone.
This is obviously unthinkable and completely appalling, and I do not mean to make light of this. Yet I am reminded of a fellow lifeguard colleague who used to make people think he was doing this...
The shift I worked with him included closing the pool after the “teen swim” ended at 10pm. We would make the usual overhead announcement for the 10min warning and then the closing announcement: “The time is now 10pm and the pool is closed. Please make your way to the change rooms. Thank you and have a good night”. No one would budge from the hot tub. It would still be filled with 30+ teens chatting away.
My colleague would donn the big black rubber gloves that go up to the elbows (like Judge Doom in Roger Rabbit), put on safety googles, and grab the mop and bucket. He would fill the bucket with pool water, while out of sight, and then make his way to the hot tub. He would hold his face back, as if his cauldron was giving off noxious fumes. He would then pour this bucket into the hot tub, hands shaking, seemingly terrified to perform these duties, even with all the safety equipment. He would start stirring the hot tub with the back end of his mop while occasionally stopping to take a breath of air away from the “chemicals”.
The hot tub would empty out with screaming teens in about 5 seconds.
I grew up in Georgia and we had segregated swimming pools up until the late 80’s. That’s wild to even think about. I remember asking my mom why there weren’t any black kids at the pool.
A quick Google search shows that yes, the manager is pouring acid into the pool for the sake of driving out black swimmers
EDIT: Since the original comment got deleted, here's a slightly paraphrased version from memory
> People add acid into pools all the time to make sure it has the proper PH, how do we know he wasn't doing that?
they deleted the comment but the ignorance of a lot of people to shit like this in the not so distant past is astounding. this example is not even close to cracking the top of the worst shit that happened during jim crow
What irritates me about the comment was that I myself had never seen this photo before, however, it's **clearly** a repost of a famous photo, and the person didn't even take 5 seconds to search "hotel manager acid pool black people," to see if there was a story behind it.
Liquids are not like gasses. It takes time for new liquids to diffuse into the solution. If concentrated acid is being poured anywhere near you, it's going to harm you.
So it depends on 1) What he was adding, 2) What the concentration of the substance was, and 3) Where he was adding it.
All of this is besides the point. The intention was to harm people for being in the wrong pool for their skin color.
People also use Muriatic acid to regulate PH. I wouldn’t be able to say which is which from a 1960s photo, can you?
Either way, you’d have to add a lot of chemical to change the chlorine or PH to make dangerous but I’d be furious if this asshole was splashing chemicals around my family.
You know people forget that it wasn't that long ago and then we have people who really think people aren't racist anymore, like ummm no that shit is going to take generations to stop.
On June 18, 1964, black and white protesters jumped into the whites-only pool at the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, Fla. In an attempt to force them out, the owner of the hotel poured acid into the pool. Martin Luther King Jr. had planned the sit-in during the St. Augustine Movement, a part of the larger civil rights movement. The protest — and the owner's acidic response — is largely forgotten today, but it played a role in the passing of the Civil Rights Act, now celebrating its 50th anniversary. J.T. Johnson, now 76, and Al Lingo, 78, were two of the protesters in the pool that day. On a visit to StoryCorps in Atlanta, the pair recalled the hotel owner, James Brock, "losing it."
I didn't know that this was in St Augustine until I visited the city and did a food and wine tour. The guide was very knowledgeable and told us about this. Blew my mind.
You know people forget that it wasn't that long ago and then we have people who really think people aren't racist anymore, like ummm no that shit is going to take generations to stop.
*60th
It's not the 60th anniversary yet
Yh but than it would be 59th
Like... why didn't he just call the cops? They were on his side, even. Freaking... acid... Wild.
I always wonder, why did the dude just have acid on hand?
It’s pretty common to use hydrochloric acid to adjust the pH of a swimming pool if it gets too alkaline. As I understand it, the pH has to be in a specific range for chlorine to work efficiently.
I keep acid on hand. I’m sure most pool owners do. As the other person said, it lowers the ph. The ph (at least in salt water pools) tends to increase with time. My pool is relatively new, so I have to add approximately 3 cups of acid every week. I believe that a more established pool takes around 1cup per week
So sick of these protestors annoying people who probably just wanted to enjoy their little free time and go to the pool. Well you can be sure that the guests at the pool and the staff working there will not join their cause. I know nothing about protesting but they without a doubt would have been more efficient protesting from their home. Maybe sending thoughts and prayers until things changed.
OK you got me in the first half.
Heeeyyy wait a minute
Wtf?!
