Bill Gwaltney, assistant regional director for the National Park Service- Intermountain Region, was interviewed for an MSNBC story about why more Blacks, Asians and Latinos aren’t visiting national parks.
It seems that there is a larger number of White visitors to National Parks and Bill says that there are some shadow answers, or things that aren’t easily teased out of the data that may account for the discrepancy in numbers. One answer he suggests is that familiarity draws in White folks. White people have a history of visiting national parks and they share stories and take pictures and brag about their vacations. If your family or friends haven’t gone to visit a state or national park then it isn’t likely you’ll decide to take your family on a trek there or on a vacation there either!
I thought it was funny when Bill imagined what a family might be thinking:
One problem, suggests Gwaltney, is that unfamiliarity breeds apprehension: “If someone says, ‘Let’s go to Yosemite,’ the answer becomes, ‘Well, where’s that? I don’t know anybody who’s been there. Let’s go to visit Grandma in South Carolina instead’.”
Makes sense!
Whites as a group have all been taught since they were toddlers that it can be extremely dangerous to go visit Grandma! ( See Red Riding Hood).
Personally I’d like to weigh in and set matters straight by saying that it is probably just as safe to visit your local national park as it is to visit Grandma. Just make sure you have plenty of water, some disposable snacks, and a woodsman along with you for either trip!
love,
mo
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