Red Cross Swimming Safety Poster Deemed 'Super Racist'

The Red Cross is apologizing after one of its water safety posters was called out as racist. The poster, which was spotted at multiple Colorado public pools, shows swimmers engaging in "cool" and "not cool" behavior in order to illustrate what is and is not OK to do at a pool. The problem? Most of the white characters on the poster are in the "cool" camp, while most of the "not cool" behavior involves black characters. "I just kept thinking, 'It looks like they're trying to do something here that shows all kids together of all different backgrounds but they're clearly not hitting the mark,'" one mom who saw the poster tells 9 News.

The posters made many headlines, and people posted images on Twitter, calling the posters, among other things, "super racist" and "not okay." A Red Cross spokesperson told 9 News the posters were removed while the Red Cross comes up with "more appropriate material," and on Monday, the organization put out a statement officially apologizing. "We deeply apologize for any misunderstanding, as it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone. 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." (More Red Cross stories.)