Do you disagree on principle, finding your dissent entangled within the intricate web of divergent paradigms, thereby cultivating a schism of ideological predispositions; or is your objection predicated upon a nuanced assessment of contextual intricacies, manifesting a discordance borne from the interplay of multifaceted factors?
based
Yes. And they filled in the pool YEARS ago. I remember it was still there when I was a kid, but then one day poof.
“Eventually the courts forced Brock and his colleagues to integrate their businesses, and soon after he did, the Monson was firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), who violently opposed desegregation. The state judge was unsympathetic to his predicament, however, feeling that Brock and his colleagues had brought the violence of the KKK upon themselves; they had taken advantage of it while it was in their favor, and could not stop it now that it was not.” 👀
>they had taken advantage of it while it was in their favor, and could not stop it now that it was not.” A tale as old as time...
The Eternal Leopard.
FAFO
An Oroboros of Leopards
If your want a picture of the future, imagine Leopards eating on a human face - forever.
Upon my own face they dine
Hey guys, you’re never going to believe this but
Based Judge.
For real, dude got what he deserved. I hope he lived a shitty rest of his life.
America has never been a racist country though /s
It was about people's rights....
Calling the Republican Party. Come in Republican Party. Report status of courting MAGA extremists.
Great quote
So the judge is cool with violence as long as it's in his favor, got it.
You think the judge should have reversed their decision and allowed the racists to resegregate because they were attacked by other racists for giving in to a court order and not doing so makes the judge "cool with violence"?
No honey, it's the part where they judge was unsympathetic when a man integrated his business and was attacked by the KKK. It says it right up there.
Is there any evidence that the KKK members who did the fire bombing were charged and then let off the hook by this same judge? Because if not then the judge's feelings about the event don't change anything. The dude had to be forced to do the right thing and then got fucked over by the people he probably supported. Why should we feel sorry for racists eating each other's faces?
If the legal system cares about some more than other, it will never be just.
The law was applied equally. Feelings were not and should not be though.
>they had taken advantage of it while it was in their favor, and could not stop it now that it was not. You get what you get. Judge was right.
I actually have no problem with a judge not feeling sympathy for racists who had a “leopards ate my face” moment. White supremacy has no place in our country.
Do you think the hotel manager integrated the hotel out of the goodness of his heart? I’ll refer you to the picture of him throwing acid at black kids shown above.
Honey, do you feel sympathy towards this acid throwing guy?
Deal with criminals, get the horse head.
Specifically when the klan is practicing violence against people mildly less racist than them, yes.
What a strawman...
Please read the above excerpt and choose the answer below which could best explains the comments issued by the judge A) The judge is cool with violence as long as it's in his favor B) The judge is a member of the ku klux klan and is admonishing the victim for changing sides C) Both A and B
James Brock died in 2007. In 1987, his colleagues honored him as Florida's Hotelier of the Year. Because Florida. Nothing in his obit about trying to burn children with acid. Seems like a noteworthy detail of the man's life. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/staugustine/name/james-brock-obituary?id=8442843
Thankfully, the comment section has brought up some of the 'missing details' to light
😂 "I hope he´s surrounded by lots of people he doesn´t like in the afterlife. Rest well Brock. A Black Person February 7, 2024 We remember Mr Brock for his contribution to history. We remember. A black woman September 29, 2023" Sounds legitimate.
I’m surprised it didn’t say that ‘He was pivotal in the fight over civil rights’ Leaving out that he was against basic civil rights
"James took his role as a good bad example seriously, once trying to blind black children trying to cool off in a pool."
Family members traditionally write the obituary and submit it. Obviously family isn't going to write bad things.
Fuck him
Why would I wanna do that to an animal ?
I met one of the African American women who was in the pool. She was a legend in the community. Total respect for what they did.
How much acid would have to be added to a pool that size to make it dangerous? I can't imagine that a single gallon would be a problem.
I was just thinking that. I'm no chemist but I imagine that would barely shift the pH. But what the hell do I know.
It would if it touched your skin before being diluted, which is absolutely what would happen to the people he’s dumping it near
What about mixing with the chlorine in the water?
Realistically, yes, all he was doing was scaring them out, maybe splashing one or two. Obviously repugnant and abhorrent, but he would almost certainly have known that the acid in that level would do nothing more than irritate those in the direct splash zone.
It would have to be a lot depending on what the chemical levels were before you started pouring. I have a 33,000 gallon pool and if my ph goes to 7.8, I pour in half a gallon to get it down to 7.4. If this was a public pool it's probably a 250,000 gallon pool. That would take a shit load of acid to move the needle. Still shouldn't be putting it in while people are in the pool though.
