History of racism and the effect on Black participation rates in water-based outdoor recreation

History of racism and the effect on Black participation rates in water-based outdoor recreation - 2022 presentation by Joe Moore of Adaptive Expeditions

Diversity Equity & Inclusion 3 Steps: • Define & Assess the problem • Define the problem – Create a succinct statement about a need for change • Assess the problem – Learn details, including how the undesirable conditions came to exist • Design a Strategy – Determine how to best remedy the problem?

A presentation by Joe Moore of Adaptive Expeditions

• Implement the Strategy – Make it happen

Define the problem – Underrepresentation Black people are underrepresented in water-based outdoor recreation relative to background demographics.

• For example, from the 2020 U.S. Census, we know that South Carolina’s population is 27% Black, but Black people seem to account for less than 1% of South Carolina kayakers, sailors, surfers, swim-teams, etc.

• Only limited and anecdotical evidence exists for the racial profile of watersport participants.

• Solid demographics data would be nice, but for the moment, we only need to look around to get a sense about diversity within water-sports and water-based outdoor recreation.

• Try a few Google searches for watersports, switch the results to images and count how many Black people you see.

Assess the problem.

How did we get here?

• What are the reasons for disproportionately low representation among Black people in water based outdoor recreation?

• What are the barriers to participation and how did they come to exist?

According to a 2019 US Swimming Foundation report:

Barrier #1: Disproportionate rate of drowning

• “Nearly 60% of African-American children cannot swim, almost twice the figure for white children.”

• “...only 1.5% of 327,337 swimmers registered with USA Swimming are African-Americans.”

[13.4% = background demographics of USA] • “Black children drown at a rate almost three times the overall rate.”

Barrier #1: Disproportionate risk of drowning “Long before the Portuguese ventured down the West African coast, many Africans had become skilled swimmers, divers and surfers. In one of their first recorded encounters, the Portuguese were amazed by the swimming and underwater diving abilities of the Africans.”

K. Dawson. Undercurrents of Power Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora. 2018

Barrier #1:

• The modern disparity in drowning rates is a legacy of racism and segregation.

Disproportionate rate of drowning

• When you imagine the iconic moments from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, 1960s, & 1970s what do you see?

Barrier #1: Disproportionate rate of drowning

Barrier #1: Disproportionate rate of drowning

Barrier #1: Disproportionate rate of drowning • Don’t think that racism resides only in the distant past... or only in the South.

• Connecticut beaches saw integration protests well into the 1980’s.

Barrier #1: Disproportionate rate of drowning

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not end segregation of swimming pools • Most states simply allowed formerly public pools to become private, members only clubs.

Barrier #1:

• Without access to pools, beaches, and public waters, learning to swim simply was not possible.

Disproportionate rate of drowning

• The resulting disproportionate risk of drowning led to a prevalent fear of water among many Black people.

• Multiple generation approach to water-safety took root within some Black communities: “Stay away from water.

You won’t drown if you don’t go near water.”

Barrier #1: Disproportionate rate of drowning In Summary • • • • •

Black children currently drown at a rate almost three times the overall rate.

Nothing inherent about people of African decent renders them less capable of swimming.

Most US public waters were off-limits to Black people until the 1970’s.

Without water access, learning to swim was not possible.

A multi generation approach to water-safety took root within some Black communities: “Stay away from water. You won’t drown if you don’t go near water.”

Barrier #2 – Cultural Identity & “White-Sports.”

Low rates of swimming proficiency and elevated rates of drowning are not the only results from segregation and racism.

Surfing, sailing, swimming, kayaking, and other waterbased outdoor recreation activities became dominated by members of the one race that was allowed access to the water – i.e., white people.

Barrier #2 – Cultural Identity and “White-Sports.”

2020 US Olympic Surfing Team

2021 US Olympic Sailing Team

Barrier #2 – Cultural Identity and “White-Sports.”

Barrier #2 – Cultural identity and “White-Sports.”

US Canoe / Kayak Team 2021 Sprint Super Cup

Barrier #2: Cultural Identity and “White-Sports.”

To participate in water sports today, Black people must enter a realm of activity that is overwhelmingly dominated by white people. At least two factors make the decision to participate difficult: I.

Black people know that they will occasionally encounter overt racism and often encounter unconscious or implicit bias as well as microaggressions.

II. The decision to enter a white dominated activity could be culturally alienating. Black peers may question why someone “wants to be like white folks.”

- A Black person may feel peer pressure to not participate in order to help preserve Black culture.

Barrier #2: Cultural Identity and “White-Sports.”

