The overriding reason minority parents gave for not allowing their kids to participate in swimming lessons, even if they were free, was fear.

I like the way the YMCA approached this problem. Instead of finding out that minority children or poor people can't swim, the YMCA finds out why they can't swim and addresses it. Good job on them. 

The YMCA has seemingly found a way to get the whole family involved and that shared or communal learning experience binds families together as well as educates them.

Cullen Jones above who had a similar story to those featured in the article.

From Minnesota Public Radio:

Lindsay Mondick, aquatics director for the Greater Twin Cities YMCA, helped researchers convene focus groups in the Twin Cities. She says the overriding reason minority parents gave for not allowing their kids to participate in swimming lessons, even if they were free, was fear.

"If a parent was very fearful of the water, they're not going to bring their child to the water because, one, they will have a fear that they won't be able to get in and help them. And then that translates to the child. So it's kind of a cycle that isn't ever fixed because that parent will never seek out resources to have them swim," she said. 

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On a side note, I suppose the dominating population in Minnesota is white so to hear the term "minority" is so funny and actually an obsolete concept in Los Angeles where English speaking only is just 40% of the population and a language other than English is 59.8%.