Travel ethically for inclusivity and belonging.

The travel industry, one of the most profitable, fastest-growing industries globally, is worth $8.9 trillion (World Travel and Tourism Council). In 2018, Black travelers spent $63 billion on global tourism, an enormous leap from $48 billion in 2010 (Mandala Research). Additionally, in 2001, the United States Travel Association (USTA) identified African Americans as the fastest-growing segment in the travel industry. With these numbers, it’s clear that Black travelers are ready, willing, and able to spend their money on experiences in their chosen destinations, yet we are treated like we don’t belong.

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily! This Memorial Day weekend brought the most people to than airport in a single day since COVID-19 (Washington Post). Half of the U.S. population is now vaccinated, and many are eager to get their hot girl summers started. This resurgence is sure to transform the travel industry.

And this gives us new opportunities to create a space that's more inclusive for all travelers. Reneé shares her perspective of traveling as a Black woman, and offers ways that we can create safer opportunities for us all.

Our free, daily newsletter is made possible by our passionate team of readers that give one time or monthly to help sustain the work. If you want to support, give monthly on Patreon. Or, you can give one-time on our website or PayPal. You can also support us by joining our curated digital community.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Note: Please be sure to abide by all coronavirus precautions and best practices if you are considering traveling during this time.

Prioritize booking travel with companies led/represented by people of color and committed to equity and inclusion.
Consult Ethical Traveler to understand which countries are most ethical to travel to based on their infrastructure and dedication to human rights, the environment, and social welfare.
Honor the Indigenous communities that have stewarded the land you visit. Use Native Land to learn more about Indigenous communities across the world.
Know the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation, and make a point to respect cultural practices.
Speak up when you see or hear of discrimination against people of color while traveling.

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By Renée Cherez (she/her)

When we think about travel, we imagine a worry-free time without interrupting the “real world.” Unfortunately, this level of unadulterated escapism does not ring true for Black travelers.

A quick Google search of the terms ‘traveler’ or ‘solo female traveler’ and pages of young white women against picturesque backdrops of the turquoise ocean with pink sand or famous landmarks like the Taj Mahal appears. Absent are the faces of Black travelers who are most certainly traveling to destinations both near and far. Over the last decade, with the help of social media, the Black travel movement (a movement that encourages Black people – particularly Black millennials – to travel both domestically and abroad to build community while also immersing in other cultures) has grown to unprecedented numbers.

Over the last few years, more and more Black travelers have been vocal about the anti-Black racism they’ve experienced while traveling in various parts of the world. Black professionals who often fly first-class are notoriously assumed to be in the “wrong line” when they’re on the priority line solely based on their skin color (LEVEL).

Black women have to research their destination and whether or not they will be safe from racialized and gender-based violence. White supremacy has made it so that the sexualization of Black women is worldwide, causing many Black women to experience unwanted advances abroad from men who assume they are prostitutes. Ugandan-American Jessica Nabongo, the first Black woman documented to travel the world, shares her experience with safety as a Black woman:

“...[women] of color are in more danger because a lot of people think we are prostitutes… My fear is always that if something happens to me in a European city, no one will care. I could be running down the street screaming in Italy, and onlookers won’t care because I’m Black. I think this is true no matter where in the world we are.”

Jessica Nabongo, world traveler, for the New York Times

For years, Airbnb branded itself as a way for travelers to stay at or with locals in new places; however, said locals have discriminated against Black travelers on several occasions (Fast Company). Whether it was kicking them out without reason or not responding to their inquiries on their accommodations availability (Fortune).

Also worth noting, 15% of Black travelers stated racial profiling played a role in their destination travel decisions (Mandala Research).

In the travel industry, people of color have played a supporting role in the tourism space. In contrast, white travelers have been the lead actors, not only as travelers but also in leadership positions at marketing agencies and press trips, travel media outlets, and tourism boards. Black people, wherever they are in the world, have been painted as the “gracious host,” “the safari guide,” and “the individuals who need ‘saving’ from white volunteers” but are rarely represented as “the adventurers in far-off lands.”

This lack of representation plays a significant role in the anti-Black racism Black travelers face on the road. For example, if locals from a country have limited real-world experience with Black people, they can only rely on what they’ve seen in the media. This misconception is likely to affect Black travelers negatively. A solution to this is simple: real diversity and inclusive initiatives rooted in anti-racism with a commitment to amplifying Black travelers.

