Nature; Naturally for All

It is portrayed in advertisements, the news, and in movies; white people hiking, backpacking, paddling, and climbing. People of color apparently just “don’t do” the outdoors. Or at the very least they aren’t “supposed to.” Finney (2014) gives an example of this in the very beginning of Black Faces, White Spaces where she describes telling the story of John Francis while giving a talk. After telling the tale of his exploits, a young white woman in the audience told Finney that while she was telling the story, the young woman had envisioned Francis as a white man, when he was in fact, black.

But this is the 21st century, surely we’re past identifying nature with white people by now? Quite clearly — and unfortunately — we are not. Despite what many might think, this is a continuing phenomenon. People of color in general don’t have the opportunity to feel comfortable, safe, included, or wanted in natural environments, or literally can not afford to spend time in, or sometimes even get to, them.

One thing that came up several times — especially in the podcast — is the skeptical mindset that many (though I can safely say not all) white people have around people of color and natural spaces. There were several messages left by listeners, saying that people of color just aren’t trying, are “afraid” when they have no reason to be, and so forth, (1A, 2017). The problem with this mindset is that it is looking at the situation from the stance of a white person, projecting unconscious white privileged onto people of color. Finney (2014) specifically states in Black Faces, White Spaces that her work on the “intersection of race and environment” was purely “empirical research,” (Finney, 2014). Though she also says that anecdotal evidence shouldn’t be ignored, nothing about empirical research is wishy-washy, or harkens to bits of different scenarios just thrown together to form an opinion that fits the mindset that you are told you supposed to have. That’s not what science does.

Individuals with deeply developed environmental identities tend to be the people who take that extra step (recycle, compost, reduce energy consumption, etc.). As our actions and their effect on the natural environment that surrounds us becomes “immediate and personal,” (Clayton & Opotow, 2003) the greater our connection is to it. People with an environmental identities closely connected to the natural environment become automatic environmental leaders, role models to friends and families, spreading the kind of mentality that will get us all /on the right track.

Excluding people of color from natural environments, and keeping them from gaining the ability to fully develop deeply rooted environmental identities keeps are large part of our community from being an active part of the solution. But even more importantly, by making it difficult to develop environmental identities, we deprive people of color from experiencing nature at its fullest, and the benefits that come with it (a western worldview I know, but it’s true). It won’t be easy. Changing the subconscious mindset of an entire culture has never been easy. But we have to believe that it can — and will — change.

References

Clayton, Susan, and Susan Opotow. 2003. Identity and the Natural Environment. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Finney, Carolyn. 2014. Black Faces, White Spaces. The University of North Carolina Press.

“Get out: Nurturing a Bond between Black People and Nature.” 2017. 1A. (February 6, 2019).