Want to get a discount at The North Face?
Easy peasy. Just take a 1 hour online DEI course and you can get 20% off your next purchase.
These are at the start of the course. North Face begins by telling you, the outdoors is for everyone, but people of color are the only ones who can’t access it, because they don’t have a way to get to the ski resorts and hiking trails.
But wait, it gets better. Next, North Face… pic.twitter.com/ABDMDV3Xy8
— Liberacrat Media™️ (@Liberacrat_) March 4, 2024
This is actually a response to what has become a running theme on the Left, which tends to love urbanism in most cases, but is deeply afraid that hiking, biking, skiing, and mountain climbing are racist activities that need to be diversified.
I suppose if you live in Portland, one of the whitest cities in America, you might think that no Black people engage in outdoor activities, but that is mainly because there are almost no Black people living anywhere near you.
As you log into the course you are greeted with this DEEP THOUGHT:
This 1-hour digital course is designed to foster a deeper understanding of the unique challenges that people of colour face when accessing the outdoors. The course focuses on perspective of race and racism in Europe, and we acknowledge that the experiences of people of colour around the globe differs. It will also provide training and resources, through 4 interactive modules, to help you be a better ally and to make the outdoors a safer and more welcoming place for everyone.
This course is intended for those who work and operate in the outdoor industry including brands, organisations, coaches, instructors and volunteers.
By committing to taking this course, you have already taken the first step towards creating a more inclusive and equitable outdoors for all. Thank you.
As part of this course, you will:
- Build awareness and knowledge of people of colour in the outdoors
- Understand barriers and challenges by listening to lived experiences
- Understand the power of allyship and how you can be an ally
- Adopt effective strategies and tools for allyship in action
It appears to be true that White people are, on average, more likely to engage in what we think of as “outdoor activities.” This racial disparity doesn’t stem from any White supremacist conspiracy, though. There are all sorts of racial disparities that just exist for reasons independent of discrimination. Race may not even be a factor.
For instance, racial, ethnic, religious, and nation of origin are all lumpily distributed. Nobody wonders why Amish folks are underrepresented in Miami, or why people of German background are found in high concentrations in Wisconsin and Minnesota. There is no discrimination causing the lack of Polka music festivals in certain regions of the country, or for why pinatas are found more often at birthday parties in Arizona than in Iowa.
The Black population is disproportionately urban–in fact, “urban” is often used almost interchangeably with “Black” when describing culture.
Hiking is not an “urban” activity. Playing hoops is, and you may have noticed that a disproportionate number of basketball players are Black.
Shocking, I know. Will wonders never cease?
How George Floyd’s death relates to trail hiking and snowboarding isn’t clear to me, but I haven’t the Galaxy brain that the folks at North Face have.
It seems to me that if we want to avoid situations like the one that led to George Floyd’s death, getting fentanyl off the streets would be a pretty good start.
But no, defunding the police and opening the borders were a better solution. And, of course, convincing George’s junkie friends to start skiing.
Same here https://t.co/pVQh50Accu
— Anthony Phillips🐏🐲 (@tony_phillips64) March 4, 2024
If The North Face were focusing on recruiting more urban people, or even focusing on luring Blacks into nature then I would be all for it. Hiking, camping, skiing, and the like are all fun activities for people and it seems like there is an untapped market that the company could serve.
Smart, that would be.
But that isn’t what is happening here. What The North Face is doing is lecturing White people about Black people. Not one bit of this is actually aimed at luring new people into the natural world. They are instead lecturing White people about how bad they are because Black people aren’t going into nature.
This makes no sense. Not one bit of sense, if you take the company at its word that it wants more diversity in outdoor activities.
How is lecturing White people about “allyship” accomplishing anything?
This is about nothing more than employing DEI consultants and fulfilling their ESG goals. In other words, it is offensive BS.
Screw you, North Face.