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You are here: Home / Blog / On Racial Justice and Protecting Intimacy Between Humanity and Nature

On Racial Justice and Protecting Intimacy Between Humanity and Nature

by Ryan Jordan on June 12, 2020 Blog, New Features

On the morning of May 26, 2020, I woke up to Darnella Frazier’s video of George Floyd’s murder the day before by four Minneapolis police officers.

As I watched the 8 minute-46 second ordeal unfold, I felt anger, grief, and sadness – for Mr. Floyd, for his family, for the community of Minneapolis, and for our country. By the time the medics loaded his limp body onto a stretcher, I just felt numb.

In the aftermath, each day brings new pain in our reeling, confused, and deeply hurting society. Often, pain comes with emotion – anger, sadness, grief – symptoms of injustice and unfairness.

Justice and fairness are core human values: cornerstones of community function and collective intimacy. A police officer abusing his power to take the life of an unarmed citizen is a pretty easy thing to use as an example of unfairness. So it’s no surprise that we are questioning what systemic defects are present in the ground that supports those cornerstone values. Many are asking: is justice being served fairly among all peoples in our communities?

The recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the many others before suggest that the answer to this question may be a resounding “no”. I have no idea what it feels like to be a Black person in this country. But I know that Mr. Floyd and Ms. Taylor should not have been killed by police that exercised their power to remove their human rights to life and fair treatment. I’ve also learned that their deaths, while difficult to process for all of us, is difficult for Black people in a way that transcends my understanding. All I can do is offer deep empathy. I’m not going to pretend to understand. But it’s not hard to keep my eyes and ears open to see, hear, and feel some of this pain with them.

The civil unrest we are witnessing today in America and across the world cuts deeper than a hashtag or a black square or even a political ideology. What is taking place is foundational to human existence and equality: fighting for the basic human and civil rights that many of us already have. That many of us take for granted. And that many of us would want for our children.

But why is protecting diversity and taking an antiracism stance so critical in the outdoor industry?

The outdoor industry has grown from a tiny niche to a powerhouse capable of facilitating meaningful change on a national, and even a global scale. Many of us participate in movement leadership, business leadership, and platform-building. We bear some responsibility for providing leadership in all aspects of our industry, whether they impact our profitability or followers or likeability or social credit score. If we don’t accept this responsibility, or accept responsibility only within the smallest circles of our influence, then we simply bow to the altar of free-market capitalism and let the chips fall where they may.

Every person exercising their platform in our industry will choose the extent to which they invest in social, environmental, and economic justice. And every one of us will distribute our energy differently. Public lands accessibility, climate activism, fair economic policy for businesses, access to healthcare programs for our employees, the pursuit of fair wage laws, ethical media disclosure, consumer protection, tariff and tax negotiations – and not the least of these – fighting for ethnic diversity and inclusion so marginalized people have a meaningful say in how our industry evolves and serves their communities.

Some people say that they don’t witness or practice racism, or perform other actions that violate and diminish human rights. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Nor does it mean that we shouldn’t collectively fight against the practice of racism overtly, or investigate and address how it’s practiced covertly and passed down through generations and across the systems we have built.

We know about the intimate connection between humans and nature – we experience it every moment we spend in the outdoors. And there are so many different ways to enjoy it. Hiking is my personal favorite. Others may enjoy it on a horse or in a kayak, pedaling a bicycle or riding a snowmobile, behind binoculars or a rifle scope, carving a snowboard or climbing on crampons. Further, we can enjoy this intimacy alone, or with a group. In each experience, the outdoor participant realizes value and recognizes their own humanity as a direct result of what spending time in nature brings to the human spirit.

We’re quick to point out that if some of nature is threatened, then our ability to access intimate experiences in nature may also be threatened. That threat keeps us fighting for nature and engaging in movements that include climate activism and public lands policy and endangered species protection and more.

And so we must move forward and also recognize that if some of humanity is threatened, then our humanity’s collective intimacy with nature is also broken. And this threat must keep us fighting for human justice that focuses on equality, representation, and antiracism.

