White is the default at camp: Let's work to change that

By Sarah Kurtz McKinnon

Black Lives Matter at Camp.

Yes, and: This statement needs to be viewed more as a call to action than as a declaration. Because the work of dismantling white supremacy culture at camp (and in our greater society) can’t simply be “accomplished”. In some spaces, or many spaces, it hasn’t started. This call to action drives members of the camp community to start and continue the process of building an equitable camp community where everyone can thrive. It’s recognizing that it’s a lot easier for white kids to thrive at (or even attend) most camps, because, as Nelson Strickland has noted, white is the default at camp.

If you believe Black Lives Matter at Camp, one of the most actionable things you can do is start thinking about the ways in which white is the default at your camp.  We’ve come up with this list of tangible actions that you can take to start to do this. This is not a comprehensive list but rather a starting point. Once you start to see ways that white is the default at your camp and/or in the camp industry, you can start to dismantle white supremacy in camping. 

Themes & Media

When it’s time for a camp activity based on a movie or book from popular culture, who is choosing the theme? How is the theme chosen? Here are some considerations:

• Is it a theme that is discussed widely, with much availability? Does it appeal to many races? Are Black individuals represented as complex, central characters with story lines in the themes you are choosing? Or, is their only contribution to the plot their race? Are they reduced to stereotypical tropes? What about other BIPOC? 

• If you are a white camp leader, are you choosing themes from your own experiences, or are you having conversations with a wide array of campers to learn what interests them?

For example, Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens (from The Conscious Kid) published research in 2019 analyzing Dr. Seuss’s books called The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’s Children’s Books. Out of 2,240 human characters in 50 of Seuss’s children’s books, there are 45 characters of color. All of these non-white characters are “presented in subservient, exotified, or dehumanized roles [especially in their relation to white characters]”. Choosing a Dr. Seuss theme contradicts the message that Black Lives Matter.

For further research: A Tumblr by Dylan Marron called Every Single Word edits down movies to show just the parts where a Person of Color is speaking. The Harry Potter series, for instance, is 1,207 minutes long. BIPOC have speaking lines for just 5 minutes 40 seconds, which is less than one half of 1% of the entire film series. Briana Mitchell from S’more Melanin and Camp AF says: “Kids notice this. And if kids aren’t seen or represented, how can they feel validated and affirmed?”

Pay Attention to Music

Music you play - In a webinar we had last year with Nelson, he gave this example: Who controls the music at your camp? Whose songs are played? Are a large variety offered, or is it Taylor Swift on repeat? Just like themes, music is an important cultural element at a camp. It is another area where white can be the default, where the only BIPOC artists are from the pop/Top 40 charts. Analyze what music is played throughout an average day or at an event like a camp dance. Are there opportunities for different staff members to control the music played or for all campers/staff to make requests and have them played?

Music you sing - What songs are typically sung at your camp? What songs are revered for events such as a closing campfire? Make a list. How were these songs chosen? Are any of them by non-white performers? What is the process for including new songs or getting rid of old ones? Who selects the new songs?

What about Health?

First off, check your supplies. A white skin tone is the default with most bandages. Instead, choose bandaids, ace bandages, braces, and even CPR mannequins that are representative of more than just white skin tones or neutral/patterned. Having all of your supplies be a default white skin tone is another instance where white culture and skin is dominant. Budget to make better purchases for new supplies and replace old supplies. 

Another consideration: Many Black folks who menstruate do not use tampons and instead prefer sanitary napkins. Sometimes, at camp, tampons can be pushed onto campers as the default or preferred option. In fact, my home camp had a song that we’d sing on the first night when we shared the bathhouse rules, and it was about tampons! What would be better? Have sanitary napkins available for campers and give campers choices. Always make alternative activities available during swim time for campers to take off the pressure to use a tampon.

Finally, think about your staff members’ knowledge. When most medical staff are trained (from the basic 1st aid level all the way up through a formal medical school training), examples of health issues such as skin conditions like rashes or even injuries are all presented to learners using images of white individuals. Would your health staff member be able to properly identify a reaction to poison ivy, a case of chickenpox or an eczema flare-up on brown skin? Would you? Review training materials and make sure you have resources on hand in your health center. One notable resource with examples: the Instagram account @brownskinmatters.

Think about Hair

Traditions - There are examples of camp traditions that center typical white hair. Stop these activities. For example, a camp we follow on social media has a “Sunday Bunday”, where campers and staff tie hair in buns. This type of tradition centers whiteness and makes whiteness the “cool” or dominant culture at camp, excluding many Black campers whose hair cannot be tied in buns.

