These historical contexts had a significant impact on the access communities of color had to the many mental and physical benefits that outdoor recreation provides. And because many of the skills and knowledge for outdoor activities are passed down from generation to generation, these negative experiences with outdoor spaces have had lasting impacts. “Their grandparents, their great grandparents, they were not able to enjoy these natural amenities, and if they did so they may have risked their lives,” Lee says. That is why the CREW and other programs like it are important. They are trying to rid the stigma around outdoor spaces and instill natural knowledge in younger generations.
Photo by: Maren Machles
Lee said that initially American settlers didn’t perceive the natural environment as desirable because they had to overcome and tame it for agriculture in order to survive. But in the mid- to late- 1800s, with urbanization, the white, powerful conservation and park leaders started to romanticize nature for the first time, and created an implicit binary between nature and city life. “In this implicit city-nature binary, nature was viewed as a desirable environment and a get-away from many urban problems such as crowding, poor housing and sanitations, and… a lot of immigrants and people of color.” Lee goes further, explaining that conservationists, such as Madison Grant, Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot, who played a critical role in creating national parks, were eugenicists and expressed little-to-no interest in racial and ethnic inclusivity in nature. “Those three individuals were eugenicists who believed in white supremacism. And, one of the main reasons they wanted to preserve nature was because they believed nature was the perfect context for the white race to thrive,” Lee says. “Basically, they equated conservation, such as creating national parks and forests, as a means of white race preservation and the nation’s advancement.” Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, many people of color were barred from, or segregated at public recreational sites.
Photo by: Maren Machles
Despite the fact that the equine community is predominantly white, the co-founders shared that they’ve received an outpouring of support from the community and hope to continue to grow. “This space has been closed off to families of color, and that’s not okay. What we’re building at the CREW is changing the perception of who gets to be an equestrian,” Benton said. “[The kids in the program] own this space, this is their time. They own it.” For more on the CREW origin story and the opportunities they provide, please visit www.RacismUnveiled.org.
This story is part of the Racism Unveiled digital storytelling project with generous funding from the Otto Bremer Trust, HealthPartners and the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation.
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