We can’t just fight for environmental justice. We can’t just march in protest for the climate. We can’t just protect public lands. Of course, these are fights that serve the outdoor industry’s interests, because they have a profound impact on our long term sustainability, profits, and growth as an industry. That makes these fights “acceptable” – most people expect us to participate in them. They fit our stereotypes. They fall into our lane.

Maybe one day, a fight for racial justice will become as ingrained into every fabric of our personal and work ethos as our fight for environmental justice because these fights will reflect our desire to protect the whole of humanity. For without humanity and the racial justice that protects its whole being, nature and environmental justice are reduced to something less, unable to fully inspire and soothe the spirit of all humans. I hope that day comes sooner rather than later for each American citizen.

Reconciling our need for individualism with the collectivism required to ensure the existence of intimately connected communities that care for each other seems particularly difficult in today’s polarized political climate. Americans are fiercely individual creatures. Our identity is rooted in our rugged individualism, expression, and freedom. But we are also members of a collective whole – as human beings in the communities of our families, our neighborhoods, our industry collectives, and of humanity overall.

The glue of collective connection is spiritual and difficult to measure, graph, poll, or summarize in a statistical report. But when spiritual connections in our communities are disrupted, we feel pain in the depths of our soul. Part of our humanity is experiencing intense, deep pain right now as a result of unjust treatment. Our empathy and spiritual connectedness allow us to feel that pain too. And that’s why we stand by their sides – so we can grieve together, and help each other do the hard work required to ensure a better future.

Learn More:

  • Contribute to the Backpacking Light Diversity Fund, where we issue grants to help others enjoy wilderness experiences and share their stories.
  • Are you an outdoor industry business owner or CEO? Join us at the In Solidarity Project.
  • Diversify Outdoors is increasing awareness of diversity in outdoor recreation through social media.
  • Big City Mountaineers instills critical life skills in under-resourced youth through transformative wilderness mentoring experiences.

antiracism, environmental issues, philosophy, racism

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Home › Forums › On Racial Justice and Protecting Intimacy Between Humanity and Nature

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  • Jun 12, 2020 at 5:25 pm #3652602
    Backpacking Light
    Admin

    @backpackinglight

    Locale: Rocky Mountains

    If some of humanity is threatened, then our humanity’s collective intimacy with nature is also broken.

    • On Racial Justice and Protecting Intimacy Between Humanity and Nature
    Jun 12, 2020 at 5:44 pm #3652607
    ThatCatChat
    BPL Member

    @rmeurant

    Go Ryan!

    Jun 12, 2020 at 5:58 pm #3652610
    Alex H
    BPL Member

    @abhitt

    Locale: southern appalachians or desert SW

    Pretty well said Ryan.  We need to keep our eyes on the central ball, that of racial injustice before we worry about wild lands and the outdoor industry.  Thank you.

    Jun 12, 2020 at 6:27 pm #3652616
    ThatCatChat
    BPL Member

    @rmeurant

    Interestingly, I don’t take that interpretation (of Alex), that of racial injustice before any other issue. Rather, racial injustice has become an artifact of the disruption of the essential link between the individual soul and nature/the environment. The specific BLM crisis becomes a symptom of more wide-spread critical state – extending to global social injustice, and the global warming/environmental pollution/destruction of the ecosystem/mass extinction event. So the BLM pattern – of oppression and the desperate need for freedom and resolution – can be recognized worldwide in many other contexts. I believe also this need for freedom from oppression and a fair and humane social environment together with a clean and sustainable physical environment that can elucidate spiritual insight extends far beyond the political milieu. Politics itself needs to be realized as outmoded and self-negating. What happens in the US has important ramifications for what happens globally, while at the same time being part and parcel of the more general global struggle – for justice, for fair treatment, for a clean and sustainable environment and a thriving ecosystem, and for a spiritually vibrant and translucent harmony of being that enables transcendence…

