Are winter sports doing enough to welcome people of colour?

On Thursday 15 June at 19:30 GMT:
Public interest in winter sports is high as people continue to hit the slopes year after year, joined by many new entrants.

But many black and Indigenous people of color interested in skiing, snowboarding and other winter activities say they often feel discouraged from participating — and in some cases are victims of racism and unconscious bias in locations where the vast majority of people live. the visitors are. white.

In 2021, The Stream explored the challenge of making winter sports more accessible and welcoming to people of color, finding that sports organizations and resorts still have more to do when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion. Survey data published October by the US National Ski Areas Association shows that only 1.5% of downhill snow sports participants identify as black or African-American.

While several NGOs provide opportunities for youth of color to participate in winter sports and eventually compete, a lack of racial diversity among instructors remains a barrier to progress. EDGE Outdoors is an organization that strives to give black and indigenous women of color more opportunities to teach the next generation of winter sports stars.

In this episode of The Stream, we’re joined by a panel of advocates for racial diversity in winter sports and hear about the progress being made.

In this episode of The Stream we are joined by:
Annette Diggs, @edge_pnw
Founder and CEO, EDGE Outdoors
edgeoutdoors.org

Adrienne Saia Isaac, @NSAA_org
Director of Marketing & Communications, US National Ski Areas Association (NSAA)
nsaa.org

Selema Masekela, @selema
Action sports commentator and member of the board of directors of Burton Snowboards
salmasekela. com