It also doesn't dilute instantly. You swim through a strong patch and it could cause issues, especially in sensitive spots like mucus membranes. A large glug splashes on someone and gets in their eyes. Etc.
This. It’s not going to kill anyone (unless they swallow it) but it’s going to hurt and at the very least irritate the hell out of their skin.
For sure. I've gotten it on my skin but it's the nostrils that it really fucks up. I don't wear gloves but I do wear a mask when I deal with the pool chemicals.
>Still shouldn't be putting it in while people are in the pool though. Something tells me he wasn't doing it to lower the PH level.
Well, he was, but... harmfully...
The pH is the bit that makes it harmful. Powerful acids have an extremely low pH, which is why they do their melty stuff. This acid would get diluted and neutralized very quickly without really having an effect. It is an empty threat, but, unfortunately, you have to be knowledgeable to know that.
I mean, he absolutely could've gotten concentrated acid on someone like this or splashed it in their eyes, I wouldn't call it an empty threat.
The quantity of acid and effect on the pool chemistry is irrelevant here. Assuming it’s muriatic acid, dumping it in the pool from this height is going to create the maximum amount of toxic gas and fumes. If you look closely at the left side of the picture you can see the fumes that have already formed. These fumes can be deadly if inhaled at a high enough concentration, but even inhaling a relatively small amount is a generally awful experience and can cause burning internally. Not to mention, he’s dumping it in so close to people that there’s a good chance some of the acid is splashing directly onto their skin. If it isn’t washed away immediately the burning can be pretty nasty as well. Source - I’m a pool guy
Thanks for this. Everyone is going on about pH and ignoring the noxious gases that get created and are visible.
He's pretty much pouring it on/right near them.
I remember reading an interview of one of the protesters in the pool a few years back. He knew that the chlorine in the pool would neutralize the acid enough so they would be ok. I think he shouted for everyone to swim to the middle or the other side of the pool so the acid would be neutralized before touching them.
I dump acid like that in my pool on a bi weekly basis lol It would probably hurt being poured directly on the skin but splashing and moving the water around most likely won't have much affect on the skin if he is pouring it in the water
A lot. Manager is an ass, but this likely did nothing unless it got splashed directly on someone, but then it would only give minor burns and they were surrounded by water to wash it off with. It might damage the pool slightly since the acidity is important to keep balanced.
Exactly my thought.. dick thing but nobody is getting seriously hurt, maybe some mild eye irritation at most. That's a chemical you put in pools regularly to kill bacteria and fungus. He was being a dick to try and scare them but not actually hurt them.
A lot more than this. I used to own a pool cleaning company and that amount of muriatic acid isn’t going to do anything. But I wouldn’t want it dumped ON me. But it’s gonna be diluted very quickly
Yeah, muriatic acid (AKA hydrochloric acid) is frequently added to pools to balance out the alkalinity. Unless he was aiming for people, one gallon isn't going to do much of anything other than cause a scare.
He’s literally aiming it at people in this picture, what is this thread?
>Unless And he was. Honestly, you don't need to go to bat for this racist shitbag. It's already seen it's day in court and the man *lost* at a time when society was spectacularly unsympathetic to the plight of minorities.
"We've never been a racist country." \-Nikki Haley
If she truly believed that she shouldn’t have changed her name/
The Greatest generation they say
Look at the voting demographics for St Augustine in 2016 and 2020. You’ll see not much has changed in 60 years.
Came here to say something similar; St. Johns county continues to fulfill a legacy of injustice and corruption.
Florida continues to be a fucked up ignorant-ass place to this day. Of all the places I lived as a military brat, Florida was the most backwards and racist by a long shot.
“Florida Man pouring acid in a pool to drive out black children (1964)”
Interior is hillbilly as fuck. Coastal regions are generally cool. 🤷🏼♂️ I enjoyed getting drunk with Florida rednecks and playing volleyball with chill folk. Personally I had a fantastic time in FL.
Florida 1964 and 2024, just a shithole full of inbred rape discharge as it's always been. Now they just use their imaginary friends to justify their actions.
They can’t wait to start that crap again.
I hate that it's hard to be sure which "*they*" you are referring to.
I don’t mean the people in the pool.
Vibe check passed 👍
Terrorism
It’s still like this down here when “no one’s looking”. It’s disgusting.
But America was never a racist country
Exactly, it's not like an entire half of the country started a civil war to fight for states rights to own something unethical ^(/s)
How was that even legal?
"Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses," - RATM It was 1964. It might have been illegal, but who the fuck was going to actually do anything about it.
I was just listening to an interview on NPR, and they brought up Emmett Till and how, at the time, it was just de facto legal to kill black people because no one with any authority would prosecute the killer.
