North Carolina Pool Owner Accused of Setting ‘Racist’ Rules; Threatens Legal Action Against Critics

A North Carolina pool owner, who posted discriminative rules for a swimming pool at his private outdoor recreation center, is considering taking legal action against any critics who would dare call him “racist.”

According to ABC11, John Freeman, of Wendell, N.C.; who co-owns the business with his wife Teresa, is insisting that his rules that ban ”baggy pants and dreadlocks/weaves/extensions,” are not racist. 

In fact, he claimed the rules had always been posted in the center’s office for the past six years but said people only protested after his wife posted them on Facebook.

When Diana Powell, who is the Executive Director of Justice Served NC, asked Freeman directly about the rules, she was told that his wife made a mistake, but he assured Powell that “they’re not racist.”

Freeman insisted that he did not want people walking around the children at the pool “with their britches down” and didn’t want hair getting stuck in the pump, which he claimed will shut down the pool for three days maintenance.

The Pool’s Facebook page addressed a few of its policies, including the Freemans’ ignorance regarding dreads and hair extensions. ⠀⠀

In one post  (which has since been deleted), Freeman apologized for his ignorance on the meaning of “dreadlocks,” clarifying that the policy should have just read  “no artificial hair.” Apparently, the facility’s “artificial hair policy” was due to a Certified Pool Owners’ class that told business owners not to permit hair extensions in the water because it could get into pool strainers and pumps causing a need for an automatic shutdown of the pool.

However, a  CPO instructor told ABC 11, that would not be cause for concern as strainers were created for the purpose of gathering any hair before it reaches a pools pump system. “Experience proved it was not a concern,” the instructor added.

Freeman and his wife said that they plan to speak with their lawyer about what actions can be taken against the people who have publicly called them racist.

“If they call me racist, they can put it in writing, and we will deal with it at the courthouse,” he said.