Racism in the travel industry stretches beyond the average Black traveler but impacts the entire industry. Black travel agents make up a mere 6% of agents, while white travel agents make up 72% of the space (Data USA). Luxury travel is primarily represented by white travelers, erasing the Black travelers, journalists, and creators who create luxury travel content. In the PR industry, white professionals make up 87.9% of the space, while Black professionals make up 8.3%, Latinos 5.7%, and Asians a measly 2.7% (Harvard Business Review). With the absence of diverse voices, the stories, reporting, and content created from these trips lack the nuance that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) can provide.

And this is particularly tense for the Asian community experiencing increased levels of anti-Asian racism because of COVID-19. The attacks earlier this year coincided with the Lunar New Year, which is one of the busiest travel times both across Asia and for the Asian community in the U.S. In an article for National Geographic, several travelers shared their hesitations on traveling in the future. But even before the pandemic, Asian people have been notably absent from executive positions and marketing campaigns (Washington Post).

Tourism boards must create marketing campaigns that reflect the diversity of the world, not the status quo. People of all kinds should be represented and celebrated in advertisements, not just light-skinned, slim, able-bodied, cis-gendered people. Diverse advertising in the travel industry has a two-fold result: it allows non-white travelers to feel welcome while showing locals that we, too, travel and deserve respect. Recent research shows travelers who identify as ethnic minorities (64%) and LGBTQ+ (67%) say the companies they book their travels with must be committed to inclusion and diversity practices (Accenture).

Like most industries, the travel industry is undergoing a reckoning. Black travelers and industry professionals demand real representation in the industry from the highest levels in leadership to the entry-level positions. Anti-racist policies must be adopted in the travel industry on a global scale to ensure Black travelers and Black locals are treated with the utmost care and respect post-COVID-19.

Key Takeaways

In 2018, Black travelers spent $63 billion on global tourism and are currently the fastest-growing segment in the travel industry.
Over the last few years, more and more Black travelers have been vocal about the anti-Black racism they’ve experienced while traveling in various parts of the world. It’s not uncommon that Black women are presumed to be prostitutes solely because of skin color.
People of color deserve to be seen, heard and respected in the travel industry, including marketing, executive leadership, and business ownership.

10/30/2020 | Don't be racist this Halloween.

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Nicole Cardoza 1/4/21 Nicole Cardoza 1/4/21

Tackle anti-Blackness in South Asian communities.

After Kamala Harris was elected America’s first Black, Indian American, and female vice president, South Asians largely reacted with enthusiasm. A September poll found that 72 percent of Indian Americans were going to vote for the Biden-Harris ticket (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace). But when the vice president-elect takes office in a few weeks, how are South Asian American communities going to grapple with their legacies of anti-Blackness alongside their celebration of this historical milestone? How will we make sure that we reject model minority tropes and also center her Black identity?

Hello and welcome to a new year, a new Monday, and a new article from the Anti-Racism Daily! We've had a lovely time on holiday and we're back in action with our daily reporting. We're just a couple weeks from the U.S. Presidential Inauguration (held January 20, 2021) where Kamala Harris will become the first woman, first Black person, and first person of South Asian descent to become vice president. Today, Vignesh joins us to discuss anti-Blackness and the complexity of multiracial identity.

I appreciate that Vignesh mentions that he is still learning, and invites others in his community to do the same. You might not identify as South Asian, but consider how you can take the same approach to address anti-Blackness in your own community.

This community has grown since holiday! Thanks to our group of financial contributors, we can continue to offer this newsletter free for all – without sponsors or ads. You can support our work by making a one-time gift on our website or PayPal, or subscribe for $7/month on Patreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza).

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Share Letters For Black Lives with your family. There’s even a version tailored to South Asian Americans. The template letters, available in dozens of languages, help spark conversations with loved ones about racial justice, police accountability, anti-Blackness, and why Black Lives Matter.
Read more about the history of South Asian and Black solidarity via historian Anirvan Chatterjee.
Read everything by Yashica Dutt and Suraj Yengde, who address issues of casteism in society.
Follow South Asians 4 Black Lives, which educates South Asians about dismantling anti-Blackness.

GET EDUCATED

By Vignesh Ramachadran (he/him)

Of course, identifying Harris has been a subject of much contention: some have labeled her as solely African American, others as only Asian American, while others have flat-out questioned her American roots (The Atlantic). Harris was born to a Jamaican American father and an Indian American mother in California. The incoming Biden-Harris administration clearly identifies her as a “Black and Indian American woman.” After the November election, lawyer Deepa Iyer encouraged Brown Americans to not “erase or de-center her Black identity” or “accept that oppression and inequality have ended,” as well as to address “anti-Blackness in systems and our own communities” (Twitter).