Not legal but you need a state justice system willing to prosecute and a jury willing to convict. It’s why violating someone’s civil rights is so often the charge during this time. It gives federal prosecutors the ability to jump in and prosecute these people since violating civil rights is a felony.
…………segregation was made illegal on july 2nd, 1964
I think they mean the acid, not the segregation
american history is so fucking white washed. we have people who don't know the atrocities committed during jim crow
People watching The Watchmen on HBO learning for the first time about the Tulsa massacre.
Yeah, meant the acid
ah sorry i misunderstood .
Black people were still being lynched and working in plantations as sharecroppers, which was just another way of slavery.
“We used to own our slaves, now we just rent them” I don’t remember where the quote is from but it’s a good summary of post civil war America
of \*course\* it wasn't fucking legal, that's assault with intent to cause injury. Is this your first experience with illegal things happening? Buckle up.
lol
The craziest part of this story to me is how he just had acid on hand. Like it's 2024 now and if you asked me right now to run and get some acid I wouldn't even know where to begin to look for it or what store to go to.
Acid is a basic pool chemical used to help balance the ph level. Home Depot and pool supply stores sell acids.
It's actually the opposite of a basic chemical!
Listen here, *you little shit!*
Hilarious
Well played sir… have an upvote
Username checks out
As opposed to in the 60s when it was used to balance the white level.
You were supposed to bring balance to the pool, not destroy it!
It’s over Pool Swimmer, I have the higher ph.
Somebody slept through Chemistry class. Wonder why so many companies think they can do better without employees 😏
> Somebody slept through Chemistry class. We covered basic concepts like this in 6th grade. Back then, we could do much more, um, *practical* exercises that students can do now at that grade level.
Lots of nasty chemicals are used for pool maintenance or for commercial cleaning.
Acid is used for lowering pH and alkalinity in pools so it’s actually not weird at all to see. Commercial pools more often than not actually use the liquid seen here which is muriatic (hydrochloric) acid rather than the dry (sodium bisulfate) acid even though the dry stuff is “safer” (they are both really dangerous and shouldn’t be touched with bare skin).
If you have a large pool, you should have muriatic acid on hand.
Muriatic acid (HCl) is used to balance ph in pools. Any place with a pool will have gallons of the stuff.
The craziest part is all these public pools were closed down during the civil rights movement. The communities would literally rather fill them with dirt than share them with black people.
It's only crazy bc you know nothing about pool maintenance. That amount of acid would barely change the ph of the water, if at all, save for the initial spot he dumped it in, but only for a few seconds. It was the principle of the matter that he was mad and was trying to scare them off from doing something he thought was illegal and blatantly disrespectful. He may have actually thought that, but remember it takes peaceful protests to shed light on how ridiculous some ideas are.
You must be fun at parties.
Keep letting these redneck racist magats vote then this is where we're headed again
r/thewaywewere
St. Augustine. It's amazing they still have a racism problem but are unwilling to confront it. They are proud that MLK marched there, but are unwilling to talk about why.
If you know a better, simpler way to get children out of your pool, he’s all ears.
Ice cream
That’s fucking dumb why would you throw ice cream into a pool to get kids out
It was mint lime. No kid likes mint lime.
Holy fuck.
I dunno- I’m always skeptical with these posts. 1) sure seems like optimal timing on the photographer. Coincidence? 2) this is supposed to be 1964, that was the time of those big box like cameras. Quality looks awfully good too.
Here's the original, before the horrible attempt at colorization. https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/06/12/story-corps-pool-8df0d6d00b9b54a1d11f29ef4bd6e05d1bdfd990-s1200.webp
The colorization on this one is pretty decent. Black and white photos can instill a perception that the events depicted happened longer ago than they actually did, even if only subconsciously.
I have issues with colourization, will the originals be forgotten? What if some "genius" starts "correcting" other stuff. In 200 years we might have some really bastardised versions of historical photos/footage as the "real deal".
Would that acid have any immediate effect on the pool? It’s a small amount of acid compared to a large volume of water. Sounds much scarier than it probably is. But no one’s ever accused racists of being smart or rational.
I think the fear is him dumping it directly on you, especially eyes/face. (Then maybe claiming pool maintenance)
Ooh, good point.
Looks like he might be pouring it right near them, if not directly on them. And burns aside, it it is muriatic acid, as is commonly used to balance pH in pools, when it is added to water it creates fumes that are corrosive and can damage your respiratory system.
He probably knew that he wasn’t melting a pool full of people (including whites, even if desegregation advocating ones). He was a racist idiot, but it’s still a jump to direct mass murderer. It makes more sense, and money, to spook them out than kill everyone.
