Bringing Diversity to the Outdoors

Lately there’s been a lot of conversation about how diversity in the outdoors is presented in the media, for example through campaign ads. Reading through online message boards gives us a glimpse of continuing misinformation among outdoor enthusiasts.

Some readers point out that they don’t really see diverse people outdoors, hence the campaigns should be reflecting that. Even people of colour themselves admit that hiking and camping to be ‘white’ activities and aren’t exactly lining up at outdoor stores for the latest gears. However, I can attest to the demographics from 30+ years of experience as an organizer of diverse outdoor groups that these are just myths. 

There’s truth to some of the above arguments, sure. But one must understand the circumstances behind them. For example, yes some people of colour aren’t too thrilled about the outdoors as it’s not really developed during their childhood years, at least not by their families. Circumstances behind that include most of those families perhaps being first-generation who didn’t grow up hiking and camping themselves in their native countries. More common is the reason that most of those families struggled with multiple jobs and couldn’t afford the time and money to invest in outdoor experiences for the children. They depended on school outings to create those experiences, but beyond that never went camping over the weekend as a family. 

Many families of colour of course were exceptions to those circumstances, such as yours truly’s. Not because my single-mom was an avid outdoor enthusiast – she also struggled with multiple jobs and raising teenage boys to find the time for the outdoors. But thankfully she enrolled us in community center programs that organized various outdoor events, all led by volunteers. So not only were those outings free or much cheaper than enrolling in, say, skating lessons, but also created an outlet for the youth for ‘wholesome’ activities with their peers.

This was a crucial factor for many families of colour to enroll their children in such programs, and community centers to invest in the training and leadership of those who led those programs. The demand created a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts who would in turn give back to their community. I myself was part of different programs during high school and university years which organized hiking and camping trips for children aged 10 to late 20’s. I’ve also been part of outdoor groups geared towards an older demographic for the past decade now, and by far the majority of those attendees have been people of colour.

Having said that, the need to continue developing a diverse outdoors culture rests on all of us – from campaign ads to those of us who are directly impacted. In keeping with that mission, Nature PhotoHikes has taken a leadership role in making the outdoors accessible to newcomer youth (mostly refugees) and plans to include youth of all persuasions in the near future, especially diverse and marginalized youth.