There are racist adages in parts of South Asian communities that basically say: Don’t date or marry someone who is Black (The Juggernaut). Whiteness has traditionally been the South Asian aspiration — from skincare products to matrimonial platforms to entertainment. When Indians have called out cultural appropriation in Western pop culture, they often ignore that Bollywood liberally appropriates Black culture and promotes whiteness — spurring the #BollywoodSoWhite movement. For more on colorism in South Asian communities, check out our previous newsletter.

All these issues stem from a legacy of colorism, casteism, and anti-Black sentiment that have pervaded South Asian cultures for years. The community must understand that history in order to course-correct today. In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, one of the female characters dislikes her dark complexion. In Islamic history, some followers disliked one of Prophet Mohammed’s companions because he was dark and the son of enslaved people (The Juggernaut).

In more contemporary times, Gandhi was thought to have a “disdain for Africans” during his time living in South Africa (The Washington Post). In the well-known 1923 Supreme Court case in which Bhagat Singh Thind fought for American naturalization, he claimed his high-caste Hindu roots and supposed Aryan blood deemed him white. In 1958, Harris’s Indian mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who moved from South India to Berkeley, California, to pursue higher education, soon participated in civil rights demonstrations (The Atlantic). The civil rights movement, fought by Black Americans, opened doors for the vast majority of South Asians to even move to the United States. The landmark Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 abolished old immigration quotas, allowing immigrants from Asian countries to grow exponentially (History.com). As Sharmila Sen writes in The Washington Post: “Rushing to celebrate our achievements — impressive household incomes, new-construction homes, millennia-old gods, low divorce rates, high SAT scores — we have, on occasion, silently accepted the badge of honorary whiteness.”

So many people in my own family have described my late maternal grandfather as a “great man and very handsome, even though he was very dark” — as though his Dravidian roots and South Indian skin were a character flaw he had to overcome. Even Hindu idols are largely depicted with fair skin, though there is some contemporary pushback (BBC News). There are also troubling parallels between race and caste discrimination (The Conversation).

But there is progress being made in 2020. Following George Floyd’s killing, parts of South Asian American communities finally began to discuss anti-Blackness — both in public spheres and in the depths of private WhatsApp groups. A group of my childhood friends who also grew up second-generation in Colorado started a Zoom meetup where we discussed issues of race. Kids are sending their older relatives Letters For Black Lives. Aunties and uncles — some of who participated in summer protests — finally began to understand why Black Lives Matter. We heard the heartening story of the Bangladeshi immigrants in Minneapolis whose restaurant caught fire during demonstrations, and in those moments of distress, expressed solidarity: “Let my building burn … Justice needs to be served” (Medium).

As the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) organization eloquently recommends, in addition to addressing anti-Blackness, it’s time for South Asian American communities to show up for Black communities. It’s time to uplift voices who are not just like me. We need to hear from those who grew up both Black and South Asian to better understand unique multiracial perspectives — like those of Harris. I’m still learning, and I hope more South Asian American peers will join me in this process.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

South Asians need to recognize that anti-Blackness in our communities goes back centuries. Whether we’re talking about emerging voices or famous leaders like Kamala Harris, it’s important to acknowledge intersectional identities and not just “Brown-wash” them.
The Asian model minority myth hurts everyone — especially our Black peers.

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Nicole Cardoza 10/14/20 Nicole Cardoza 10/14/20

Make the outdoors more equitable.

Last month I wrote an essay in Outdoors cataloging my negative encounters with white people who "didn't expect to see me”: a Black man hiking Mt. Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine and a favorite destination of extreme hikers. During my many visits to Katahdin, I have been screamed at, accused of following people, questioned about why I was on the mountain, and treated with such hostility that I have questioned whether I was doing something illegal. I was not.

In today's piece, I'd like us to reflect on the idea of reclamation. So much of this work isn't about granting new access and opportunity, but a reclaiming of rights given to us before oppressive systems even existed. The notion that some of us experience discrimination while exploring the great outdoors is appalling to me, and represents the core of this work – our need to reclaim the most fundamental parts of being human. I'm grateful to share this space with Juan so he can tell his story on reclaiming our right to blaze our own trail.

Thank you for all the support for this little newsletter that could! If you can, consider joining in by contribution to our website, PayPal, Venmo (@nicoleacardoza), or subscribe monthly on Patreon. Thank you for all the support!

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Check out In Solidarity for resources on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the outdoors
Contact major industry brands and associations like the Outdoor Industry Association and Merrell and ask them to support connecting Black communities to the outdoors
Organize and support trips that introduce Black schools and families to the outdoors
Write letters to your local representatives to demand greater funding and services in Black neighborhoods

GET EDUCATED

By Juan Michael Porter II (he/him)

My experiences are far from unique. There are numerous accounts from hikers of color about racist hostility that they have received from white people on the open trail (Outside, OPB, The Guardian).

