When you're Hispanic going to National Parks is like being a Republican. Only coconuts do it. In both circumstances your family and friends won't know what to say.

It's why if you sell some kind of woodworking object to a Hispanic you better coat that shit in 50 layers of paint with the most toxic kind of finish. If you sell it to a white man he'll want it as close to natural as possible.

Just a cultural thing. Loving trees isn't universal.

The obvious answer is forcing integration on them. Just send a summons for National Park Attendance. When they show up, put them on busses and tour the parks. Repeat until the quota is met.

If they refuse, jail them. It's for their own good.

Hilarious, Ppen.

There's a park out in South Dakota. Four white guys sculpted on a mountain. They'll say "racism", but I'll call it a major civil rights violation.

Of the four white guys. No bathroom breaks? come on, man!

Trees are racist. Who knew?

And Ppen, I like the word "coconuts" there... I haven't seen it used in this context before, but from the way you used it, I can guess what it means. Also, you'd be surprised at how many whites out in the sticks concur with the wood thing; the only difference is that after the 50 coats of paint, it has to be beat up.

I had an argument with a SJW about National Park entrance fees. This was several years ago.

I suggested raising them, in order to make sure that those who visited the parks paid the lion's share of their operating costs, rather than the taxpayers at large.

She said, that would be unfair because *poor people* and minorities couldn't go.

When I suggested that high entrance fees were not what was keeping inner city Chicago minority kids out of Yellowstone, but more likely the expenses and effort of the 2200 mile trip to get there and back, she called me a nasty racist, and several other names.

Yes, it is Racist!

Many of the hiking trails in the US, even in the national and state parks, are maintained by volunteers.

These volunteers will help to cut stones or logs to make natural-looking "steps" going up a well-traveled steep trail to prevent erosion. They will also build bridges where crossing a stream or river is not possible. This means carrying the supplies (e.g., chainsaws, gas for the chainsaws, stone chisels, mortar/cement mix, etc.) several miles to get to the more remote locations.

Many of the shelters found along popular hiking trails (e.g., Appalachian trail) are built and maintained by volunteers. Just like the building of steps and bridges, this means carrying heavy supplies to remote locations.

These volunteers will "blaze" the trail, that is mark the trail with color-coded blazes so that others can easily follow the trail. These volunteers will scout out new directions for a trail when a section becomes overused and needs to be closed.

These volunteers are an additional source to help the park professionals monitor and remove threatening and invasive species.

Many of the popular hiking trail maps are created by volunteer organizations; and I have found them to be very accurate. Sure, you, as a hiker must buy them; but, these trail organizations are not-for-profit. They put the money back into their work, and, that means into our parks.

In short, these volunteers make enjoyment of our state and national parks possible. Without them the "parks" would be just like the wilderness areas and, and therefore, off limits to most folks.

And, I call it racist because from what I have seen most of these volunteers are white men! Not to dismiss the work of minorities and women who volunteer; but, it is racist that so few women and minorities offer their help!

Never thought I'd write this, but I am beginning to miss Reagan.

When you're Hispanic going to National Parks is like being a Republican. Only coconuts do it.

Hispanics love Nat'l Parks. A week ago, a group of campesinos were busted for growing 1700 pot plants in the local Nat'l Park/Recreation Area. The week before that, another group of Hispanics were caught growing 1400 plants in the same park.

My representative, Raúl Grijalva, arguably the most Hispanic person in the U.S. congress, received the Friends of the National Parks award this week from the National Parks Conservation Association. He wants all people to visit our National Parks. In fact he wants that so much that he wants everyone in Central America and Mexico to come to the U.S. at will in order to enjoy our majestic National Parks.

I don't know about national parks, but hare in TX local and state parks are used almost exclusively by Hispanics, at least on the weekends. The sunshades go up about 10 am, the BBQ's start up, the pinatas come out, the music is playing....I always kind of thought it was because they're used to heat, more so than the whites here. But hey, I'm racist, so I'm sure that's a racists thought on my part.

My Mexican hubby concurs with me, though, and follows it with "plus their houses are tiny and their families are huge, so they need the space". It's sure true of his family. Guess he's racist too.

