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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Good Grief

Good Grief

by John Cole|  July 6, 20059:27 pm| 15 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Unless someone can come up with a really good explanation, I am with Malkin and Sharkansky on this one:

The State Parks and Recreation Commission has assembled data showing that many blacks, for a variety of reasons, are not frequent users of the state’s 250,000 acres of parkland, particularly for activities like camping. This, in a state with an abundance of natural beauty

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15Comments

  1. 1.

    Nikki

    July 6, 2005 at 10:24 pm

    Many blacks, myself included, do not like camping. We tend not to be big on the great outdoors. I don’t mind driving out to take a look at a beautiful vista, but I do enjoy my creature comforts; I’d much rather maintain base camp closer to civilization.

    My family went camping for 2 weeks at Cherokee National Park in the Great Smokey Mountains when I was 9. I know it was 1972 because, as we were driving home, I remember the breaking news radio broadcast about the Israeli athletes being killed at the Munich Olympics and wondering how gorillas could shoot people.

    Loved the scenery, hated the camping!

  2. 2.

    John Cole

    July 6, 2005 at 10:27 pm

    Camping sort of lost the thrill when my introduction to serious camping was at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Now I try to avoid sleeping on the ground during rainstorms. I can see the stars from the porch, and if I need the smell of nature I can take a hike.

  3. 3.

    Doug

    July 6, 2005 at 10:47 pm

    I can see where military-style camping would turn one off the whole process. For myself, on the other hand, some of my best vacations have been trips with a buddy of mine to various state and National Parks, particularly out in the Rockies.

    Had a lot of good times tramping about the Sangre de Cristo mountains in southern Colorado. Never really considered the issue from a racial perspective — except I suppose I did notice coming across a lot of German and Japanese individuals.

  4. 4.

    ppgaz

    July 6, 2005 at 10:49 pm

    My wife’s idea of camping is to stay at a hotel without a jacuzzi tub in the room. If I buy a $100k motor home with hot and cold running skin moisturizer, I suppose I could talk her into sleeping “under the stars.”

  5. 5.

    demimondian

    July 6, 2005 at 11:01 pm

    Well, I have a bias here — Washington is my home state (right now, anyway). If you pay taxes here, and you don’t use the parks…well, you’re missing out. We have some of the best scenery in America: two active volcanos, Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens, the Olympics, the San Juans, the scablands, the Olympic Rainforest, Grand Coulee dam, the Hanford reservation…err, maybe I’m getting carried away.

    The point is, a lot of it is really only accessible by foot. You can’t see the glaciers on Rainier without climbing the mountain, which entails sleeping at least one night under the stars. You can’t experience the Olympics without doing some hiking — most of the peninsula is undeveloped.

    If there’s a large group of people who don’t use the parks they pay for, shouldn’t the government take action to explain what they’re missing?

  6. 6.

    John Ashcroft

    July 6, 2005 at 11:12 pm

    We had this same problem in Missouri while I was governor. Inspired by the tale of the heathen Theseus, the minotaur, and the labyrinth, I spent $40,000 to leave a trail of malt liquor from Kansas City to Katy Trail State Park.

    Can anyone tell me why I lost to a dead man?

    Let the eagle soooooaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  7. 7.

    albedo

    July 6, 2005 at 11:42 pm

    “they want to change whatever is keeping African Americans away: the specter of danger, the fear that small towns on the way to parks are unfriendly to blacks, or that camping and hiking and skiing are activities only white people do.”

    Is it totally racist to suggest that perhaps most black people just don’t like to camp all that much? Aren’t there some activities that white people, generally speaking, aren’t all that into? Do black community groups need to be fundraising to coax white guys like me into hip-hop dance clubs? This kind of reeks of guilty liberal pet project-itis.

  8. 8.

    Ken Hahn

    July 7, 2005 at 3:51 am

    This is not about dversity, it’s about money. Like all government agencies, the Washing State Parks are competing for funds with other programs. If blacks aren’t using the parks, then Washington’s majority Democrats are going to give the money to other agencies.The $300,000 is chump change, it’s next year’s appropriation that’s up for grabs.

    If you want to see what this is really about, watch the testimony of every urban recreation interest in Washington at next year’s budget hearing and see how often those competing with the State Parks mention this.

  9. 9.

    Nikki

    July 7, 2005 at 7:01 am

    If there’s a large group of people who don’t use the parks they pay for, shouldn’t the government take action to explain what they’re missing?

    I have no problem paying taxes to maintain a view I’ll never see with my naked eyes. Just knowing it’s there for the ones who want to admire the pristine view is enough for me. But I sure will admire the lovely photos YOU bring back. :)

  10. 10.

    Sam Hutcheson

    July 7, 2005 at 7:32 am

    This is not about dversity, it’s about money.

    DING! Show him what he’s won, Bob!

    It’s tourism. They’re trolling for more tourists and couching it in “why don’t African Americans come out to the parks” language. That is all.

  11. 11.

    bev

    July 7, 2005 at 8:33 am

    We – husband and 3 kids – went out for a day trip recently in southeastern Missouri. We were struck by the number of Union Jacks being flown in people’s yards. So here we are, city folk driving a Honda (“one of them thar ferrin cars”) and feeling a little uncomfortable. And we’re white. And I’m originally from a small town in rural MO, so I can speak the language, as it were.

    The area is beautiful and chock full of state and national parks. But the drive there was disconcerting, even for us. I know it’d be even more uncomfortable for a black family.

    Oh and “John A.” – thanks for the trail. It’s actually kinda cool. Except for the part that goes through some guy’s pig farm. Shouldn’t the warning sign be more complete, like “watch for some old dude with a shotgun who hates cyclists?”

    – bev the lurker

  12. 12.

    BumperStickerist

    July 7, 2005 at 8:57 am

    fwiw – I just got back from a two day camping trip with the wife and 2 kids near the beach in South NJ.

    On the upside – the site was great, close to everything, and it cost all of $18 for the campsite as opposed to $175 for a small hotel room with a 2 night stay required.

    On the downside, camping requires a hella lot of stuff – tent, sleeping bags, coolers, gear that you only use once in a while. That takes up a lot of space.

    Looking at this from a purely logistical standpoint – if I lived in an apartment or townhome, I doubt I’d go camping because of the hassle-factor of keeping and storing gear.

    If the private funds were used to purchase 100 -200 family sized tents to be loaned out to the minority families and then that information made public, you’d likely see some more demographically preferred people at campgrounds.

    Require a deposit – pay some kid $20to repack/patch the tent once it’s turned in, and you’ve got yourself a program.

  13. 13.

    Tim F

    July 7, 2005 at 9:17 am

    If the National Parks want to bring in folks who don’t enjoy sleeping in dirt with bugs then they could do worse than emulate the New Zealand hut hiking system. You carry the food, sleeping bag and rain gear while they provide a clean bunk, stove and water. Some folks (me) might prefer to dig a throne and filter water out of a stream, but for people like my wife who love nature and a clean bunk with equal enthusiasm it was perfect.

  14. 14.

    John Ashcroft

    July 7, 2005 at 9:28 am

    Oh and “John A.” – thanks for the trail. It’s actually kinda cool. Except for the part that goes through some guy’s pig farm. Shouldn’t the warning sign be more complete, like “watch for some old dude with a shotgun who hates cyclists?”

    All part of God’s great mosaic, Bev. As long as you don’t look like Ned Beatty you’re fine. How’d you like the banjo music?

  15. 15.

    Kimmitt

    July 7, 2005 at 2:55 pm

    This is not about dversity, it’s about money.

    Can it be about both?

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