"Black Lives Matter and African American political mobilization: the quest for legitimacy in the outdoors and the outdoor industry"

Over the last few years, in part thanks to movements like Black Lives Matter, the outdoor industry, through some of its most prominent brands, seems to have raised the question of racial inequalities. This potential politicization of brands whose main customers have traditionally been white may indicate a change of mindset in the world of outdoor activities as a whole in the United States. Indeed, whether it be through an economic perspective or through the lens of leisure and sports practices, the outdoor industry has always been regarded as a space primarily dedicated to and occupied by white professionals and/or athletes. This assessment actually digs deep into the history of the United States with the great outdoors, at large, and the relation between people and space, which contributed to making the outdoors[1], understood as a geographical space and a socio-cultural environment, and the American wilderness more generally, a symbol of racial inequalities and disparities. Through habits, as well as policies, legal measures, or ingrained prejudices, the United States’ complex relation with the outdoors has perpetuated a representation of these natural spaces as being primarily white-dominated. In that sense, conservation movements played a key role in elaborating these trends. By contrast, these aforementioned factors reinforced the traditional perception that minorities belong to the urban world and are thus logically excluded from nature. These patterns have led to a form of nature deprivation for minority groups, and particularly African Americans.

Nowadays, these representations still hold true to a certain extent, and seem to be exemplified by outdoor recreational activities, as fields like trail running, hiking, skiing, climbing, mountaineering etc. are disproportionately perceived as being enjoyed by whites, which is also why outdoor industry brands have essentially identified white customers as their primary potential targets. However, this traditional perception of the outdoors hides a more complex and more diversified reality, and does not take heed of the growing presence of amateur and professional athletes who do not abide by these racial archetypes. As such, they contribute to demonstrating that the outdoors might be undergoing significant changes, appealing increasingly to a wider range of Americans who belong to ethno-racial minority groups. This is particularly true for African Americans who engage in outdoor-related activities and sports, and who, under the impulse of civil rights organizations and communities in hiking or running, for instance, highlight this commitment. It can also be done through more publicized and mediatized events, as the first all-black climbing team reaching the Everest demonstrated in 2022. In light of these elements, the outdoors is consistently becoming a “contested terrain[2]” where leisure activities can be analyzed through a political and activist lens. As a consequence, brands and athletes alike engage in a redefinition of the outdoors as a space where diversity could become normalized in the future. 

In this context, this presentation would like to scrutinize how Black Lives Matter and the outdoor community have been interacting lately, examining the impact of the movement on African Americans’ sense of legitimacy in the outdoors. We will try to determine if Black Lives Matter has contributed to widening the scope of the great outdoors, facilitating the access to nature-related recreational activities to Blacks. The purpose will also be to assess the role played by Black Lives Matter in turning the outdoors into a geographical and social space where Blacks do belong, generating, in the process, a sense of place[3] that contrasts with the traditional feeling of being “out of place.”[4] As such, we will analyze if the alleged politicization of well-known brands in the outdoor industry, like Patagonia, for instance, has been and can be instrumental in transforming the overall representation of the outdoors in the United States, marking a new era in people’s relation with nature and wild spaces through recreational activities. 

[1] “The natural world: the places outside of areas developed by humans,” Merriam-Webster. Definition to be developed. 

Traditionally understood as spaces that are not in urban areas, but in nature. 

“All recreational activities undertaken for pleasure that generally involve some level of intentional physical exertion and occur in nature-based environments.” https://www.southwickassociates.com/u-s-government-now-recognizes-the-s…

[2] Katherine Dashper & Jason King.

[3] Tim Cresswell, Place : A Short Introduction and In Place/Out of Place. Geography, Ideology, And Transgression. 

[4] Tim Cresswell. In Place, Out of Place. Geography, Ideology, and Transgression.