Outdoor Alliance Statement on Equity and Racism in the Outdoors

Photo credit: Dejan Zakic

All people deserve to have safe, accessible places to get outside. In recent months, as cities and states across the country have been sheltering in place, the outdoors have been more important than ever for our mental and physical health. Recent events, including Ahmaud Arbery being murdered while he was out for a jog, and Christian Cooper being threatened while birdwatching in Central Park, are the latest in a long and shameful string of injustices toward Indigenous, black, and brown individuals outdoors. These events are horrifying, and they highlight longstanding inequities in who is welcome and safe in the outdoors. The history of America’s public lands and waters is inextricably linked to our history of slavery and racial discrimination, from the displacement of Indigenous communities to the history of racial segregation not only in National Parks, but most public spaces.

The pandemic has put increasing pressure on our public lands, and has illuminated the continuing inequalities in who has safe access to public lands in America. We all have a role to play in working toward a more just world, in the outdoors and beyond. As an organization, Outdoor Alliance works to nurture outdoor advocates, protect important landscapes, and advance policies that benefit the millions of people that get outside each year in this country. Outdoor Alliance stands with those demanding justice and we remain vigorously committed to creating a more just world through safe and equitable access to the outdoors for all people. We call on the entire outdoor community to not only increase their awareness of racism in the outdoors, but to have the courage to actively challenge the same.