Mickey Fearn says the reasons run deeper than money and geography. He’s worked in American parks for 46 years and is Saturday’s keynote speaker. Here is one unexpected reason: The wilderness evokes some grisly images from American history — black slaves being hanged and lynched by their masters. “African American people feel safe in cities and less safe in nature,” says Fearn, who is black. “Preserving wild places is a white concept, going back to Rome.” The Link
Apparently there are people in government who are stupid. We pay people good money who want to social engineer society. In theory I have no problem with this, but when NASA has a mission of better relations with the Muslim world and when stupid people are placed in position of our national park system, i get a little reluctant to turn over my hard earned money to them. ****, Obama squeals like a little castrated piglet when the national budget growth is limited to inflation. Whatever. $44 billion is about what the United States government borrows every nine day, but it’s apparently responsible for everything that matters in American life. Perhaps Harry Reid’s beloved federally funded cowboy-poetry festival could be cut.
I totally agree. Who knows how many untold slaves were lynched at National Park sites? We should build urban ghettos over every National Park. Fook preserving nature and animals and all that racist ****. You can't make this stuff up. The Obama Administration has led this country into insanity.
I feel a need to defend the speaker. Maybe what he said isn't the stupidist thing ever said ... I'll stop short of giving an example ... trying to think of one makes my head hurt.
It would be interesting to compare the intra racial killings on a yearly basis over the years vs the lynching killings. I'm guessing the numbers in the city of Chicago just last year would stand a high chance of winning(losing) vs the average number (per year) or recorded lynchings pre-1970. Why not tally up the amount of African American Abortions performed each year while we are at it. That last one is the biggest crime against the AA community that they wholeheartely supported at about a 98% clip in the last election.
It is interesting that people seek out hidden sources of grievance, no matter how flimsy and untenable the underlying logic might be. If Eastern Europe has moved on from the Soviets and West Germany and East Germany have reunified and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have found some tenable peace, maybe our communities here can try to drop prior generation grievances and do the only thing we can do, which is to make a better life for ourselves and our children.
Oh, and I do find it a bit odd that the author lists 78% white attendance at National Parks to be some sort of massive travesty. White made up 78% of the population as of last census.
I'm fairly certain that if you polled those minorities (and whites) that aren't visiting parks, the answer "because it doesn't interest me" is going to pop up a whole lot more than "because i feel threatened." It begs the question of why we somehow feel compelled to use government to get people to "enjoy" the things we think they should enjoy.
that quite possibly is the dumbest article ever written on an actual news site. similar to a real life Ron burgundy story.
Did anyone else see this as a story about minorities (with a focus on blacks) not having much interest in the outdoors, why that is and what sort of outreach can be done? It's not the best written article, but I don't really get the reactions here. It's not hostile to whites or blaming the lack of
If you want to increase minority attendance, give free passes to low income schools in the area to go on field trips there. Problem solved. Maybe some will like it and go back as adults.
I spent four weeks backpacking by myself in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana in 1984. I saw grizzlies mating on the South Fork of the Flathead river. They were less than 100 yards from me. I didn't see many folks (I would have to say that it is the wildest place in the lower 48), but none of the folks that I did see were black. Oh, and the mosquitoes were by far the worst thing out there
BI - I am headed to the Bob this July; planning to spend a few days fishing for West Slope Cutts on the South Fork before family flies in for vacation at Glacier NP. Can't wait. THanks for the tip about the mossies; I'll get a head net.
