This Program Is Encouraging Black People To Swim More This via African Americans do not know how to swim or have little swimming ability compared to their white counterparts, partly due to historic racial disparities.

One woman is looking to defy those stereotypes with a program aimed to help Black people gain more confidence in the water.

Lamonier says her goal with the program came after she looked at the alarming number of Black children and adults who cannot swim and the rate of fatal drowning as a result.

Through this program, we not only aim to teach Black people how to swim, but educate them on where these stereotypes of ‘Black people’s bones are too dense’ and disparities come from—for example, the Jim Crow Laws and slavery,” said Lamonier in an email statement to BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“However, what makes our program unique to any other program in the game is that we are also partnering with haircare companies to show our swimmers how to maintain their hair and what products work best as hair is one of the main reasons that discourages Black people from swimming.”