    Jun 12, 2020 at 6:44 pm #3652619
    wansun s
    BPL Member

    @songsta

    Amen Ryan.  thank you

    Jun 12, 2020 at 6:57 pm #3652623
    Greg Pehrson
    BPL Member

    @gregpehrson

    Locale: playa del caballo blanco

    Thank you for this statement, Ryan. I deeply resonate with it, especially the four paragraphs from, “We’re quick to point out that if some of nature is threatened…” to “Maybe one day, a fight for racial justice will become as ingrained…” It speaks directly to my heart, capturing the interconnectedness of all of us with the environment. It calls us to action, and it calls us to dig in to our spheres of influence and look for the opportunities to create change right where we are. It reads like poetry, and I think that is because it has been crafted with care and love.

    In solidarity,

    Greg

    Jun 12, 2020 at 7:03 pm #3652626
    John Conley
    BPL Member

    @jchinthe-2

    [comment removed by moderators]

    Jun 12, 2020 at 7:25 pm #3652639
    Arthur
    BPL Member

    @art-r

    I don’t agree with much of what John says until the last sentence.  I strongly agree with that.

    “I would like to see politics and personal agendas kept off of BPL, and the website stick to promoting the sharing of knowledge on lightweight backpacking/camping.”

    I can get all the other information and opinions in a million other places. This site is unique, let’s not ruin it by making it just like the million other blog sites out there.

    Jun 12, 2020 at 7:55 pm #3652648
    Ryan Jordan
    Admin

    @ryan

    Locale: Central Rockies

    Hi Art, thank you for the feedback.

    We’ll be extremely selective about what social and environmental issues we engage with here at BPL. 99%+ of what we have done, and will continue to do, will of course be about lightweight backpacking.

    We have, and will continue to allocate some air time for issues that are important to our community. These include issues related to the environment, access to public lands, and participation in outdoor recreation overall.

    I acknowledge that there are political divides that separate people on some of these issues. Especially on this particular topic. This blog post is an invitation for empathetic acknowledgment of what’s going on right now with some of our fellow hikers in the broader community of outdoor recreation and not an invitation for political debate. We’ll moderate this thread accordingly.

    From our forum guidelines, a reminder:

    “Our vision for the forums is this: That every visitor, whether lurker or poster, will feel welcome and safe participating in a community where people respect and honor each other.”

    Jun 12, 2020 at 8:10 pm #3652652
    rubmybelly!
    BPL Member

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    I’m sorry to see that John’s post has been hidden while being “reviewed”. If you’re going to post on such issues then you should expect disagreement. If you’re not going to allow that disagreement then you shouldn’t post on such issues.

    I did read John’s post before it was hidden, and while, like Art, I disagree with most of what he said, nothing of what he wrote was beyond the pale.

    Jun 12, 2020 at 8:31 pm #3652660
    Ryan Jordan
    Admin

    @ryan

    Locale: Central Rockies

    Doug, you wrote that: “nothing of what he wrote was beyond the pale.”

    For you, yes. As moderators, we need to evaluate the extent to which comments are potentially insensitive or make others feel threatened to be here at BPL.

    We’ll tread accordingly given the seriousness of the topic. In this case, protection of our BIPOC community will absolutely take precedence over giving people the chance to “voice their opinion/disagreement” about this topic.

    Jun 12, 2020 at 9:09 pm #3652669
    Arthur
    BPL Member

    @art-r

    From the mods: this post was removed (off-topic about moderation policy that’s already been addressed previously in this thread).

    Jun 12, 2020 at 9:14 pm #3652671
    Anne Flueckiger
    BPL Member

    @annefluke

    Locale: Northern Minnesota

    Thank you for the thoughtful essay, Ryan. I like how you contrast different meanings of “freedom to roam.”

    I think it’s appropriate for you to set the guidelines and “tone” for your own website. I support free speech, but BPL is not a media outlet or a (political) debate forum.

    Glad to see Big City Mountaineers in the resources! The interim director lives here in Duluth.

    Jun 12, 2020 at 9:52 pm #3652678
    Rob Lee
    BPL Member

    @ouzel-701

    Locale: Southern High Plains

    [comment removed by moderators]

     

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