I have to agree with several here. Charles, I was in ACT for several years, a great bunch of people. They do a lot of work all volunteer and the Feds get the credit and $.
Momof4: I definitely concur the small local parks and the ones along the river are almost exclusively Hispanic, On any day you will find a dozen fishing on the Potomac.
But there is also one other thing I'd point out that people have observed. Great Falls is one of the more popular hiking trail parks just outside of DC. I'd say half the people thereon any day are European. Not European descent but people visiting the US.

They're poor, with big families and little space who don't mind the heat. If they have money they're going to go shopping like most poor people. If poor people travel it will always be to visit someone from back home. That's why I joked Hispanics will be puzzled if you choose to travel elsewhere to what they see as a park. Why would you spend a lot of money and time to go to a park?

Once you coconutize yourself you start going to National Parks or buying German cars.

I am Swiss. I am typing this from a vacation apartment we rented near a Swiss national park where we are spending a week hiking. It is definitely a cultural thing. Next week we will go to America where we will camp in Vermont and attend a wedding there with our WASPy friends.

The only racism I can possibly see is subsudizing something used mainly by White people, so having a higher entrance fee would fix that. Of course that is assuming that the only value of a park is having people have fun in it, and there is no other value to undevelloped land, which I do not belueve is the case

"Once you coconutize yourself you start going to National Parks or buying German cars. "

Next thing you know they'll be arguing about which is better, Porsche or BMW. I wonder how "Porsche" is pronounced in Spanish.

"The only racism I can possibly see is subsudizing something used mainly by White people, so having a higher entrance fee would fix that."

Meh. That's sort of like arguing that I should not have to pay taxes to maintain any highways that I don't drive on myself.

From the well-known "Stuff White People Like":

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/08/14/128-camping/

Excerpts:

If you find yourself trapped in the middle of the woods without electricity, running water, or a car you would likely describe that situation as a “nightmare” or “a worse case scenario like after plane crash or something.” White people refer to it as “camping.”

When white people begin talking to you about camping they will do their best to tell you that it’s very easy and it allows them to escape the pressures and troubles of the urban lifestyle for a more natural, simplified, relaxing time. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In theory camping should be a very inexpensive activity since you are literally sleeping on the ground. But as with everything in white culture, the more simple it appears the more expensive it actually is...

...Ultimately the best way to escape a camping trip with white people is to say that you have allergies. Since white people and their children are allergic to almost everything, they will understand and ask no further questions. You should not say something like “looking at history, the instances of my people encountering white people in the woods have not worked out very well for us.”

Note: this works for all races!

(end)

There seem to be hundreds of comments.

I also remember reading an article about a white (possibly Latino) college kid who grew up in a very tough part of NYC - the Bronx? - and who was utterly bewildered when he first encountered other college kids who were going camping; to him, the idea sounded like "playing at being homeless." Completely unappealing.

Also:

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/20/9-making-you-feel-bad-about-not-going-outside/

Entire entry:

As mentioned earlier, white people love to be outside. But not everyone knows that another thing they like to do is make people feel bad for wanting to watch sports on TV or play videogames. While it would be easy to get angry at white people for this, remember it is hard wired in their head that the greatest thing a person can do in their free time is to hike/walk/bike outdoors.

Usually, they will see that you are preparing to enjoy your life and they will say “hey, lets go for a hike in the park,” and most people will say “hey, thanks but I’ve been working all week and I’m really excited about watching this game,” and then they will respond “don’t be a lump on the couch, you’re wasting your life away, etc…” If you ignore them, they will eventually go away.

And much like most things with white people – they win both ways. If you decide to go with them, they feel good about getting someone off the couch and “into the fresh air,” and if you don’t decide to go, they can spend their entire time outdoors saying “boy, this is great, X doesn’t know what he/she is missing!” and running on a mix of self-satisfaction, Odwalla juice and muesli.

(end)

800-plus comments.

Oh, and for those who don't know, the author, Christian Lander (who wrote a sequel, "Whiter Shades of Pale: The Stuff White People Like, Coast to Coast, from Seattle's Sweaters to Maine's Microbrews") is white.

Oprah did a show about going camping with her friend Gayle in a National Park, after a black park ranger wrote in and said black people never visited and it would be nice if they could publicise the joys of parks to this audience. Oprah was not impressed with the camping experience however, (which was quite amusing), and her conclusion was (from memory), "Now I know why black people don't visit parks. Because we don't WANT to pretend to be homeless on the weekend!"

Which I loved. Not everyone wants to do the same things, and different backgrounds can create broadly different preferences. What is wrong with that? Like, duh.