Breaking the Myths and Stereotypes

Contributors: Vanessa Torres, Juan Martinez & CJ Goulding

Ever heard this statement, “people of color do not enjoy the outdoors,” kind of gets the blood boiling especially when it is a pretty well-known fact that we do.  Over the past week, a handful of articles pointed to the lack of diversity in the outdoors.  Newsflash! These articles are not new.  They, in fact, have been written and regurgitated over and over again for years.   

There is a lack of diversity in the organizations, leadership, and agencies overseeing the public lands and programs boosting outdoor participation.  Yes, the people that go to national parks make up approximately 82% of visitors are White.  It is tangible facts and hard numbers like those found in the Green 2.0 study by The Raben Group and a study initiated by the National Park Service, itself outlining the lack of diversity and recommendations to bridge that gap. We have the facts and numbers. Change becomes reality when words meet action. We could make the argument that today, more than any time in history, there are more groups, individuals, and initiatives aimed at introducing children and communities of diverse socioeconomic standing and background to the outdoors.  Yet, we hardly hear about the action that people are taking to change the diversity of outdoor engagement.   We don’t have a collective narrative, a rally cry, or a call to action.  How can we move forward, if all we continue to hear about are recommendations?    

As a community, you will run into two kinds of people 1) The “Megaphone" Leader and 2) The Action-Oriented Leader.   The Megaphone leaders are people who have an interest in diversifying the outdoors; they will talk and write about the issue.   The megaphone serves a purpose and the movement building would not be complete without this tool, however this type of leader can get caught in a one lane journey with a dead end leading to inaction.  Are these people important?  Absolutely; people need to continue to be made aware of the issue.  Although, as time goes on these people may lose their finesse.  The leadership they engage may grow weary of the same rhetoric, when the person touching on the issue only continues to talk about it without taking action. 

The Action-Oriented Leader is the person that not only can speak eloquently about the issue and need for a more diverse audience in greenspace but also takes action to make a difference.   Action can be anything from bringing people together through a grassroots method to spearheading an organization, working for an agency to sitting on a board of directors for an organization, even donating money and time to one of the above.    There is so much work going on across the country to bring together communities from all different backgrounds, to raise awareness that people of color do indeed embrace, utilize and enjoy the outdoors.   

These organizations and agencies can’t diversify the outdoors alone.  Despite the targeted affinity groups that the organizations and people in this effort represent, we continue to work together to bring awareness and engage people into their greenspace.   So why do we continue to hear that people of color do not embrace the outdoors?  Why do we continue to read articles or make presumptions that people of color do not have time or money to go outdoors?   

Let’s break down perceptions.  I don’t have all the answers but I can tell you from my experience what I do know.   As a society we have a pre-described definition of what is considered, “recreation.”   There is a certain way that one should recreate when they go outdoors – hiking, biking, fishing, etc.    Many people may not consider this recreation.   Recreation for many people may be going out on a Saturday to a local park and having a carne asada.  Do we count this as recreation when we do surveys?  Probably not.   Take a drive around the city any given weekend and I can guarantee there are folks of color out enjoying themselves with their sometimes, large family.    Do we count the family out taking their daughters Quincenera’s photos out in the park as people enjoying their time outside?    We as a society, as environmental advocates, have to stop defining what it means to recreate in the outdoors.    Yes, it is important in how we quantify success, but the definition has to be broad and inclusive of all activities.  

Money – “’They’ don’t have enough money or the time to go explore the outdoors.”   Yes, poverty is an issue… it is an issue that shows no discrimination.  From the poor White families in rural Appalachia to brown families living in a one bedroom apartment struggling to make ends meet in Los Angeles, poverty sees no color.    We cannot continue to use the excuse that we cannot “afford” to enjoy the outdoors.  With Latinos having a 5 Trillion dollar spending power and blacks, alone, having a 1 trillion dollar spending power, we have the money but WE choose on what that money goes to.  We prioritize what we want to spend money and time on.  A family struggling to make ends meet will save months to buy their kids the newest Jordan’s or save to take a trip to Disney World but won’t go out to a local park or to a national park.    Parks must be relevant to people, in order for them to engage, and many people of color do engage and enjoy the outdoors.

The story needs to change not for just one bracket of society but for the generation that will inherit this American Legacy. A future generation that looks more diverse, younger, and less connected with outdoors. It is not about drawing a nice and fluffy dream for tomorrow, but about the survival and relevancy of places that we all care about.  Check out the marketing campaigns of any major corporation looking to survive into the next quarter, they get it! We need to do the same for the future of outdoor recreation and public land stewardship. Meet our audience where they are; at school, at church, down the block, at the bar!

Our job, as outdoor advocates, is to continue to expose people to what is in their own backyard.  Not to enable but to empower. A hard truth about the work of any good cause is that, success, will come when that work is no longer needed. Visiting a park in a faraway place like Grand Teton, Yellowstone or Grand Canyon is amazing, but we first must learn what assets we have in our community.  Our message to go out and enjoy the outdoors has to make it where it is okay if a family can’t go out and visit a big grandiose park.   We have to be able to plant the seed and expose people to what exists, break down barriers to the larger, sometimes scarier places that we’ve never been.  As a group, as a family, we must continue to take action, break down barriers and expose people to the great outdoors.

Vanessa M. Torres grew up in a small town in South Central Texas as an outdoor advocate and fisherwoman.  Her love for nature started as a young girl, taking fishing and hunting trips with her father. Her love for nature was reignited after an internship with the National Park Service, where she spent three months in Alaska.  Vanessa is the newest board member for City Kids DC and continues to work to connect diverse communities to the outdoors through volunteering with a variety of organizations.

CJ Goulding grew up as one of those kids who was constantly exploring but never went to national parks. His introduction to the environmental world came with a weeklong immersion in Grand Teton National Park through the National Park Service and Student Conservation Association. Through that experience, he learned the importance of connecting to place, and has worked to connect people to the outdoors, whether that is working in their city parks, connecting to national parks across the country, or empowering other leaders to do the same. He is currently a grad student in Seattle studying Urban Environmental Education, seeking to empower urban communities and connect them to their environment.

Juan D. Martinez is a National Geographic Explorer, TED Speaker, and a proud product of south central Los Angeles.  Juan is C&NN’s Director of Leadership Development and the Natural Leaders Network. His passion to empower youth individuals led him to direct Sierra Club’s first environmental justice youth leadership academy in Los Angeles. Through the Natural Leaders Network Juan is working with strategic partners and grassroots leaders to empower the next generation of conservation and outdoor recreation leaders. Juan dedicates his energy on grassroots campaigns to empower, explore, and create positive change, he and his wife live in Los Angeles, CA.