Future African American thru-hiker

[Sierra Echo]

I was raised in Atlanta in the 60s, came back post-Army, '75-80, lived there again from '82 to '90 after spending a couple years in Houston. During all those periods of time I spent as much time as possible in N Ga, hiking, fishing, hunting. Took my first weeklong solo in Warwoman when I was 15, etc etc etc.

As just one small example of the racism in N Ga during the 60s, every highway into Forsyth County bore a sign at the county line that read "N*****, don't let the sun set on your head". They meant it.

The only thing obvious here is that you don't know me, or the history of racism in N Ga.

I have lived in Georgia all my life. I think I know a bit more then you. Just because there are one or two racists doesn't make the entire northern half of the state racist. Obviously you never took the time to get to know the people.

[Tinker]

i'm a northern yankee American and i never had no trouble

Was that double negative intentional?

I am the same. I've never had any trouble from locals, folks picking me up hitching, or other hikers.

If you're hiking, you're a hiker to me. Race, sex, religion, etc. etc. are pretty much irrelevant on the trail to the great majority of fellow hikers.

[Tinker]

If it makes anyone feel better, I met my fair share of racists both here in the Northeast and in and around Richmond, Va. where I lived for a little over two years back in the 1970's. I've been assured that much has changed down south in the years since. I can say that around here I don't notice racism much (but I hang around with a much younger PC (not the school) generation in the retail sales and ever-so-earth mother conscious bicycle business .
Be a good human being and you will (hopefully) be repaid in kind.

[Frosty]

this is one of the sillier posts i've seen on here in a while. will you likely get preached to on a hitch in the south? yes, absolutely, happened to me several times. are you in any danger or "trouble" if you don't answer positively....no.

i can see it now:
driver: "have you accepted jesus as your lord and savior?"
hitch hiker: "uh, no."
driver: "get out of the car, i'm gonna kick your ass!!"

please.

No, but I've had people push Jesus at me nonstop until I considered jumping out of the car...

I'm all for freedom of religion. People should be able to worship how they want when they want. And I am impressed with the service so many religious folks provide for others who need it. I am less impressed with the trick of offering a ride or a meal to somone for the unnannounced purpose of having a captive audience to try to convert.

[Frosty]

Where on earth did you come up with THAT? Obviously you have never spent time up in N Ga. Also, N Ga is no worse racially then anywhere else!

I think he meant 40 years ago, a very different time. I'm sure GA is no worse than any place else today, but in the 60's they were quite a bit worse than any place I'd been to up north!

I was in Augusta for a year in the Army and I could hardly believe what I saw and heard off post. I thought being from a rough town in Massachusetts (New Bedford) I knew was racism was, but I had no idea.

[GGS2]

Well, you folks sure have a lot to say about nothing special. And it all seems to center on NGA. Up til now, the worst I heard was a few tales of hiker harassment around Cherokee territory. Nothing to do with race, if race means black people. However, I also hear that black hikers are scarce just about everywhere.

I'd say the op succeeded in getting some folks' backs up, but that doesn't mean he's a troll. I imagine he's getting the information he asked for, in a general way. Having lived with this kind of stuff all his life, I imagine he'll know what to make of it.

Up here (in Canada) we tend to think that we never had any racism, nor do we have it now. Well, think again. We certainly have very old black villages and urban black populations, and they have had a very hard time of it some times. And the urban blacks in some cities are still having a hard time. So I think the op is certainly right to ask if there are problems or places he should look out for. And I suspect that in general, the answer is no problems, have a nice hike. In general, but I'm almost certain there will be pockets and maybe towns he should steer clear of. Not probably on the trail, but around it.

On the trail, I suspect that his main problem will be getting rid of the people asking him if he's a real, honest to goodness, black thru. Really? ****!

To the op: I think you're probably getting the idea already. But just hang around here, lurking, for a while, and you'll learn more about trail people and the AT doing that than many people here might suspect. Lots of opinionated people, lots of characters, and a few real experts. Crouch down to get under the flames, and you'll probably learn everything you want to know.

