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  1. #1

  2. #2
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    There is a significant minority presence in the Sierra Nevada especially around Yosemite and Tahoe, and also on the John Muir Trail which attracts hikers from all backgrounds apparently.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Coffee View Post
    There is a significant minority presence in the Sierra Nevada especially around Yosemite and Tahoe, and also on the John Muir Trail which attracts hikers from all backgrounds apparently.
    The article explores how barriers to access as well as historical personal experiences contribute to the lack of diverse faces on trails. Identifying clusters of high non-white male populations doesn’t necessarily address issues contributing to low minority participation.

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    Outdoor recreation is an entirely voluntary activity. As long as there are no structural barriers to participation, I don't see any reason to get worked up about lack of diversity. We might just as well complain that long trails have too many young (right out of high school or college) and old (retired) hikers, and not enough ages in between.

    Enjoy the outdoors. Enjoy the people in the outdoors. Spread your enthusiasm; maybe more will join. And that's enough, I think.

  5. #5
    Registered User El JP's Avatar
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    I hate the "POC" term with a passion and the article was one of the most stupidly pointless things I have read in quite a while.

    PS-Am Latino (Like that really matters in the sticks)

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by RuthN View Post
    what do you mean by timely?

  7. #7

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    Isn't "camping" one of the activities listed in the book of "Things only white people do"?
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  8. #8
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    I am old enough to have seen woman’s participation in wide-range of outdoor activities grow from a small minority to a level essentially equivalent to men. Not quite there yet with thru hiking, but still ...

    Did that “just happen” or was it helped along?

    I am sure there will come a time when we see more minorities out on the Trails, but it sure seems to be taking a long while.

    Groups like the AMC and others that work to encourage more diverse participation — especially among young people — are on the right path, I think.

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    Diversity for its own sake is pointless. It presumes that everyone is equally interested in the same things or that they should be. I find the notion off-putting on its face. I’d rather hike with someone truly passionate about the outdoors regardless of race than hike with 10 who read this article and felt compelled to represent diversity and go into the woods with some kind of activist idealism. I hike to get away from the politics.
    Last edited by Uncle Joe; 11-19-2017 at 00:28.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    what do you mean by timely?
    It’s about something happening currently.

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by RuthN View Post
    It’s about something happening currently.
    thanks, I’m gonna just assume you weren’t being cheeky.

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    Just yesterday I led a hike for some kids associated with our church. Eighteen people hiked, including 9 whites, a black family of 5, 2 Hispanics, and 2 biracials. What a sight we must have been to those who are used to seeing only white faces in the woods.

    I'm no expert on whatever cultural/legal/social issues have made the woods mostly white. I understand that there is history. But I detected a whiff of something in the article that bothers me. Here and there in the article I found expressions of the notion that somehow it's the fault of me or people like me if black and brown people don't hike.

    A few pertinent facts:
    It is not the responsibility of gear manufacturers to attempt to change the demographic makeup of the trail. Their mission is to sell merchandise to people who are interested.

    I am unaware of any current restrictions regarding who can access public lands. To attribute their absence to the "legacy of slavery" or "harsh memories of migrant work" is simplistic, stereotypes people of color, and overstates the importance of these factors.

    Hiking is free. Many thousands of people enter our national parks, paying whatever entrance fee is imposed, and never leave their cars. It costs nothing to park the car and wander down a trail.

    No one has to travel to far-off places to experience nature. Nature exists in the night sky, on our lawns, in the trees we drive past. And wildness exists within a half-day's journey of almost everywhere in the US.

    Hiking requires no equipment, no special abilities, no experience. It certainly doesn't require anyone to "own that Subaru." And the fact that mountain trails aren't wheelchair-accessible is just a fact, not a problem to solve, not an injustice.

    Nature doesn't care what we look like. Bees and snakes and bears and rocks and sticks and dirt are no more hazardous to brown skin than to white skin.

    Back to yesterday's hike. Among us was a black man. He is father to some teenagers, so he must be mid-30s at least. Our little 2-mile hike was his VERY FIRST HIKE, ever. Among the whites were two adolescent girls who last year touched a waterfall for the FIRST TIME EVER. Wow! I can't wait to introduce them to more outdoor adventures.