• Implicit Bias is “[the] tendency for stereotype-confirming thoughts to pass spontaneously through our minds... It sets people up to overgeneralize, sometimes leading to discrimination even when people feel they are being fair.”

• “[Implicit Bias] can be defined as automatic decisions and judgments made about others based on differences in one’s own background, experiences, societal stereotypes or cultural context.”

- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-tothink-about-implicit-bias/

Participation Barrier #2 – Cultural Identity and “White-Sports.”

• Microaggressions are verbal, behavioral, or environmental slights that are the results of an individual's implicit bias.

• Microaggressions are often automatic or unintentional and occur on a daily basis.

• Microaggressions communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative viewpoints.

Cullen Jones, Olympic Medalist Swimmer, reflecting on his experience as a black swimmer in NYC during the early 2000’s:

“I definitely felt different... When I was 15 years old, I finally won a big race. I beat this white kid. Well, his mom walked by and said, ‘Oh, shouldn’t you be playing basketball?’”

A presentation by Joe Moore of Adaptive Expeditions

Barrier #2: Cultural Identity and “White-Sports.”

- ABC News Column: White-dominated swimming struggles to diversify. June 18, 2021.

Barrier #2: Cultural Identity and “White-Sports.”

Antoinette Lee Toscano – “The... community needs to tear down its own cultural barriers and limiting beliefs: • ‘Black people don’t do that.’

• ‘That’s the white man’s sport.’

• ‘You’re not a real Asian.’ ....Race shaming from my family, friends and community prevented me from taking up an adventure sport for 10 years.”

- Paddling Magazine - Issue 63

Barrier #2: Cultural Identity and “White-Sports.”

Summary • During the eras of slavery and segregation, water-based outdoor recreation activities in most of the western world became dominated by members of the one race that was allowed access to the water – i.e., white people.

• To participate in water sports today, Black people must enter a realm of activity that is overwhelmingly dominated by white people.

• Potential Black participants know they are likely to encounter microaggressions and implicit bias.

• The decision to enter a white dominated activity could be culturally alienating.

Barrier #3: How to protect Black hair ”..to be successful ... sometimes you have to make sacrifices. And for me, part of that is my hair.”

- 2016 Olympic gold medalist swimmer, Simone Manuel.

Barrier #3: How to protect Black hair • Particularly for Black women, hair is closely tied to culture and identity.

• Learning to swim requires specialized knowledge about how to protect Black hair.

• Knowledge about how to protect hair has not been widely disseminated due to the other barriers we have already discussed.

The barriers to participation we have discussed are all linked: • The whiteness of water-based outdoor recreation today is a direct legacy of the racism and the denial of access to water that also led to disproportionate rates of drowning.

• To successfully improve statistics about drowning and swimming, we likely must first address the Cultural Identity issues.

• I.e., statistics about drowning and swimming will not improve until more Black people feel comfortable participating in water-based activities.

• The lack of awareness about ways to protect Black hair during watersports results from historically low participation rates in water-based outdoor recreation.

Goals & Strategies Goal: • Dispel myths about why a disproportionate number of Black people do not know how to swim and face an elevated risk of drowning.

Batanga Canoes, Ogowe River region of West Africa.

Strategies: • Share the rich and long history of water-skills of Africans.

• Share the history of racism, segregation, and the nearly complete lack of access to public waters by Black people until the 1970’s. How could anyone learn to swim or to enjoy water-sports, without access to water?

Goals & Strategies

Goal: • Address lingering fears of drowning within the Black community.

Strategies: • Dispel myths about why a disproportionate number of Black people cannot swim and currently live with the elevated risk of drowning.

• I.e., Succeed with goal on the last slide.

• Focus outreach efforts to make swimming available and accessible to Black people.

Goals & Strategies Goal: • Minimize & then eliminate risk of exposure to microaggressions and unconscious bias.

Strategies: • Help all people to recognize their own unconscious bias.

• Help all people learn to recognize and avoid microaggressions.

• Create an environment where mistakes can be turned into learning opportunities.

Goals & Strategies Goal: • Help disburse information about protecting Black hair while in the water.

Strategies • Make caring for natural hair a part of all swimming educational resources.

Goals & Strategies Goal: • Make water-based outdoor recreation activities appear less dominated by white people.

Strategies: • Change the optics of water sports being dominated by white people by focusing media on Black participants.

• Cultivate Black leaders of water-based outdoor recreation activities.

• For this to work, we need to understand the success of the Williams sisters improving diversity within tennis, and the failure of Tiger Woods within golf.

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