As seen over Clayton Cramer’s
Longtime oppression and historical barriers have kept many people of color from feeling comfortable in the American outdoors. Now that may be changing. Groups in Southern California and around the nation have made it their goal to introduce people of color to nature in a positive way. Their mission is to remove barriers and help people experience the connection, whether they are seeking fitness, healing, personal accomplishment or knowledge about all the outdoors has to offer. For many, the first step is going on a hike. Here are groups working toward a more diverse outdoors.
Latino Outdoors: Christian La Mont, program manager of Latino Outdoors, a national organization with a Los Angeles chapter, calls the process of removing barriers “the hike before the hike.” The idea is that people of color see themselves represented on the trail.
Hiking has a diversity problem. These BIPOC groups are working to fix it
I had to laugh when I read this, specially the “historical barriers” part. Latinos by far avoid “hitting the trail” and “hiking” because for many it represents the abject poverty of people living in places so crappy or remote, they cannot move around unless it is in a path carved by centuries of foot traffic. In the Colombia-Venezuela frontier, the “trochas” (trails) are the domain of the human and drug smugglers and you transit those at the risk of your own life because usually there will be bullets flying from both sides of the law.
And then there is the question of the government-owned parks as opposed to the idea here of National Parks. Again, it is government-owned parks and governments, specially in South America do not like you to go traipsing around their property without the proper permits which are hard to obtain. I was an avid backpacker in my early 20s and I enjoyed to walk the spur of the Andes that ended in Venezuela, but I had to get a permit, report myself with the National Guard before hiking and obligated to stay to certain areas under penalty of arrest if I deviated. And the permit could only be obtained at one office in Caracas in person for the whole country, so you can imagine how many were issued. Hell, I surprised more cops and National Guard with the fact that I actually had a permit and they saw me suspiciously as some sort of high government official undercover. And yes, I fully took advantage of that.
The National Park system as you find here in the US is something we are surprised and amazed to see because it simply does not exists where we come from. And yes, Latinos would do great by hiking the many available paths at our disposal so we can get rid of the extra calories brought by out cuisine. But to hide a cultural trait behind a fake cloak of racism is political dishonesty (OK, I know it is redundant, let it be), I would bet this guy call himself Latinx rather than Latino.
Considering the “I” in BIPOC stands fo “Indigenous” just what exactly prevents Native Americans fro hiking, seems they’ve been doing that for centuries.
The only “barriers” I can think of for anyone wanting to go on a hike is the lack of suitable clothing and sturdy foot wear. Even if one were too poor to afford new blue jeans and boots, a trip to the local thrift store should be able to rectify that affordably.
P.S. In Cali, where carrying weapons in hiking areas is highly regulated, if not outright prohibited, unarmed hikers may become cougar treats.
I’ve never known any of my Hispanic or Asian friends to spend any time hiking and/or camping, unless they were in the military.
Never known a one of them to feel unwelcome in parks, where they go to picnic, hang out, and BBQ. They don’t view walking through nature, getting bit by bugs, and sweating as recreation.
I might add that not many of the Irish crowd I grew up with were any different.
My dad, who was Irish, didnt like camping, hiking or going barefoot. He grew up extremely impoverished during the depression. You went barefoot when you couldnt afford shoes, hiking and camping reminded him of sleeping under bridges and walking long distances, hungry, while looking for work.
One of my camping and hunting buddies and bring a shovel friends is black and entirely unapologetic about shutting down these arguments. We agree that the only way to get people who don’t want to be in the outdoors out there is to reduce it to the level of glamping or ruin it for the enthusiasts which seems to be their plan.
We more or less agree we’re being talked down to and in a month or so they’ll get popeyes to sponsor food drops the way the local nuts are talking.
The folks promoting this are projecting so hard you could throw it up at a drive in theater.
Idiots creating a problem where there is none—-in order to stoke their own ego…..
I wonder if they see a diversity problem in basketball. Or skiing. Or skydiving.
It’s a fact that different activities have different demographics. In some cases one can guess why, in others the reason is not at all obvious. But the notion that such differences are a “problem”, let alone the idea that they are caused by nefarious action, is just weird.
By the way, the same point applies to the gender mix for various activities. Those are all over the place too. And they aren’t the same in different (Western) countries, which would suggest the differences are cultural or accidental or random, not deliberate let alone malicious.
The article must be about all race, white, brown, yellow, etc., except blacks. Ask any scientists, black is not a color, so when talking about colored people, blacks must be excluded.
This is another case of the plumber existing to give the wrench something to do.
There is no one stopping anyone from going for a hike. End of story. Even when the trailhead lot is full, people just park on the road, grass, or somewhere else nearby. The cost to get into a park is not higher for POCs, there is no income test, there is no IQ test to enter.
Want to go hike, go hike.
If minorities are hiking less than whites, that is because they choose other activities.
This is the same crap as the idiot with a Masters Degree in Womans Studies claiming there is discrimination because not enough women are graduating with STEM degrees.
…and, not “enough” males with wxmyn “studies” degrees.
Oh, the horror of the discrimination!
I wonder if the fact that illegal aliens often hike dozens of miles (occasionally hundreds) in order to sneak in has something to do with any stigma, real or perceived.
Whether it’s liberals white-knighting or an actual cultural bias against it, I can see the argument bring attempted that hiking is something shameful, associated with being poor or on the run from the law, and therefore being avoided once you’ve “made it” and succeeded.
Which brings to my suspicious mind the question of “exactly WHAT are they attempting to normalize?” What is the goal (or goals) here?
It’s finding something else to colonize and destroy like quilting or RPGs. I’ve seen the same language used against cycling and yet my Facebook cycling group is 25% Black