Activities - Hair styling activities can also be exclusionary. For instance, a white counselor who offers to braid white campers’ hair into French braids excludes Black campers whose hairstyle or type cannot be French braided. This furthers centers whiteness or typical white person hair as the default, desirable or dominant type at camp (see Katherine Hepburn’s thoughts on this in this blog post). This doesn’t mean that you need to stop any hairstyle activities altogether, but it does mean that they need to be inclusive. So, you either need to have staff who are capable of doing hairstyles on all different types of hair, or you need to choose dress up activities that work for everyone (wearing different outfits/costumes, painting nails, etc.).

In structured activities like horseback riding, baseball/softball or high ropes, a wide selection of helmet sizes and types should be available for campers whose hair does not lay flat against their head as the default, typical white hair would. Staff should practice safely and efficiently fitting helmets on people with different hairstyles before having to fit campers so they are not fumbling around when it comes to helping campers, embarrassing them and delaying their time doing the activity.

Personal Care - Check your packing list. Most every packing list we see for camp has typical white hair care products on the list. A Black camper who wears their hair in box braids, for instance, would bring a different set of supplies to camp than a white camper who wears their hair in a ponytail. The Black camper in this instance does not need a “brush.” Remove these specifics from your packing list and simply say “hair care supplies.”

Also recognize that many Black members of the camp community may need more time than white folks to maintain their hairstyle. Some previously strict rules (such as a limit on bathhouse time) may need to be adjusted. Simple scheduling changes, such as arranging swim time right before free time, can give campers flexibility to transition and take off some of the pressure.

Sun Considerations

Stop celebrating “Chaco Tans.” Chacos are a common footwear at camp, and I have seen many instances where camp staff or campers boast about their tan lines, even celebrating this on social media. This type of competition celebrates and centers skin that tans, especially white skin. Watch tans, sunglasses tans, Chaco tans: stop glorifying white-skin suntans. Briana says: “Let’s advise camps to do away with celebrating anything that hones in on a darkening or lightening (alteration, really) of skin color. It can be exclusionary for white campers to herald their bronze tans and, when a Black camper does tan, that will be a spectacle in its own right.”

And, as Briana notes in her S’more Melanin blog series with Makela Elvy: many Black folks can get sunburned and many wear sunscreen. Instances where Black folks are applying sunscreen at camp can become ripe with microaggressions. Don’t assume that a Black camper or staff member does not wear sunscreen.

Data to Collect

If you aren’t collecting camper race data when you do enrollment and end-of-summer surveys, start. Sort the data by race to look for patterns and issues. Not collecting data on race is a “colorblind” approach where white is again the default. Chart retention by race, and get even more granular.  Ask questions like:

• Is there a difference in retention for Black campers who had a particular counselor? 

• A particular Black counselor? 

• Are there particular parts of the camp experience that Black campers score lower or higher than white campers?

• At what point are Black campers not retained? 

• When looking at returning Black campers, and what age group do they stop returning to camp? What are their reasons? 

• Are Black campers less likely to return if they have a certain counselor, attend a certain session, or sign up for certain activities?

If this data collection is new for your camp, let caregivers know about this change and explain that you are asking for this information so you can review the camp experience through a DEI lens.

Buy From Black-Owned Businesses

In the Northeast U.S. alone, for example, it has been reported that summer camps have an economic impact of $3.2 billion in a typical summer. “By diverting your purchasing power to more Black-owned businesses, you’re not only helping to strengthen local Black economies — it can also contribute to shrinking the racial wealth gap, foster more job creation for Black people, and help to hold larger companies accountable in regard to diverse representation” (Mashable, 6/18/20).  

Here’s where to start: The December article for the S’more Melanin blog series for ACA NY/NJ will be a curated collection of Black-owned, camp-related vendors! Until then, I recommend Black-owned Drive Supplies out of Metro Detroit, which can help you with your custom apparel needs.

Or, if you need a camp consultant? Check out one of these experts:

Simone Gamble with OAAARS

Nelson Strickland with See the Color

Briana Mitchell & Makela Elvy with S’more Melanin

Doug Sutherland with Doug Sutherland Staff Training & Team Building

Kyle Chones with Ask the Camp Guy

Niambi Jaha-Echols with Cross Cultural Agility LLC

Black Lives Matter at Camp. And, as we recognize and challenge the ways in which white is the default at our camps and within our industry, we send this message. This is not all of the work that needs to be done, but it is a start. As you find more ways that white is the default, that you think may apply to other camps, let us know so we can share.

I’d like to give a special thanks to Briana Mitchell of S’more Melanin/Camp AF and to the Camp Stomping Ground team for their reviews of this article, and to Nelson Strickland and Molly Raynor for early conversations around this topic.