Excerpt: "The disparate treatment of black visitors and misconceptions about
African-Americans relations with the outdoors is part of the United States'
legacy of racial violence and segregation."
Visitors to Yosemite National Park. (photo: Tiffany Rose/Getty)
Here's Why America's National Parks Are So White
By Tanya Golash-Boza, Safiya Noble, Vilna Bashi Treitler and Zulema Valdez,
Al Jazeera America
23 July 15
Many prospective visitors worry about park employees' disparate treatment
and implicit racial bias
Why are our parks so white?" columnist Glenn Nelson asked in a recent op-ed
in The New York Times. Nelson, who runs Trail Posse, an online platform that
promotes diversity in the outdoors, explains that people of color are only
about half as likely to visit national parks as whites. He offers two
reasons for this disparity: People of color are less familiar with parks and
therefore hesitant to go, and there is a lack of racial diversity among the
nation's park employees.
However, it is not just unfamiliarity with the parks that keeps people of
color away. Many prospective visitors worry about disparate treatment by and
implicit racial bias of park staffers. Nelson refers to jokes made by his
road trip companions, including one in which they expected whites-only signs
at the national park entrances. Unfortunately, those jokes are not that far
from the truth. African-Americans are less likely to visit parks for fear of
racist treatment by mostly white park rangers, gate agents and other park
staffers. It is therefore critical to assess and eliminate these inherent
biases that exclude people of color from outdoor public spaces.
According to a 2009 survey by the University of Wyoming and the National
Park Service (NPS), whites accounted for 78 percent of the national parks'
visitors from 2008 to 2009; Hispanics, 9 percent; African-Americans, 7
percent; and Asian-Americans, 3 percent.
When compared with their share of the U.S. population, white park visitors
are overrepresented by 14 percentage points, whereas African-Americans were
underrepresented by 6 percentage points. Whites are overrepresented not only
as visitors but also as park employees. According to a 2013 report by the
nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, 80 percent of NPS employees were
white. And the National Park Foundation's 22-member board, whose mission is
to support the NPS through fundraising, has only four minorities.
Data on the population in comparison the ethnicity. (photo: National Park
Service/U.S. Census.)
African-Americans and Hispanics list various reasons for not visiting
national parks, including the high cost of food and lodging, lack of
outreach and information about parks, safety concerns and poor service by
NPS employees. The limited outreach to African-American communities is
rooted in the stereotype that black people don't do nature. The disparate
treatment of black visitors and misconceptions about African-Americans
relations with the outdoors is part of the United States' legacy of racial
violence and segregation. In this dynamic, park rangers and park police
often make African-American visitors feel unwelcome.
Last month we learned firsthand about the racist mistreatment of
African-American park visitors during a scholarly event at Yosemite National
Park in California. By inviting a diverse group of women to the park, we
inadvertently carried out a study of racial profiling by park gate agents.
As part of our event, eight female academics - four of them white or
Hispanic and four African-American - drove into the park. The organizers
told participants not to pay the entrance fee and to inform gate agents that
their fees were waived because they were visiting the research station.
The white and Hispanic drivers gave the agents the information as directed
and were welcomed and waved through. The four African-American scholars
entered the park at different times and entrances and gave the same
information. In all four cases, the African-American professors were
extensively questioned, made to fill out a superfluous form, which required
extra and unnecessary effort and a check-in with the research center staff,
and reluctantly let into the park.
One of the black professors was questioned about her college degrees, the
title of her research project and her university affiliation and was asked
to provide a faculty ID. The agents appeared incapable of imagining that a
black woman could hold a Ph.D. and visit a research station for a scholarly
event. (The Yosemite National Park Service has since opened an investigation
into the incidents.) This is heartbreaking, not least because Buffalo
Soldiers, members of all-African-American regiments of the U.S. Army, were
among the nation's first park rangers and built the first marked trail at
Yosemite. Today only 1 percent of the park's visitors are black.
Health benefits
Spending time in natural environments such as parks has proven mental and
physical health benefits. A recent study by Stanford University researchers
found that participants who walked for 90 minutes in natural settings
improved their memory and lessened their anxiety, compared with those who
walked in an urban setting. Since minority populations are largely urban
(more than half of U.S. cities are majority nonwhite), national parks are
important resources for them to connect with nature and gain those benefits.
Yet the NPS has failed to conduct concerted outreach to minority urban
dwellers.
Fortunately, people of color are working to reclaim these spaces and
diversify America's parks. One such person is Rue Mapp, the founder of
Outdoor Afro, which trains volunteers to lead hiking, camping and nature
excursions with their communities. Such efforts must be supported and
expanded, especially in our cities.
In addition to its efforts to attract people of color, the NPS should train
its employees to eradicate racial biases and discrimination that are
discouraging black people and other minorities from visiting parks. It has a
responsibility to make our national parks safe and welcoming spaces for all
Americans.
