Interesting thru hike story from a different perspective

[Zea]

The writer states: "As a queer black woman, I’m among the last people anyone expects to see on a through-hike." This is sensationalist BS, and anyone that's in the AT community knows it. She should be ashamed of hiking this great trail and writing this. It's the opposite, no one out there cares what your gender or race is.

"No one out there cares". Tell that to Rebecca Wight.
All it takes is one person caring for there to be consequences. Yes it can happen to anyone, but you're pushing your own bias pretty far if you imply that certain groups aren't far more likely to be victims of hate, discrimination and violence.

Yes, the author has an agenda. We all do.

[dudeijuststarted]

Yes it can happen to anyone, but you're pushing your own bias pretty far if you imply that certain groups aren't far more likely to be victims of hate, discrimination and violence..

quantify "far more likely" with statistical research and i'll take interest in your position. i mean that sincerely. Myself and several other white friends have been victims of extreme unprovoked violence, on seperate occasions, which could be construed as "racial," but we don't make a scene about it. No one is protesting in the physical or virtual world for us. Life goes on.

[dudeijuststarted]

I just read it as a clearly and possibly rightfully biased author telling a story involving the AT that was different than the typical stuff I see.

And I read it as a clearly biased amateur writer, in search of a career milestone, strategically using the Appalachian Trail as a uniquely and attractive backdrop for a piece about a social issue that she seems more interested in perpetuating than alleviating. Whatever bone she has to pick, a scenic trail and outdoor exercise have nothing to do with it. She must have had her eyes closed as she passed through the national parks. All she effectively did was tell perspective hikers and campers to not bother as they would be too weary from all the racism to walk up the stairs once they got home. Drama queen.

[rickb]

I am thinking that the article (which gets two thumbs up from me, not that it matters) is worth reading more than once-- with a couple hours in between.

It's good to be reminded that people come to the AT (and everything, really) from a different set of experiences. I know I have been blind to that on more than one occasion.

I also know just a very small bit about how it feels to be outside my cultural/ethnic comfort zone, and understand why that could be a central part of an article like this one. One my second read, I found a lot more in there that I missed my first time through.

Congrats to the author for her hike and article both.

[BuckeyeBill]

While I may not agree with what you say, I will defend to my death your right to say it.

[soilman]

I read this as an honest account of a black woman's solo hike on the AT, not a hate filled rant. I cannot discount or dismiss her experience because it is her reality. It may be difficult for some to accept her story because it is so different from their own. Walk a mile in my shoes.

[dudeijuststarted]

"My financial position was so strong that I took 6 months off of work to hike in the woods and I'm essentially a professional blogger. I don't know how I'm still alive under all this oppression."

Oh the horror.

[Heatho]

So I bought the TT Notch and I'm a bit freaked out with the post that displayed the worn down tips of the BD poles. Will the grommets still seat the tips if they're that worn down?
Oh wait....wrong thread.

[ImAfraidOfBears]

People like Rahawa will never know equality, they hold the divide of their ethnic differences close, like a blanket. Seems like the sum total of the 'oppression' she experienced on the trail was an anecdotal tale from a thru hiker that hiked 20 years ago. I wish she took the time to interject some hope in there, instead she never failed to commend herself on her unrivaled uniqueness in being black where most people were white. This unto itself is not an accomplishment.

Just seems a little like sensationalist writing, and disingenuous to those that are actual victims of racism.

[JumpMaster Blaster]

Starting north from Springer, some of the more popular trail towns one might typically stop in are Hiawassee GA (95.5% white, 0.35% black), Franklin TN (82.3% white, 1.9% black), Gatlinburg TN (95.7% white, 0.5% black), Hot Springs NC (98.5% white, 0.5% black), Erwin TN (97.8% white, 0.8% black), Damascus VA (96.9% white, 1.6% black). And the demographics don't really change much until you reach the comparatively diverse Harpers Ferry, WV where a whopping 4% of the population is black, and perhaps the most racially diverse town on the entire AT. The demographics don't change in the north either - all the way from Georgia to Maine the AT runs through rural, exceedingly white America.

