26 June 2013

Segregation in the U.S. National Parks



Photos from the website of the National Park Service, via Slate:
These photographs of segregated areas in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park date to the 1930s and 1940s... Within the large Western national parks, established in the early 20th century, African-Americans weren’t particularly welcome. Geographer Terence Young reports that early 20th-century park administrators had a “conscious, but unpublicized policy of discouraging visits by African Americans, [who were], in the opinion of administration, ‘conspicuous…objected to by other visitors…[and] impossible to serve.’ ”

The official segregation of Shenandoah was short-lived. During WWII, the National Park Service, spurred by federal desires to raise morale in the African-American community, made officially desegregated facilities the norm for all national parks.

2 comments:

  1. I don't know if segregation somehow got embedded in the African American psyche when it comes to national parks, but as I thought on this, I realized that I have seen VERY FEW (in some cases, perhaps none) African Americans during my own travels. I cannot recall seeing blacks at Yellowstone (although I'm sure there must have been some), at Rocky Mountain National Park, nor at Monument Valley or the Grand Canyon.

    It might be that this is due to the relative remoteness of these western parks. But I don't recall seeing many black folks in the Smokies either.

    I hope this is not taken in the wrong way. I am simply stating my honest observations.

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    Replies
    1. I have the same impression. The topic has been the subject of some studies -

      https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/opinion/sunday/diversify-our-national-parks.html

      http://www.georgewright.org/351scott.pdf

      http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/7/heres-why-americas-national-parks-are-so-white.html

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