Why the extreme lack of racial diversity in the hiking community?

[Walter Ellis]

During the course of many hikes over the years I noticed there was very few people of color and those that I did encounter were usually foreign tourists or children in scout troops.Now I do not believe nor am I insinuating that the hiking community is racist because even if primarily white it is very diverse group of individuals each with our own style. I believe this has more to do with a lack of interest within the minority community. Why does such a lack of interest exist? What can we do as a hikng community to encourage more interest from minorities?

[Hairbear]

i have thought of this myself.i feel that it many minorities have been kept down,so they do not seek minimalistic entertainment to prove self worth.they see it as luxury is better for expression of self.its hard for people who have been forced to do without to find pleasure in not having.

[Mrs Baggins]

In my group of 307 outdoors ladies, I probably have about 12 that are either Asian, Latino, or African. That is sad but I don't have an explanation for it. One black lady told me that her mom was a girl scout troop leader but that they never did anything in the outdoors because it was Chicago and her mom was simply not going to do any of that. I've got her buying backpacking gear now and eagerly awaiting her first night sleeping outdoors. She absolutely loves to hike but her mom is in the background warning her about the dangers of "lions and bears" on the trail!

[rickb]

[QUOTE= What can we do as a hikng community to encourage more interest from minorities?[/QUOTE]

Walter,

To my way of thinking a better question than asking what "we as a community can do", would be to ask what each of us as an individual can do.

Then look for an answer that is personally actionable, rather than one that is simply hopeful.

I am not sure what the answer that works best for you will be, but I think each of us can do a great deal more than we may think possibe. Whether by yourself or in the context of working with or otherwise supporting groups like the Scouts or the AMC's youth opportuity programs. Here is a link to that one:

http://www.outdoors.org/recreation/yop/

Its a good topic for discussion, of course. As a new participant to this forum, you might also look to the archives for ideas as well.

Rick B

[JAK]

Good question, but I think the bigger question is why more people of all ages, ethnic origins, genders, whatever, don't spend more time in the outdoors. I think most people are drawn more to people than away from people. Perhaps racial minorities feel that stronger. Not sure. Very few people hike in general though. Even if you combine all human powered trail activities, hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeiing, canoeing, paddling, white water rafting, I think it is still a relative minority of people however you sort and divide them. But even though it is somewhat of an anti-social activity, in the sense of getting away from society, it is still largely influenced by social factors, which is why more people are drawn to more popular trails and follow certain marketing or fashion trends even when supposedly seeking solitude or whatever. It has strong social influences, so you would tend to see clusters I think, in terms of certain age groups or income groups or ethnic groups or whatever. It is not entirely random is what I am saying, there are bound to be strong correlations with other social groupings, but not neccessarily any real cause or effect.

Or I could say something stupid like they are too busy kicking our ass in sports.

[swjohnsey]

I was thinkin' the same thing about NBA basketball.

[coach lou]

I believe that Hairbear & Mrs Baggins both make sense. Certainly we white europeans grew up with a pioneering spirit, 'it's what our ancestors did'. Built on by youth groups that taught this and had opportunity, as in Mrs. Baggins example.

[Capt Nat]

What are you people, nuts??? We don't want any diversity of any kind on the trail. We don't want people who do or don't carry hiking poles. We don't want people who love or hate dogs. We don't want people who hang or don't hang bear bags. You want diversity? Carry a gun and drink unfiltered water!

[swjohnsey]

O.K. I drink unfiltered water but it is too much trouble to carry a gun.

[hikerboy57]

a large part of it is simply financial.growing up in urban rather than suburban or rural settings with less exposure to the outdoors.many white kids went to summer camps. some parents had summer homes in the mtns,cars to be able to drive away from the cities,and other ways to stimulate much closer at hand.
obviously it costs nothing to take a walk in the woods, but first you need to get to the woods.i think minorities generally are less exposed to the natural world and develop different interests when theyre young.
as far as sports, you still dont see very many non-whites in tennis, golf for the same reasons.

[JAK]

Well what about Native Americans then? They ventured further out of Africa than Europeans. You don't see alot of them hiking, at least not on the mainstream trails. Humans are social animals and they tend to cluster into social groups. So you tend to see more African Americans in some sports, like Football, and fewer in others, like Hockey. You can look at specific reasons like barriers and breakthroughs, but mostly its because we tend to cluster.

[trapper]

To my way of thinking a better question than asking what "we as a community can do", would be to ask what each of us as an individual can do.*quote

do you think if colored people had a sport/activity that was not played or attended by white people they would try or even care that whites were not there? i think white people are so scared be called racist that some try to hard.....

[hikerboy57]

To my way of thinking a better question than asking what "we as a community can do", would be to ask what each of us as an individual can do.*quote

do you think if colored people had a sport/activity that was not played or attended by white people they would try or even care that whites were not there? i think white people are so scared be called racist that some try to hard.....

is there a problem with helping to create a more inclusive environment and community? for both whites and "coloreds"?

[MuddyWaters]

Leisure pursuit choices are dependent on your values, lifestyle, disposeable income, free time, location, upbringing, and especially peer group.

We all choose how to spend limited free time, doing what we have grown to prefer.

The same could be said for alpine skiing, rock climbing, offshore fishing, rodeo, shooting sports, swimming, recreational running, hunting, many other sports, nascar,.....

We have a large mexican immigtant population near our area now. They get together on Sunday and the men play soccer, a large all-latino soccer league. They spend their free timebonding this way and maintaining a sense of latino community. Different strokes for different folks.

[JAK]

I like to burn things for the pure joy of it.

[JAK]

Not because I am white.

[coach lou]

JAK, I have to respecfully disagree with your examples. First, I assume you are from New Brunswick Canada? How many football teams do you have, how many hockey rinks. Here in Connecticut your examples are totally based on opportunity. Football....big open field, sneakers, and a ball. Hockey, ponds are not consistant, we need rinks, travel to other rinks......$$$$$$$ equipment. The native americans were already here in the wilderness, Europeans came here and spread. I have read extensively about our Native Americans, and except for Jacksa Chula Harjos obsession to eradicate the Cherokees, Shawnees and other tribes, many Natives wanted to join the progress that the Europeans brought.

[hikerboy57]

long beach is a racially diverse community with a huge surfing population-mostly white, with some hispanics and orientals, almost no blacks. and in the 30 years ive lived here, ive only surfed 3 times. i prefer mountains.most of my friends have never gone hiking.dont understand"what is it you do out there?"

[Capt Nat]

The fewer people on the trail, the happier I am. Instead of luring black folks on the trail, lets strive for fewer and fewer white folks till we achieve racial equality on the Appalachian Trail... Introverts unite!!! Separately...

[coach lou]

long beach is a racially diverse community with a huge surfing population-mostly white, with some hispanics and orientals, almost no blacks. and in the 30 years ive lived here, ive only surfed 3 times. i prefer mountains.most of my friends have never gone hiking.dont understand"what is it you do out there?"

.............but, what about the bugs, and bears........isn't there dirt on the ground?