So for those of you who can't understand why a black person might feel different, or unwanted, or nervous, or "on guard" while hiking the AT, perhaps you should imagine yourself hiking through towns where those demographic numbers were switched - if you had the guts to even do it. You might just have similar feeling as those expressed by the woman who wrote the article.

Wise words. Many will never realize it. As a black woman that loves traipsing up and down the AT in the South (and been living in the south for 20 years), I have seen my fair share of Confederate flags. I don't go off the rails blogging or ranting about it. I acknowledge it, survey and asess my surroundings, and either continue on or make alternative plans. I've met some of the nicest people in Erwin, Hot Springs, and Damascus. I even joke around with my friend that whenever I visit a pretty popular trail stop I double the black population there for a few days.

While I understood some of her trepidation, I was saddened by the fact that she let external influences (and news stories) spoil her hike. Only when we stop looking at/for differences in people and start minding the similarities will we ever get away from this mindset. But others have to realize that the demographics on the AT are VERY skewed to a particular demographic, and saying that doesn't play a factor is just plain uninformed.

[JumpMaster Blaster]

I blog about my section hikes on the AT. Not to take anything away from Rahawa Haile, but if you're interested you can read through my incomplete and not recently updated stories of my own experiences on AT hikes inthe south here: www.justalittlesolitude.com

[egilbe]

I blog about my section hikes on the AT. Not to take anything away from Rahawa Haile, but if you're interested you can read through my incomplete and not recently updated stories of my own experiences on AT hikes inthe south here: www.justalittlesolitude.com

Thats exactly how I would expect a hiking blog to be written. It makes me want to go hiking.

[TX Aggie]

I come to this forum to get away from politics.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[speedbump]

I agree. I got a paragraph in and did not cont reading. It is a race article, not a hiking article. I am short, female, with disfiguring scars. I get comments all the time, some are nasty and ignorant. People are people. Discrimination goes in all directions. We all have self imposed 'cards' to play if we want to.

HYOH lets leave racism, reverse-racism off the trail

[The Solemates]

excellent photos!

[The Solemates]

I blog about my section hikes on the AT. Not to take anything away from Rahawa Haile, but if you're interested you can read through my incomplete and not recently updated stories of my own experiences on AT hikes inthe south here: www.justalittlesolitude.com

excellent photos!

sorry this comment was in relation to your blog jumpmaster!

[Ankle Bone]

I think it is difficult as a white person, and especially for old white guys from the US or South Africa, to relate to what a black person experiences in a predominantly white society everyday in their life, whether they be home, working, hiking, whatever. So, we have a choice. We can listen to their story and try to understand their perspective, or we can dismiss it as the complaining of a part of society we neither understand nor particularly like. I doubt you or I face the daily problems of functioning in a society that marginalizes us to at least some degree because of our skin color, gender, sexuality, or anything else. Okay, for me, maybe age these days. But you and I wouldn't even think of such things being related to something as simple as going hiking, would we?

This may be the best post I have ever seen on this page.

From one old white guy to another - Spot on man!

[-Rush-]

I blog about my section hikes on the AT. Not to take anything away from Rahawa Haile, but if you're interested you can read through my incomplete and not recently updated stories of my own experiences on AT hikes inthe south here: www.justalittlesolitude.com

I have read your blogs before and enjoyed them. I believe I ended up there by clicking a photo of the AT on Google. Thank you for your service!

[togo]

Pick your "...ism".
There's plenty of them.
Probably everyone's got one or two or more.
But leave them off the trail.

Hiker-ism?

[RockDoc]

No, really. This woman should be shouting praises to the mountaintops that this country welcomes people of all races, religions, and lifestyles. We elect them to high office. We teach their cultures and attitudes in our schools. We raise our children to respect other people. This is the best country to be a minority, which is why millions flock here from the world's hell holes.

If you want a real racist country, try being a white person in mono-culture Thailand (they stare and point at you, charge you higher prices, and have a special word for you, farung). Try being Christian in a Muslim nation (they may kill you). Try being different in any of the mono-culture countries, you will be outcast, or worse.

The USA is a beacon to the world for freedom and democracy. Hikers intuitively know that because we have extreme freedom in the hills, and we all face the same challenges (hills, rocks, roots, weather).

This lady doesn't get it... maybe she should go hike in North Korea and then write about that experience (if she lives).