Are climbers racists?

The Devil's tower discussion got me thinking, do you, think climbers rise above or reflect the isms? Or, do you think climbers become more or less racist classist or sexist over time? Flame away.

Climbers are people, some of them are saintly, some shitty, most somewhere in between, just like anyone else.

Getting popcorn....

000.3/10 on the trollmeter

IDK bout climbers but most dogs are...

I'm brown and most climbers are really nice to me. Some even hit on me. Some of them do ask me if I know their doctor or if I'm related to their one Indian friend but other than that- no not at all :)

I was climbing with my buddy today and I looked away for a few minutes. The next thing you know, he's putting on black face. I mean, not a lot, but he had the makeup on his hands. Really dark black stuff. I said, "Who are you, Al Jolson?" He looks all puzzled and shit, then I point to his hands. "That's the aluminum oxide on your rope, man. That's not makeup."

Yeah, right.

Ryan Swanson wrote: This lacks merit.

Absolutely. Where did you see racism in that thread Mason? Or are you just surprised and upset that people don't agree with you?

Racism is unacceptable and should never be tolerated on MP. 

grog m aka Greg McKee wrote: Racism and climbing wet sandstone is unacceptable and should never be tolerated on MP. 

Fixed.

Mason Stone wrote: The Devil's tower discussion got me thinking, do you, think climbers rise above or reflect the isms? Or, do you think climbers become more or less racist classist or sexist over time? Flame away.

Link?

Old lady H wrote: 
People are people. We muddle along, mostly reasonably. Besides, "even", gasp, "racists" are capable of kindness.

...if you're the "right" color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. then yes. I'm sure David Duke has been kind but being kind doesn't mean that their racist beliefs should be tolerated.

Tapawingo Markey wrote:

...if you're the "right" color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. then yes. I'm sure David Duke has been kind but being kind doesn't mean that their racist beliefs should be tolerated.

Of course not. But. Once you dump someone into the "ist" that you proudly are not, then you have left no room for anything but "us" and "them". 

A great deal of "ism" is merely business as usual. People may never even have thought of it as a behavior that hurt someone else, until it was pointed out to them. When it's the overall culture, or even the law itself? It takes time to shift. A great deal of time, frustratingly, but people do change, including society in general and laws follow suit, eventually.

That said, this thread belongs in the community forum. Has zip to do with climbers particularly.

Best, OLH

We certainly have color biases.  

• Black totems 
• Purple or grey C3s
• Yellow mastercams
• Pink tricams

You be the judge lest you be judged. 

Not racist, but definitely first-world entitled and a bit clueless.

​https://www.theprojectmagazine.com/features/2018/6/28/rocklands-talk-of-the-crag​​​

Mason Stone wrote: The Devil's tower discussion got me thinking, do you, think climbers rise above or reflect the isms? Or, do you think climbers become more or less racist classist or sexist over time? Flame away.

Do any of you remember RC.com? This is how it died.

We certainly have color biases.  

• Black totems 
• Purple or grey C3s
• Yellow mastercams
• Pink tricams

How dare you forget the green people of the .75!

This isn't a serious question. Serious people should make jokes about this question and move on. Let's all be serious here.

Also: climbers are humans, usually.

Certainly not all but some. Same as for people. I'd say that most climbers I've interacted with, my own partners included, have a tendency to be a bit high and mighty about their liberal views or politics at the expense of participating in any actual activism or change efforts. This particular point depends if you find complacency racist when the issue is apparent and the paths to working against it are numerous. I would understand why someone would not find this racist, since it's not actively undermining other individuals or groups on a personal level. But in my opinion this sort of behavior does suggest some degree of racism, given the relative ease of access to change-related efforts for an overall pretty privileged population. Especially when you consider the fact that we have the time to climb stuff for fun.

I've certainly overheard some disgustingly racist talk at crags. That's not typical but it certainly exists.

This isn't to say that I'm a pillar or activism, and I think I could be doing a lot more. I'd be interested to hear what others are doing on this front. I know that I have my own engrained racism, sexism, classism, ablism etc. that I deal with regularly and I know I'm not alone on that one.

It depends on who you ask. I find most people nowadays are intentionally easily offended. Pretty sure noticing a difference between races and gender will get you labeled in some crowds. 

I am foodist. I hate anyone who eats breakfast. You know how annoying it is to wake up at the campsite and walk around in circles for over an hour waiting for my lazy climbing partners to finish eating breakfast when I don't eat it and just want to go climb.

95+ % of climbing shoes have black rubber.

racism detected!.

admit it, when you climb on gym shoes with white rubber... you doubt it's grip a little more, right?

Mason Stone wrote: Perhaps I should have asked does identity, including isms, affect one's climbing? On wet sandstone.

Take your run of the mill top of the pyramid entitled ahole, are they more likely to violate voluntary closures, shit on ledges, disregard religious beliefs, chastise female FAs, wang slap each other on the cyber space and find little merit in having a discussion about bias? Or are these just human nature, have nothing to do with race or class or ethnicity? And for Helen, does such a person climb better, send harder, never miss a beat while placing pro or rapping? That is since, none of this has anything to do with climbing (frame of mind) or the zone we experience on a good send.

By the way, thanks Helen, Dylan and Phillip. I tend to put climbers on a pedestal, And, I imagine their better natures are what we see at crags when things are harsh, accidents, deprivation etc. Things are different I guess when no ones watching or when the discussion tends toward the inflammatory since as you point out we like others, don't really see what we take as normal.

WTF should I care? Solipsism! Yay! The nonanswer to all questions!

Best, Me, Myself and I