Ok, hopefully this is going to look ok pulling the text out. VT- I appreciate the response and think its cool we can have a good discussion here.
In 2007-2010 in Vermont it was not uncommon for white highschool students to say the N word to their friends without a single thought of how this was wrong. Trying to say its okay to say it if you use an A at the end instead of ER is also pretty messed up.
Maybe this is an East Coast thing but in any case it goes back to my original point. If we had the N word just die out as the horrible racist term it was there is no way kids would be saying it for kicks. The issue is that its become a word almost anyone who listens to modern music or media hears on a daily basis almost consistently. Its this strange thing where we have this now popular term and only Black people can say it but not White people. If White people say it, its not trying to be racist, its because they are being edgy by breaking this now arbitrary rule. Is it not a double standard that we say this is a dark word with a horrible past, but then let it be displayed almost everywhere in pop culture? Personally, I think the word needs to die altogether. That being said, if Black people have a reason to still use it Im not going to speak for them but we cant hide from the implications of this double standard.
The author's point is one form of exclusion to a group is just another barrier to another 'outside group' wanting to join the sport. Gapers are not typically people who come to resorts to flaunt their wealth. Its anyone who has no clue what they are doing and typically wearing gear incorrectly (upside down goggles, backwards helmet) or perhaps equipment not suited for the sport (like wearing jeans instead of snowpants on a pow day). Do you really think gaper day is representative with calling out white privilege? bravo, way to fight the good fight.
Im not directly saying Gaper day is calling out White Privilege but most of our collective hate for Jerry's are people that come to these resorts, dont know what they are doing, and act like asshats because they have money. Sure there are funny examples of well meaning people wearing goggles upside down but thats just funny in itself regardless of who is doing it. I still dont see how Gaper Day or dressing up funny and drinking in a dirt parking lot can be considered racism.
Read this article, they say:
“Regardless of whether it’s Vermont or out west, we constantly get the looks of, ‘oh, there are black people on the mountain – what are they doing here?’” Allen said. “Our club’s motto is ‘who says we don’t,’ because we constantly get that.”
The same article says:
While those numbers seemingly reinforce some painful stereotypes about skiing being a whitewashed sport, the NESC regards Vermont as a comfortable and inviting place to enjoy the sport they love.
“Vermont has always been a welcoming place for me to ski, and I’ve been coming here for a long time,” said longtime club member Jim McKamey. “I don’t think anybody has ever made me feel like I shouldn’t be here.”
They also said most of the flak and surprise they got was from their own race:
Several club members acknowledged that the very first hurdles occur within the African-American community itself. Skiing has long been viewed as a “white sport” from both within and without.
“Stereotypes die very hard, and it’s not just white people,” Cooper said, recalling when a black ski patroller named Phil Littlejohn first suggested she try skiing. “I’m like, ‘are you crazy? Black people don’t ski.’ That’s what came out of my mouth. It took a lot to get me out there.”
This goes back to my earlier point of different priorities different people have. Its not unusual for any race or people to look confused when you spend much of your money on wooden planks, drive 2 hrs every weekend to slide on some snow. This is why im down on community outreach and getting kids out on the mountain, especially from the inner cities where they need a balance to the trapped downward spiral those conditions can create.
Sadly, those looks are nothing new.
“You can tell when you get on the chairlift with somebody who feels really uncomfortable,” Allen said. “They’re sitting there (stiffly), looking straight ahead and not saying anything.
“It’s hard, especially in the current political climate. There are people who sit in silence on the chairlift because they don’t know what to say and they don’t have that comfort level. They don’t know how to ask, ‘what’s going on here?’ without feeling as though they’re being disrespectful in some way.”
Exactly this- ESPECIALLY IN THE CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE. Because we have all this White Guilt, 'White Supremacy is Everywhere" Cancel culture- we have created racial tension and division. If White people are told they are bad, and racist and commit micro aggression then of course they may be uncomfortable to say something on a chairlift out of fear of saying something wrong or offensive even in normal conversation. This was written back in March but look how much worse it is now. There are literally BLM crowds marching through restaurants and yelling at any patrons that dont put there fist up in solidarity. You can deny with that sort of extreme animosity, that same person might be reticent to talk to a normal Black person at the grocery store.
While I understand you may not call this 'trauma', it is a feeling we can't understand as white people and white skiers, and that may be recurring trauma they face as people of colour.
Again from the article I posted above, from the experience of a person of colour... they say “It’s important that when you go to a ski area website, it’s not just showing white people – it’s showing blacks and Asians and Puerto Ricans,” Allen said. “Otherwise, it makes it look like it’s exclusive, when you open up a brochure or magazine and it’s only showing a bunch of white people doing it. That makes us say, ‘that’s just something that white folks do.’ It is so important to have that familiar face.”
This is a tricky one because resorts exist to make money. They know their market is White so they cater to those that are willing to spend money with them. Sure, they can put a bunch of Blacks and Hispanics on marketing slicks but unless it actually makes more Blacks and Hispanics come, it can come off as disingenuous. I dont have a problem at all for them doing this but at the end of the day, the marketing people do things to make money for the resorts and if Blacks dont care about skiing they will eventually realize its a waste of time to market to them. On the other hand, if it makes Blacks feel like they are more included and drives them to the resorts then yeah all the better.
I think your whole post comes off as feeling a bit attacked as a fragile white male (buzz words, people are gonna hate this) and not willing to take much responsibility to contribute to positive change that will allow BIPOC to feel more welcomed into the sport.
Buzzword indeed, ad hominim attacks are not going to help bring anyone together. Especially when its used to discredit anyone with a different idea. If I have a tone, its because in the late 00s it really looked like America was past racism. Young people all grew up watching Dave Chappelle, listened to Hip Hop and voted for Obama and nobody cared what race your friends were. Racism was literally something we collectively celebrated being over. Sure society as a whole still needed to change but the youth were primed to wash it away.
But then this new agenda came forth that suddenly painted everything as racist and marginalized White People as being "White Supremacists" and "Check Your Privilege" or "Cultural Appropriation" for any little thing. Then that gave birth to the natural push back of the Alt-Right shitheads which led to a death spiral into the shit cesspool of race relations we have today. That is why im against articles like this, they dont promote actually going into Black communities to promote skiing. Its just cheap shots at inconsequential issues and trying to use that to paint our sport as racist in a way that does not actually help anyone. We are supposed to get past racism, not look for every little excuse to wallow in it.
