--- description: The American Red Cross apologized for a poster many have deemed racist after it depicted minority children doing “not cool” things in a pool. title: ‘Super Racist’ Water Safety Poster Prompts American Red Cross Apology image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Racism](/tag/racism/) ## Racism Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # ‘Super Racist’ Water Safety Poster Prompts American Red Cross Apology  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 15, 2023 12:10 AM CUTPublished: Jun 27, 2016 3:54 PM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 15, 2023 12:10 AM CUTPublished: Jun 27, 2016 3:54 PM CUT The American Red Cross on Monday [apologized for a water safety poster](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/racist-pool-safety-poster-brings-red-cross-apology-n596816 "undefined") many have deemed racist after it depicted mostly minority children doing “not cool” things in a public swimming pool. The [poster](https://twitter.com/JSawyer330/status/745075509047005184?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw "undefined") — titled “Be Cool, Follow the Rules” — shows more than a dozen cartoon children playing in a pool. It points out five instances in which children are engaging in “not cool” activities, like running around the edge of the pool, pushing their peers into the water and diving. Four of the fictional rule-breakers are either black or Hispanic children. > [](https://twitter.com/JSawyer330/status/745075509047005184) “We deeply apologize for any misunderstanding, as it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone,” the Red Cross said in a [statement](http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/Red-Cross-Issues-Statement-on-Water-Safety-Poster "undefined"). “As one of the nation’s oldest and largest humanitarian organizations, we are committed to diversity and inclusion in all that we do, every day.” The nonprofit humanitarian group said it has removed the poster from its website and Swim App, discontinued its production and ordered all swimming facilities displaying the controversial poster to take it down. “We are currently in the process of completing a formal agreement with a diversity advocacy organization for their guidance moving forward,” it said. A photo of the poster made its round on Twitter, where it was flagged to the Red Cross. It had been spotted in at least two locations in Colorado, NBC News reports. The Red Cross declined to say how many of those posters had been placed in swimming facilities nationwide. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4383807/american-red-cross-racist-safety-poster/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4383807/american-red-cross-racist-safety-poster/"},"headline":"‘Super Racist’ Water Safety Poster Prompts American Red Cross Apology","datePublished":"2016-06-27T15:54:38.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-15T00:10:55.000Z","description":"It depicted mostly minority children doing “not cool” things in a public swimming pool","url":"https://time.com/4383807/american-red-cross-racist-safety-poster/","keywords":["Racism"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/racism/","name":"Racism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4383807/american-red-cross-racist-safety-poster/","name":"‘Super Racist’ Water Safety Poster Prompts American Red Cross Apology"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"UW Pulls Cheerleader Try Out Poster After Back Lash","description":"An infographic telling prospective University of Washington cheerleaders how to do their hair and makeup has sparked a black lash on campus and on social media.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/deiyd0hQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-28T18:01:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/deiyd0hQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4383807/american-red-cross-racist-safety-poster/","duration":"PT34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4383807/american-red-cross-racist-safety-poster/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```