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Visitors to Yosemite National Park. (photo: Tiffany Rose/Getty)
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/7/heres-why-americas-national-par
ks-are-so-white.htmlhttp://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/7/heres-why-a
mericas-national-parks-are-so-white.html
Here's Why America's National Parks Are So White
By Tanya Golash-Boza, Safiya Noble, Vilna Bashi Treitler and Zulema Valdez,
Al Jazeera America
23 July 15
Many prospective visitors worry about park employees' disparate treatment
and implicit racial bias
hy are our parks so white?" columnist Glenn Nelson asked in a recent op-ed
in The New York Times. Nelson, who runs Trail Posse, an online platform that
promotes diversity in the outdoors, explains that people of color are only
about half as likely to visit national parks as whites. He offers two
reasons for this disparity: People of color are less familiar with parks and
therefore hesitant to go, and there is a lack of racial diversity among the
nation's park employees.
However, it is not just unfamiliarity with the parks that keeps people of
color away. Many prospective visitors worry about disparate treatment by and
implicit racial bias of park staffers. Nelson refers to jokes made by his
road trip companions, including one in which they expected whites-only signs
at the national park entrances. Unfortunately, those jokes are not that far
from the truth. African-Americans are less likely to visit parks for fear of
racist treatment by mostly white park rangers, gate agents and other park
staffers. It is therefore critical to assess and eliminate these inherent
biases that exclude people of color from outdoor public spaces.
According to a 2009 survey by the University of Wyoming and the National
Park Service (NPS), whites accounted for 78 percent of the national parks'
visitors from 2008 to 2009; Hispanics, 9 percent; African-Americans, 7
percent; and Asian-Americans, 3 percent.
When compared with their share of the U.S. population, white park visitors
are overrepresented by 14 percentage points, whereas African-Americans were
underrepresented by 6 percentage points. Whites are overrepresented not only
as visitors but also as park employees. According to a 2013 report by the
nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, 80 percent of NPS employees were
white. And the National Park Foundation's 22-member board, whose mission is
to support the NPS through fundraising, has only four minorities.
Data on the population in comparison the ethnicity. (photo: National Park
Service/U.S. Census.)
African-Americans and Hispanics list various reasons for not visiting
national parks, including the high cost of food and lodging, lack of
outreach and information about parks, safety concerns and poor service by
NPS employees. The limited outreach to African-American communities is
rooted in the stereotype that black people don't do nature. The disparate
treatment of black visitors and misconceptions about African-Americans
relations with the outdoors is part of the United States' legacy of racial
violence and segregation. In this dynamic, park rangers and park police
often make African-American visitors feel unwelcome.
Last month we learned firsthand about the racist mistreatment of
African-American park visitors during a scholarly event at Yosemite National
Park in California. By inviting a diverse group of women to the park, we
inadvertently carried out a study of racial profiling by park gate agents.
As part of our event, eight female academics - four of them white or
Hispanic and four African-American - drove into the park. The organizers
told participants not to pay the entrance fee and to inform gate agents that
their fees were waived because they were visiting the research station.
The white and Hispanic drivers gave the agents the information as directed
and were welcomed and waved through. The four African-American scholars
entered the park at different times and entrances and gave the same
information. In all four cases, the African-American professors were
extensively questioned, made to fill out a superfluous form, which required
extra and unnecessary effort and a check-in with the research center staff,
and reluctantly let into the park.
One of the black professors was questioned about her college degrees, the
title of her research project and her university affiliation and was asked
to provide a faculty ID. The agents appeared incapable of imagining that a
black woman could hold a Ph.D. and visit a research station for a scholarly
event. (The Yosemite National Park Service has since opened an investigation
into the incidents.) This is heartbreaking, not least because Buffalo
Soldiers, members of all-African-American regiments of the U.S. Army, were
among the nation's first park rangers and built the first marked trail at
Yosemite. Today only 1 percent of the park's visitors are black.
Health benefits
Spending time in natural environments such as parks has proven mental and
physical health benefits. A recent study by Stanford University researchers
found that participants who walked for 90 minutes in natural settings
improved their memory and lessened their anxiety, compared with those who
walked in an urban setting. Since minority populations are largely urban
(more than half of U.S. cities are majority nonwhite), national parks are
important resources for them to connect with nature and gain those benefits.
Yet the NPS has failed to conduct concerted outreach to minority urban
dwellers.
Fortunately, people of color are working to reclaim these spaces and
diversify America's parks. One such person is Rue Mapp, the founder of
Outdoor Afro, which trains volunteers to lead hiking, camping and nature
excursions with their communities. Such efforts must be supported and
expanded, especially in our cities.
In addition to its efforts to attract people of color, the NPS should train
its employees to eradicate racial biases and discrimination that are
discouraging black people and other minorities from visiting parks. It has a
responsibility to make our national parks safe and welcoming spaces for all
Americans.
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http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
