Black folks and water don’t mix right? Well one government safety group says it’s time to get to mixing because that’s the only way to reduce the disproportionate rates of black and Latino kids drowning in pools.

In it’s new campaign, called “Pool Safely,” the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission points out that black children between the ages of 5 and 14 are three times more likely to drown than white children in the same age group. They also show data from the USA Swimming Foundation which indicates that up to 70 percent of black and 62 percent of Hispanic children cannot swim.

“We are focusing on minority children because the data show they are most at risk for drowning,” safety commission chairman Inez Tenenbaum told CBS news. “It’s a cultural issue, because many of the African-American and Hispanic children have parents and grandparents who never learned to swim.”

The safety commission is working with the Y, the American Red Cross, public schools, and other community organizations to boost access to free swimming lessons, which is really the only choice the group has. If parents are willing to let their kids go in the water unsupervised when they don’t know how to swim they’ll just have to try to convince children otherwise. That really isn’t their job but it appears someone has to do it.

What do you think about this initiative? Do you know how to swim?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Source: abcnews.com

After the standard six week wait, the results from Whitney Houston’s toxicology report are in.

The L.A. County coroner’s office revealed that Whitney Houston’s official cause of death was “drowning and effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.”

The coroner was also able to determine that the nature of her death was an accident. Her autopsy, conducted the day after she was found in her hotel room, concluded that there was no foul play associated with her death.

The toxicology report also stated that “Cocaine and metabolites were identified and were contributory to the death.”

Marijuana, Alprazolam (Xanax), Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) and Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) were also found in her system although the report claims the amounts were too small to have caused any harm.

As sad as this news is, it’s a bit helpful to have a little more closure as to what actually led to her passing.

Source

Over the weekend, reports that Whitney Houston was found dead in the bathtub inside her Beverly Hilton hotel room caused many to suspect that an unfortunate drowning caused the singer’s untimely death. But according to TMZ, Whitney’s family members have been informed that her death was caused by a combination of Xanax and other prescription drugs mixed with alcohol.

According to the coroner’s office, there was not enough water in Whitney’s lungs to conclude that she drowned, and she likely died before she was submerged under water. There’s also been a change in the story about who found the singer. Originally, Whitney’s body guard, Ray, was said to have pulled Whitney from the tub, but now reports say it was actually her aunt, Mary Jones, who discovered the body after Whitney had been in the bathroom for an extended period of time. When she found her, Mary Jones pulled Whitney out of the water and attempted to perform CPR, obviously unsuccessfully.

With reports of Bobbi Kristina’s hospitalization’s since learning of her mother’s passing and concerns that she may be suicidal, it’s also eerily ironic that she was found in a similar situation the day before Whitney’s death. On Friday night, when Bobbi didn’t answer the door for her friends who were knocking, they called security to unlock the door and let them in, and they reportedly found Bobbi sleep in the bathtub as well, although it hasn’t been mentioned whether drugs were involved at all in her situation.

We’re definitely wishing the family the best at this time.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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