White privilege in nature: the AT hikers who have broken the law

White privilege in nature: the AT hikers who have broken the law

Two through hikers lied this year and violated the law to end the Appalachian Trail. Should we dismiss it as a daring adventure or tackle deeper things?

The first thing I have to admit before I start is that I am a person who adheres to the rules. I never cheat at games or quiz, although I am unfortunately competitive. I hate to come to meetings or meetings too late, and I am even known to Google "how late you come to a dinner party" because I know that it is rude to appear on time (the consensus is 15 minutes).

Maybe this compulsion comes from an innate sense of adequacy, but it is more likely a quality that I inherited from my immigrant parents. They came to Great Britain in the 1960s, a time of increased racial stresses. During my childhood I noticed a change from my father whenever he had to do with someone, especially with someone with authority.

I don't just mean a teacher or police officer. It could be a shopkeeper or bus driver; Anyone who had the power to throw it out of a room. My father would hit a conciliatory tone - even submissive - and put on a smile. The memory of it hurts because I now realize that my father feared the white man. That is the reason why he made us silence so hard when we were unruly, or why he torn down the St. George Cross one day that we have attached to our window. He feared that it was a provocation as if we as British Bangladescher had no right to the English flag.

So, yes, that could be the reason why I stick to the rules. It could also indicate why people like Andrew Underwood feel remarkably comfortable to break them. The AT-Thru hiker is one of two people who illegally finish the trail this year, reports the Outside magazine. I hesitated to call him here because internet shaming is not a pleasant thing. However, I think that it is important to examine how and why he got through with it.

Underwood "lured himself out of possible legal bonds with lies or magic," explains his 2,500 word -comprehensive profile in Outside. It also adds that "he resisted in at least three states of the mandatory self-quartan, slept in closed accommodations and was unauthorized on ways and through national and state parks".

The article describes specific transitions: For example, a cashier in a general store near Baxter State Park mislead or lie to a police officer in Glasginia. Sometimes he was caught in the act, but was able to escape the consequences. An employee of the Baxter State Park referred him to Mt. Katahdin on his way, but then let him go with a smile.

Alt = "Berg Katahdin in Baxter State Park in Maine"> James Griffith's photo/Shutterstock Underwood was caught on the descent from Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park

Underwood not only disregarded the law and its social duty in the middle of a global pandemic; When entering blocked paths, he also violated the unofficial rules of nature. The fact that he did this over a longer period of time and so purposefully speaks for a special kind of privilege. It is likely that he felt comfortable when entering public land not least because he was a white man.

His defenders seem to be in three camps. First, he probably didn't spread Covid-19 because it is safer on the trail than at home. Second, we need more rebels like him/he is as punk rock as they come/he showed the spirit of freedom and adventure. Third: it is a free country and its freedom of movement to be restricted is clearly un -American.

I wonder if they would be so charitable if the hiker who lies the bulls would happen to be a blacker. If you think that Underwood could have dealt with this question himself when he hiked in the middle of global racial protests through the historically confederated country, they are unfortunately wrong.

"I just didn't think of something like that. I was so focused on mileage goals that I did it in four months or less. That is all I took care of all day," he says to Outside. "I never thought of everything else."

This is a perfect example of white privileges: You do not have to fear that you will be damaged, injured or punished due to your skin color.

I suspect that it all comes across quite grumpily. The Thrillseeker in me - the one who jumps from aircraft and platforms and lets himself be seduced by daring - sees the attraction of what underwood did. Only a man and his backpack that opposes the adversity. There is something romantic, and in truth it is unlikely that he really caused damage. His indifference to his own privilege is annoying.

What conclusions do police officers and parking workers draw about him? What concessions did you make him? What does he have in a country where a black man has the feeling that he has to put on a suit when he goes fetching milk, probably made enough? Did he think about it?

If I had hope that Underwood could think about his actions, they were destroyed at the point in his profile when he says (completely unironous, it seems) that he is planning to vote for Trump for Trump because of the "support of the police authorities and the police".

I wouldn't have had to worry about shaping underwood. It seems as if he is completely able to do it himself.

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main picture: Anthony Heflin/Shutterstock

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