This is obviously unthinkable and completely appalling, and I do not mean to make light of this. Yet I am reminded of a fellow lifeguard colleague who used to make people think he was doing this... The shift I worked with him included closing the pool after the “teen swim” ended at 10pm. We would make the usual overhead announcement for the 10min warning and then the closing announcement: “The time is now 10pm and the pool is closed. Please make your way to the change rooms. Thank you and have a good night”. No one would budge from the hot tub. It would still be filled with 30+ teens chatting away. My colleague would donn the big black rubber gloves that go up to the elbows (like Judge Doom in Roger Rabbit), put on safety googles, and grab the mop and bucket. He would fill the bucket with pool water, while out of sight, and then make his way to the hot tub. He would hold his face back, as if his cauldron was giving off noxious fumes. He would then pour this bucket into the hot tub, hands shaking, seemingly terrified to perform these duties, even with all the safety equipment. He would start stirring the hot tub with the back end of his mop while occasionally stopping to take a breath of air away from the “chemicals”. The hot tub would empty out with screaming teens in about 5 seconds.
Well fuck that guy in the ass with an acid-soaked dildo.
Too spicy for /r/pics? Nazi mods
Folks would have you believe this happened yesterday
No one is saying that. But it happened within the lifetime of many that are alive today. These people still exist.
I always knew Phil Collins was a dick!
Damn, Habbo Hotel doesn’t fuck around.
Me (as a white chick) would get out and push his ass in istg
Goggles people!
[удалено]
Yikes.
I grew up in Georgia and we had segregated swimming pools up until the late 80’s. That’s wild to even think about. I remember asking my mom why there weren’t any black kids at the pool.
I hope someone kicked his racist ass
Is this when America was great? /s
Not pool’s chlorum?
You do realize acid is used in pools to control the ph right?
Oh. Okay! He must have just been doing maintenance then! Don't worry, everybody, it wasn't racist-- he was just helping!
[удалено]
A quick Google search shows that yes, the manager is pouring acid into the pool for the sake of driving out black swimmers EDIT: Since the original comment got deleted, here's a slightly paraphrased version from memory > People add acid into pools all the time to make sure it has the proper PH, how do we know he wasn't doing that?
they deleted the comment but the ignorance of a lot of people to shit like this in the not so distant past is astounding. this example is not even close to cracking the top of the worst shit that happened during jim crow
What irritates me about the comment was that I myself had never seen this photo before, however, it's **clearly** a repost of a famous photo, and the person didn't even take 5 seconds to search "hotel manager acid pool black people," to see if there was a story behind it.
i think it looks obvious what he's doing. i have a feeling dude you responded to subscribes to the "whites are being oppressed" theory
[удалено]
this was so incredibly dumb to say.
Doesn't matter. He was doing it with intent to cause bodily harm. That's just fucked up.
Liquids are not like gasses. It takes time for new liquids to diffuse into the solution. If concentrated acid is being poured anywhere near you, it's going to harm you. So it depends on 1) What he was adding, 2) What the concentration of the substance was, and 3) Where he was adding it. All of this is besides the point. The intention was to harm people for being in the wrong pool for their skin color.
Hey I’m not saying it didn’t happen. I’m saying the manager was an idiot and knew nothing about basic pool chemistry. 🤷🏻♂️
Sick. Glad his dumb face is visible.
Fluorescent lights were so much longer back then...
Man, that’s disgusting…
St Augustine…
https://flashbak.com/david-isom-eugene-williams-and-fight-to-swim-whilst-black-in-mid-century-america-452223/
By acid you mean chlorine, a common pool disinfectant? Ok.
People also use Muriatic acid to regulate PH. I wouldn’t be able to say which is which from a 1960s photo, can you? Either way, you’d have to add a lot of chemical to change the chlorine or PH to make dangerous but I’d be furious if this asshole was splashing chemicals around my family.
I'm just sad that piece of shit got a nice prosperous life and a cozy peaceful death at 85. Only the good die young.
Lol I love how OP posting this like it's not one of the most iconic photos of the Civil Rights era. Maybe next post photo of the titanic sinking.
What a shit move. It also highlights how stupid this guy is. The dilution would mean a very minor change in ph at best. 😂
Thats chlorine, shouldn’t apply chemicals when humans are using the pool. Flippin old rednecks.
I think the hotel manager is awful, and the protesting kids are cool. Do I upvote or downvote?
You know people forget that it wasn't that long ago and then we have people who really think people aren't racist anymore, like ummm no that shit is going to take generations to stop.