Though I have grown accustomed to these reactions, I was unprepared for the large volume of emails that I received after writing that piece. Some of those letters were kind, though misguided: white people offered to take me hiking in a paternalistic show of solidarity and protectionism. Rather than shower me in virtue signaling (Vanity Fair), I wish that they would focus on eliminating racism so that all Black people could venture into the outdoors without fearing reprisal.

Mixed in with these solidarity statements were denouncements of disbelief that I had experienced racism at all. These screeds oscillated between denying my experience to threatening to “show me what real racism looks like.” It felt as if these white people lived in a different universe from me.

In one regard, they do: they have the privilege of hiking without fear that someone will assume that they are perpetrating harm. As a Black man, I am always greeted with suspicion, even while on an isolated mountain summit in a state that has fewer than 40,000 Black people living in it (Maine Census).

Despite the threats, I keep hiking because I refuse to be defined by fear or to limit the freedom that I feel by being outdoors. In fact, I returned to Katahdin last weekend to reclaim the space as a place of joy for me. Pursuing pleasure is my version of radical activism, especially in a time when so many Black lives are under threat from COVID-19, police brutality, and governmental neglect (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, NYTimes).

I speak out against these issues, as so many other Black people do, because if we stop, the white community (which has the privilege of occupying the outdoors without suspicion) will keep promoting the lie that racism is dead while also blaming us for the threats that we receive for doing nothing more than sleeping in our own beds (Poynter).

I interviewed Shilletha Curtis, a hiker who is of the same mindset. She aims to be the first Black gay woman to complete hiking’s Triple Crown (the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails). Though Curtis has experienced horrible harassment since she started hiking in March—most notably in a Facebook group for hikers after she expressed concern for her safety as a Black woman hiking in the South—she refuses to apologize for “speaking her truth.”

After Curtis was kicked out of the Appalachian Trail Facebook group for discussing race, rather than stay angry, she says, “I took all of that anger and passion and I threw it into words. I put it into something educational; that isn't harmful." Curtis responds to comments such as “there's no racism on the trail” or “the trees don't know any color” by pointing out, “but humans do.”

Whenever I encounter racism, I recall the words of Paul Laurence Dunbar and decide that I will not "wear the mask that grins and lies" (Poetry Foundation). Instead, I work on decolonizing the outdoors and promoting accessibility to Black people. America’s natural splendor is our inheritance, left to us by kidnapped Africans who were forced to work on stolen lands; who fled bondage through valleys and across rivers as they pursued their natural rights as freed people (History, BBC News, Smithsonian Mag, USA Today).

Denying Black people access to outdoor leisure has a long history in the United States. Consider Madison Grant, who helped engineer the national parks system and promoted the pseudo-science behind eugenics. He had no problem with Black people as long as they remained “willing followers who ask only to obey and to further the ideals and wishes of the master (white) race” (Mother Jones, New Yorker). Grant was intent on preserving the parks to the exclusion of Black people. His racist attitudes blossom throughout white-dominated outdoor spaces even today.

Non-Hispanic white people make up only 63% of the U.S. population, but they account for 88% to 95% of all visitors to its public lands (Resource Magazine). Many white people blanch when I point to these facts as signs of pervasive racism and exclusion. Ultimately, I don’t care about what they think. I care about introducing Black people to the stress relieving and lifesaving experience that comes from spending time in nature (TIME, Science Daily). And if that means snatching a few edges, so be it.

You can join me in reclaiming the outdoors as a safe space for Black people by organizing as many people as you can to build a coalition of support that fearlessly and relentlessly advocates for Black communities. Black people deserve their time in the outdoors as much as anyone else does.

Like Shilletha Curtis, I fulfill this mission by serving as a role model for Black people who do not realize that the outdoors is for them, even if that just means visiting a local park. It may be a small step over the mountain of racism, but through grassroots and political initiatives, together we are all building a coalition to reclaim our birthright. Instead of “40 acres and a mule”, we Black people deserve access to every golden valley, from sea to shining sea.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Black people face hostility and racism in the outdoor community and at recreation centers.
Non-Hispanic white people make up only 63% of the population in this country, but they account for 88% to 95% of all visitors to public lands across the U.S. (Resource Magazine)
Confronting racism is important, but arguing with racists is less effective than advocating for Black communities fearlessly and relentlessly.

6/18/2020 | Take down Confederate symbols.

7/5/2020 | Support the Navajo Nation through COVID-19.

ARCHIVES

Travel ethically for inclusivity and belonging.

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Key Takeaways

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Tackle anti-Blackness in South Asian communities.

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

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Make the outdoors more equitable.

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GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

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