A black woman and her 5-year-old daughter were harassed by a white man on Monday, June 11, questioning their hygiene while they were on vacation in Pasadena, California, as shown in a video posted online.

Carle Wheeler took to Facebook to recount a disturbing interaction she and her daughter had with a white man who repeatedly questioned whether they showered before going into the hotel pool. Wheeler wrote they were guests at a Westin Hotel, and the man repeatedly verbally harassed them – one time claiming to work for the health department.

"The man asked if me and my little girl had showered before getting into the pool because people carry diseases into the pools, and he doesn't want the health department to shut the pool down," she wrote in part.

In the video clip, the man can be heard doubling down on his questioning on whether the family had showered before entering the pool. He asserted that he was merely enforcing the "rules" although Wheeler and her mother noted he had not asked anyone else in the pool area whether they had showered.

Wheeler wrote that another woman who appears in the video is a hotel manager who she said told the man it was inappropriate to question and target her family. The man took it a step further and can be heard in the video condescendingly telling the family to "Google" the "diseases" in pools.

What's more, the man can then be heard addressing the 5-year-old directly saying, "It's only a shower young lady…"

"It’s sad that I had to explain to my beautiful little five-year-old brown skinned girl why in 2018 a white man would think it’s OK to ask a little girl and her mom if we showered our presumably dirty black skin before entering a swimming pool," Wheeler wrote on Facebook.

Toward the end of the video clip, a man, who Wheeler wrote is the general manager, can be heard threatening to call the police as he approached the confrontation. He then told the man to leave the area and directs Wheeler and her mother toward what appears to be the pool area. When Wheeler complained he was letting the man off the hook, the manager insisted that he planned to "go talk to him."

On Wednesday, June 13, Wheeler said the hotel hadn't contacted her.

The hotel released the following statement to local ABC13:

"In light of these events that happened, we feel it is important to share that we do not condone comments or behavior directed to our pool guests. The safety and security of our [guests] is our top priority. We strive to maintain an environment where our guests feel welcome and are treated with equal respect and attention from our team."

According to CBS Los Angeles, the hotel reportedly comped Wheeler's stay and said the man was not allowed to return to the hotel property.

swimming while black

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