    If we value nature, if we value the environment, those values will be expressed in the activities that we choose to engage in. Values. Choices. Freedom.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    .............Hiking requires no equipment, no special abilities, no experience. It certainly doesn't require anyone to "own that Subaru." And the fact that mountain trails aren't wheelchair-accessible is just a fact, not a problem to solve, not an injustice.
    In fact, for years Lone Wolf has been telling us it's just walking.
    And to be honest, I do own that Subaru. It's 15 years old and has over 403 thousand miles

  14. #14

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    I’m gonna stick this article in my “you can leed a horse to water but you can’t make em drink” file, meh, just meh.

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    Quote Originally Posted by LIhikers View Post
    In fact, for years Lone Wolf has been telling us it's just walking.
    And to be honest, I do own that Subaru. It's 15 years old and has over 403 thousand miles
    You own a Subaru?? You must be rich.

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    Cool

    I thought the correct word for this concept was "diversary" ??????

  17. #17
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    I think that lack of diversity applies mainly to thru hiking. Not sure re: National parks and forests. But I haven't seen such a lack on local trails here. I think thru hiking is not how most people experience nature, and most people will never thru hike or even want to.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    Just yesterday I led a hike for some kids associated with our church. Eighteen people hiked, including 9 whites, a black family of 5, 2 Hispanics, and 2 biracials. What a sight we must have been to those who are used to seeing only white faces in the woods.

    I'm no expert on whatever cultural/legal/social issues have made the woods mostly white. I understand that there is history. But I detected a whiff of something in the article that bothers me. Here and there in the article I found expressions of the notion that somehow it's the fault of me or people like me if black and brown people don't hike.

    A few pertinent facts:
    It is not the responsibility of gear manufacturers to attempt to change the demographic makeup of the trail. Their mission is to sell merchandise to people who are interested.

    I am unaware of any current restrictions regarding who can access public lands. To attribute their absence to the "legacy of slavery" or "harsh memories of migrant work" is simplistic, stereotypes people of color, and overstates the importance of these factors.

    Hiking is free. Many thousands of people enter our national parks, paying whatever entrance fee is imposed, and never leave their cars. It costs nothing to park the car and wander down a trail.

    No one has to travel to far-off places to experience nature. Nature exists in the night sky, on our lawns, in the trees we drive past. And wildness exists within a half-day's journey of almost everywhere in the US.

    Hiking requires no equipment, no special abilities, no experience. It certainly doesn't require anyone to "own that Subaru." And the fact that mountain trails aren't wheelchair-accessible is just a fact, not a problem to solve, not an injustice.

    Nature doesn't care what we look like. Bees and snakes and bears and rocks and sticks and dirt are no more hazardous to brown skin than to white skin.

    Back to yesterday's hike. Among us was a black man. He is father to some teenagers, so he must be mid-30s at least. Our little 2-mile hike was his VERY FIRST HIKE, ever. Among the whites were two adolescent girls who last year touched a waterfall for the FIRST TIME EVER. Wow! I can't wait to introduce them to more outdoor adventures.

    If we value nature, if we value the environment, those values will be expressed in the activities that we choose to engage in. Values. Choices. Freedom.
    Some very good points. I felt the slavery part was a stretch too.

  19. #19

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    Written by an intern at CNN from a liberal arts college. Oh, and she's white.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ505 View Post
    I think that lack of diversity applies mainly to thru hiking. Not sure re: National parks and forests. ..............
    White people are definitely the majority in every National Park I have been to and it always surprises me how few African Americans I see. The quote that"If you're a woman, if you're a person of color, if you're in a wheelchair or have a cane, if you're elderly, if you're of a faith that's different from the dominant faith, there is a wind blowing against you that only you, or only people who look like you, can feel." is something to think about. Whether you believe it true or not, if people of color feel that way it might help explain why white people predominant in national parks. (I don't know what is going on with the font size in this post. I can't get everything the same size)
    If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

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