Things We Don't Talk About

It was not until the night of the farm crawl, at the Davis' house, that I realised the Adirondacks (or at least the parts I have been and will be introduced to) are lacking in diversity. When we arrived in the house our pants were caked in dirt and we were coated with sweat. Visitors who arrived before us were dressed in a fairly fancy manner, especially compared to the shorts and shirt I brought along with me to change into.

I felt uncomfortable in my own clothing. I didn't even have clean shoes to wear around so I walked barefoot in misfitting attire. I know a lot of the other girls felt very uncomfortable and out of place. There was a moment when I was talking to two other students in this programme who felt similarly. I said, "I feel like I stand out so much, in a really bad way."I instinctively scanned the room and blurted, "Oh my god, I am the only not white person here."

That shocked me at first. This isn't because it was new to me- there are times when I have sat in small Hamilton classes and realised I was the only non-white person in the room. The simple moment of realising that I was the only one is what shocked me, it always does. I am not sure why that is, but I suppose that is something I never dealt with outside of Hamilton. It is simply a strange position to be in.

After that moment, I wondered why people haven't spoken about diversity in the park. Was it even a conversation that was happening? So far, only one of the speakers who visited for our common experience seminar spoke about diversity- it was brief and left much to be desired. But at least he spoke about it.

I decided to do some research of my own. There was a sad and funny moment when I typed "race in the Adirondacks." Here are the first few links to come up in google:

I thought this was very ironic. I feel like it spoke to the lack of discussion in the park about racial diversity. This, of course, is not to dismiss the dual meaning of the word "race" especially in an area where athletics in the wilderness is very common.

I decided to search "diversity" in the Adirondacks instead and I found a lot of information. I discovered a chart that compared the 2010 US Census data of Essex and Hamilton counties to the entire New York State:

source: Diversity and the Adirondacks: A Demographic Stasis. Peter Nelson. Adirondack Alamanack. 

This was sad but not surprising. I keep wondering why this is? Where are the people of colour in the Adirondacks?

The last question was sadly answered when I stumbled across an article addressing the issue of no diversity in the Adirondack park. It said that most of the non-white population lives in prison systems in the park, which broke my heart. This also means that non-white families come to the Adirondacks from outside cities, like Manhattan, to visit family in prison. They move from an urban setting and uncomfortably make their way into a brand new, unfamiliar rural one. This must cause negative associations with the wilderness in these families.

There are organisations, such as the Adirondack Diversity Advisory Council (ADAC), who are trying to work on this problem because they realise that the constitutional Forever Wild Clause is extremely important In a few years the country will become a minority majority, it only takes two consecutive state legislatures and a majority vote to repeal the clause.

How can this park be protected if the majority of New York doesn't know about it? I think this argument filters back into the talk we had with the APA and DEC. How far should the park go to bring people in and make more accessible areas for visitors and how much should the park hold back and maintain the wildness of the wilderness?