[Sierra Echo]

I had someone behave very rudely to me in a Toronto Post Office after they found out I was an American. However a nicer Co-Worker saw what was happening and took care of the situation.

[Lilred]

I moved to TN in 1988. That year, there were KKK standing on the corners of our small town in white robes trying to recruit. Anyone who says it's a thing of the past is crazy, it's just gone further underground. Having Obama elected seems to have drawn out the racists from the woodwork though. As a teacher, I'm appalled by what I hear from my students, who obviously are still learning it from mommy and daddy. As a teacher it is hugely frustrating to hear 8th graders talking the way they do. And this year it's been even worse.
I expect you'll have a hard time hitchhiking in the south, and if I were you, I'd be very careful. There's a lot of people really pissed off because we have a Black president. Lots of pick up trucks down here still waving the confederate flag.

[JAK]

I was pretty naive growing up in the 1960s and 1970s. I still am.

[randyg45]

"There's a lot of people really pissed off because we have a Black president."

I'm a trucker from West Virginia, which ought to put my finger firmly on the redneck pulse. The next person I meet who is "really pissed off because we have a Black president" will be the first one.

[JAK]

In 1975 when I read Too Kill a Mockingbird in school I thought it was set back in the 1800s, or at least the early 1900s. Then I saw a movie later and was shocked to see the 1950s 1960s automobiles. So I figured the deep american south must be different. Then in the 1980s I learned that as late as the early 1970s you still couldn't get a haircut you were black or native in our provincial capital, Fredericton New Brunswick, a university town, a city that takes pride in itself as a centre of learning and culture. It was just in the past 10 years or so I learned we were still practicing eugenics in British Columbia and Alberta right up until the early 1970s. Other stuff keeps coming up, like residential schools and so forth. So who really knows what sort of stuff is still going on, right under our noses. You never ever really know unless it happens to you more or less directly. Still, people talk about this stuff like it was ancient history, and how everyone has a big chip in their shoulder and all that. If it happened to me I would have one hell of a chip in my shoulder. Heck I already do, and I don't even have reason to. Even to this day it always amazes me to what extent native Canadians are still fair game, even in polite company, even when most other groups are not. Still, there seems to be a general backlash against political correctness which is making alot of old groups and new groups fair game once again, even by those of us that you would at least think should know better.

So I'm not entirely sure things always get better over time. I think we always have to remain vigilant, and liveral and progressive and conservative in the finest sense of the words. This stuff tends to go in cycles and repeat itself through the ages. It is hard not to be naive, because you don't want to dwell too much on social injustice, but really there is a social responsibility to make yourself aware of what might really be going on around you, and not to be too much a part of the problem, through ignorance or apathy or convenience or whatever. Good literature and other forms of culture helps some, in terms of general ideas and awareness, but it is too easy to bury yourself in books and culture and think you are making a difference when you are really just making alot of things harder to change. Really makes sense to focus on yourself though, no matter who you are, at least that's what I think. We have a new poet in our city. He moved up from the United States. Great poet, and he has one heck of a voice when you hear him speak. We are very fortunate to have him, but I wonder how much even he might be able to change us. It has often been said that prejudice is much harder to change in Canada, because it is more subtle and covert and polite.

My favourite poem of his so far...
I heard him recite an even better one, at our cities 225th anniversary, which was about the military service of civilians through the years, but I have not been able to find it online.

Please, Don’t Look At My Shoes
By Clyde Wray

Its not that they’re old
they are a bit worn and weary
don’t hold much of a shine
don’t high step out much anymore
stitches are loose and the tongue
protrudes through over laces
that are frayed at the edges
there’s a huge hole in the sole
the cardboard replacement isn’t strong
aren’t much to look at
the once expensive name tag
is long gone
please, don’t look at my shoes
you might come to believe
I’m suffering
that just wouldn’t be true
I’ve got shoes
a good name
hope for the future
if you’re looking at my shoes
you don’t see me
I still dance in spring
and hear the wonderful song
of a Lark singing

Clyde A. Wray
April 28, 2009
All Rights Reserved

[JAK]

Another good one, written more recently...

