BLACK PEOPLE DONT CAMP

Ahh, the great outdoors. To the average camper there’s nothing better than being out in the woods! Not only are you enjoying the fresh air but you’re connecting with nature. There’s nothing better than sitting by a stream and watching the fish spiral out of the water as they try to catch flies. The melodious sound of various insect as they go about their daily activities, oblivious to your human presence. You see furry woodland creatures scurry about collecting nuts or playing around with their other furry friends. This is the idealistic setting for all true campers. Fresh air, peaceful surroundings & beautiful scenery what more could you ask for? Again this is what the AVERAGE camp goer sees! To the average black person all they can see is hot weather, mosquitoes, no TV and no soft mattresses to sleep on.

There are many Africa Americans who have had to struggle all their life. They have worked from the bottom up to make a success of themselves. They have come from a small 3 bedroom house filled with about 7 to 8 people, all crammed into that small space , to their own spacious houses with room for all. They more than likely reason to themselves, ” why in the world would I want to give up my current comforts to live in a tent on a thin air mattress in the middle of the woods with no AC? I CAME from sleeping on the hard floor with other people crammed in my room with No AC. Why in the world would I willingly go back to those conditions?” That’s a valid point, but most campgrounds are equipped with electrical outlets and hot showers and other modern comforts but yet we are still hesitant to go camping. What are some factors that contribute to this reluctance to pop open our tent and rough it? I’ve researched this and have been able to pinpoint a few things:

THE HEAT- Maybe it’s because our ancestors were slaves who had to work hard in the hot sun day in and day out but we have an aversion to heat. We absolutely love AC! There’s nothing better than walking inside from the sweltering outdoors to an air conditioned room. It euphoric! We even let out a sigh to show our appreciation for the cool air. Do you want to know how to torture a black person? Put them in hot 90 degree weather! I guarantee you we’ll crack in 10 min. We hate the heat and we hate being OUT in the heat. We find any excuse to be indoors away from the heat. So spending a few days away from our cool air is not appealing.

MOSQUITOS/BUGS- Anything that slithers or crawls is an enemy. Anything with wings or more than one eye is an enemy. Anything that stings or buzzes or digs is an enemy. Anything with Scales, fur or lives in a shell is an enemy. And we try to avoid them at all cost!

FOREST CREATURES- SEE MOSQUITOS/BUGS

SCARY PLACES- We don’t run towards danger! We’ve seen enough scary movies to know that being in the woods at night is a horrible thing. That’s usually the time when a psycho serial killer will escape from the bus transporting him to the asylum. He will then head into the woods to prey on innocent campers. Though the chance of this happening is extremely slim we don’t want to take any chances.

And Finally NO TELEVISION- Since its invention we have been infatuated with our Televisions. We run home after work or after our religious services to turn on the TV. Weather we’re watching reruns of “Matlock”,” In the heat of the night”, or “People’s Court” to ”The price is Right”, “Wheel of fortune” or “Family feud”. We are happiest in front of our TV’s. We give up necessities just so we can watch TV. A friend of mine installs cable and he said that when he went into a house to install cable it was completely dark. The resident had lit candles everywhere. He thought he was about to be part of a crazy spiritual ritual but turns out their power was turned off because they couldn’t afford to pay the bill. Yet these same individuals were able to pay the cable bill! Like I said we love to watch TV. And since there are no Satellite dishes in the woods we are not interested in pitching out tents there.

So this is my Plea to all my African American brothers and Sisters to do something new to pack our tents and sleeping bags and rough it. You’re missing out on a wonderful experience that all of us , young and old , can enjoy!