The World Economic Forum faces online mockery over claim that black people are excluded from enjoying the great outdoors.
Netizens dismissed #WEF‘s statement as absolutely absurd. After all, the great outdoors doesn’t have passport checks and is free. WEF cites data indicating around 90% of visitors to public #parks in the #US are white, despite making up about 60% of the population. So why don’t black people just go outside then? Well, WEF suggests it could be linked to affordability and access, as some parks have entrance fees, are unreachable by public transport, etc. The #Swiss-based #NGO also refers to a study from as recently as 2018 that found 66% of black people in the US associated the outdoors with lynching, slavery and police brutality.
In an effort to buttress the idea that people of color are excluded from activities such as hiking, camping, etc, WEF commends the efforts of one woman, Rhiane Fatinikun, who founded Black Girls Hike. The organization encourages black women to explore the #UK countryside. After making a hobby of hiking, Fatinikun discovered it wasn’t the most ethnically #diverse activity, and wanted to see more people who looked like her taking part. She said, “It’s never something I associated with black people – it’s not even marketed at black people.” Perhaps Fatinikun exemplifies the fact that, if you wanna go hiking, you just gotta get your boots on and go!