The Way The River Flows, So I Go

I watch
the Saint John River flow
as unlikely as it seems
it feels at times
as it goes
so does my soul
when it rushes
pushes fiercely
when its power
appears out of control
I feel uprooted
lost
just on the verge
of losing it all..
when it’s placid
tranquil
when I can hear
the calm ripples trickle
along the shore
when I can stand
see a peaceful demeanor
reflect back at me
in the water
I too am under control
and I
don’t feel as if
I have a hole in my soul

Clyde A. Wray
May 19, 2010

[wcgornto]

There's a lot of people really pissed off because we have a Black president.

So I guess all those people who spent eight years relentlessly reviling G.W. Bush were pissed off because we had a white president??

Given strongly polarized opposing political viewpoints, roughly forty percent of the population will always be against the sitting president, no matter who it is. While I am sure that some people oppose Obama because of his racial makeup, I believe that most of the people who oppose him do so because of irreconcilable political views.

[JAK]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...28957815304228

[Ankle Bone]

A while back an African American thru hiker stated in an article that the people along the way were more of an issue than bears, lightning, etc.

As a white boy now living in GA, I wish it was not true, but you will have to deal with issues beacause of your skin color that I will never have to think about while hiking.

Not true for all that you meet or for every person in every town, but still you should keep your awareness up.

I agree with a previous poster that you should always announce that you are retired military. That should help.

To prepare for reality is better than ignoring

Good luck

[Cookerhiker]

Well as a northern white guy, I shouldn't presume to guess how African-Americans or southern whites would think and react to the situation. The only thing I'll offer is that folks all along the Trail corridor are accustomed to seeing thruhikers, especially "in-season." So if the OP starts his hike in early Spring (with the crowd so-to-speak) and is typically equipped with backpack, boots, hiking clothes, other gear etc. and goes to the same trail towns, hostels, etc. as all/most other thrus, then he may more likely be perceived as "one of them" meaning a thruhiker who happens to be black rather than a "black guy" first. Just maybe....

[Pedaling Fool]

...So if the OP starts his hike in early Spring (with the crowd so-to-speak) and is typically equipped with backpack, boots, hiking clothes, other gear etc. and goes to the same trail towns, hostels, etc. as all/most other thrus, then he may more likely be perceived as "one of them" meaning a thruhiker who happens to be black rather than a "black guy" first. Just maybe....

Yeah, true. You'll just belong to a different minority group

In the Marines they say they're all Green. However, thruhikers can't claim a color, but we can say we all stink

[Cookerhiker]

... but we can say we all stink

Hey, speak for yourself!

[Dogwood]

I don't think you need to be particularly overly concerned about being a black AT thru-hiker.

Let your words and actions be the judge of your character, not your skin color! If you do encounter some racism be kind, hold your chin up high, and move on. Keep your heart pure.

You will find other thru-hikers that you will befriend and they will befriend you.

Enjoy your hike!

Like anywhere a smile, openness, respect, humility, tolerance, sharing, but not forcing your beliefs or opinions on others, graciousness, and showing(verbalizing) you appreciation for any assistance you receive goes a long way.

I agree with everything Chiefiepoo recommended. I really like this in particular - Don't be phoney but try to identify with the locals instead of being overly concerned about differences. If you are concerned about the southeast I would not be. I find, with them, as in anywhere I hike, if you give an inch of respect you get a mile in return. Southerners are generally friendly helpful generous folks. This is generally even more so when you are identified as a hiker near the AT in the south. There exists strong hiker support near the AT in the south, regardless of skin color! Amen!

Also being from Hawaii, I find everyone wants to hear about life there. Share that to break the ice!

[rickb]

I still think the OP is a troll anyway.
Maybe he'll prove me wrong but I ain't bettin on it.

That was my first thought too.