Equity in Parks and Recreation
A Historical Perspective
Introduction
The United States boasts beautiful park systems, from the local dog park to the great expanses of the Grand Canyon. Parks and recreation are critical infrastructure to society, adding beauty, clean water, clean air, places for exploration, recreation, socialization and peace. However, they also represent places of discrimination, segregation, trauma and disparity. Historical and contemporary land-use policies have shaped the contours of public park and recreation spaces across the nation in ways that continue to make it easier for some, and much harder for others, to experience open spaces.
Many Black, Indigenous, people of color and other marginalized groups, such as women, LGBTQ+, immigrants, low income and people with disabilities, lack the opportunity to experience and engage in high-quality parks and recreation. Just and fair access to high-quality parks creates healthier, cohesive, and stronger communities. Centering equity means park and recreation professionals focus on racial inequities, commit to continuous learning and examine how inequitable systems and exclusionary practices are perpetuated.
To expand access, one must first understand the factors that have shaped the unfair access and distribution of park and recreation facilities across communities. This story map is a snapshot of policies and stories of park inequities throughout United States history and the opportunities and challenges ahead. It is designed to acknowledge and reflect upon the experience of unequal access and abject practices. Most importantly, this story map is meant to inspire the transformation of a just and equity-driven parks and recreation system for all.
What Is Park Access?
The just and fair quantity, proximity and connections to quality parks, green spaces and recreation facilities, as well as programming that are safe, inclusive, culturally relevant and welcoming to everyone.
*This definition has been developed by NRPA.
Staff and youth participate in Monte Vista Kids Connection Commit to Health in Colorado. Photo courtesy of NRPA.
Centering Equity
Racial inequities persist in every public system across the country — healthcare, education, criminal justice, etc. — and are baked into the founding of our institutions. Unless intentionally countered, these racial inequities will continue in practices and policies.
When considering other dimensions of identity — income, gender, sexuality, education, ability, age, citizenship and geography — the intersection with race most often magnifies the inequity. Naming the role that race plays in peopleߴs experiences and outcomes is critical to talking about other identities. Therefore, one must acknowledge racism’s influence from the beginning, examine with intention ways to dismantle these inequitable systems, and rebuild or reinvent the policies and practices that shape these essential spaces and the park and recreation profession.
The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) lifts up the core value of continuous learning and embraces a growth mindset, as individuals and as an organization, by supporting professional development of members. Embodying a growth mindset encourages appropriate risk-taking. It rewards employees for important and useful lessons learned. It supports collaboration across organizational boundaries. It commits to the growth of every member, in words and actions, supporting development and advancement opportunities. The process commits to progress, not perfection.
NRPA is examining its role in inequitable systems and perpetuating exclusionary practices. Through the implementation of a diversity, equity and inclusion assessment and a corresponding action plan, NRPA is systematically and intentionally backing up words with actions. As a membership organization that leads by example, NRPA invites members and affiliates along on this journey. Achieving an equitable future requires recognizing the systemic inequities that have created very different lived experiences in parks across the country.
Uneven Access: Who’s Benefited From Parks and Recreation?
Historically and today, local, state and federal governments in the United States regulated land-use and environmental policies that increased local park access for some, while significantly limiting it for others, especially by income, education, race and ethnicity. [1] [2] [3] In addition to intentional policy decisions and exclusionary practices, violence and discrimination throughout history have discouraged and made it difficult for some to visit parks and engage in recreational activities.
The following stories illustrate just a few examples of individual and policy-based discrimination in parks and how they have impacted peopleߴs experiences in parks.
Racism and Park Use
A wooden bench with the term "Whites Only" engraved on it is a relic from the times of segregation. Photo by Okyela, courtesy of Dreamstime.com
Cedar Hill State Park is a 1,826-acre park boasting diverse recreation opportunities — from fishing, mountain biking, barbecuing, camping and beyond. Just 10 miles outside of Dallas, the park is located in a predominantly Black neighborhood, but only about 11 percent of visitors are Black. [4] Why? Perhaps because the park was once a slave-ownerߴs plantation. Not only is this history not represented, but additionally, centuries of discrimination have influenced Black interest in recreation. “We have to talk about access when we talk about the history of leisure, because there was no access to it [outdoor recreation], so how do you expect me [to] appreciate these things if my parents didn’t appreciate it, my parents’ parents couldn’t appreciate it?” – says Susan, a Cedar Hill Park community member. [5]
Women
Shelma Jun, founder and managing director of Flash Foxy , a women’s climbing community, performed an open survey and created a short documentary film to underscore sexism, discrimination and harassment that still permeate rock climbing today.
A woman rock climbs a sandstone cliff. Photo by Pancaketom, courtesy of Dreamstime.
Flash Foxyߴs survey of 1,512 all-gender respondents shows how gender can affect your experience at the climbing gym. [ 6 ]
Parks and People With Disabilities
Today, a wheelchair user and lifelong Chicago resident crosses the cityߴs many beaches via a beach walk. But for most of this wheelchair userߴs life, her access was limited to her family or friends carrying her across hundreds of feet of sand. [7]
A man with a spinal cord injury loves to swim, but ߵߵprior to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), I could only swim during ߵhandicappedߴ swim time, not just any time I wanted to swim or when my friends swam.ˮ [8]
An athlete in a wheelchair prepares for a swimming competition. Photo by Suryo, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
LGBTQ+ in Parks and Recreation
“Nature doesn’t care that I’m gay, but people do,” says Mikah Meyer [9] , the “Social Media Warrior” who traveled on a three-year road trip to 419 U.S. National Parks and is the first openly gay man featured in an Outdoors Recreation Campaign. He was featured by NPR, the Guardian, Upworthy and the “Today Show.” Posting his adventures with the Pride flag on social media, he encountered significant backlash.
A person sits on a waterside bench painted in blue, pink and white for the transgender pride flag. Photo by Daniel Sanchez Fernandez, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
To understand how policies and practices have shaped park and recreation access in ways that continue to make it easier for some, and much harder for others, to experience open spaces, we have to start at the beginning. We have to acknowledge the original inhabitants and owners of land. We must seek to acknowledge the history of land-use decisions and actions that brought us to this moment.
Long before white settlers arrived, Indigenous peoples were the original stewards of this land. Indigenous peoples are not a part of our ancient past; they are still here as members of our communities and their individual history is part of our shared history.
Throughout our history, access to land has been based on exclusion — both de facto and de jure. Wars, genocides, forced removals, slavery and segregation were used to control who owned land, where people lived, and what land they could access. We start at the beginning to better understand how to create a more equitable future.
The following is a timeline of the racism and discrimination in our country that have influenced parks and recreation beginning in the 1600s.
1600 to 1850: Stolen Land, Stolen Labor and Manifest Destiny
European colonization began in the 15th century spurred by “Manifest Destiny” and the “ Doctrine of Discovery .” These policies legally enabled warfare, genocide, slavery and forced removals of Indigenous people, actions sanctioned and enacted by the U.S. government. Native Americans had the right to occupy their stolen land but could still be forcefully removed. [10] Between 1607 and 1732, England established 13 colonies in North America and by the 1800s, controlled more than 90 million acres of Native American land.[ 11 ]
Manifest Destiny
In 1617, twenty Wampanoag and seven Nauset men were captured and sold into slavery in Spain. Although both tribes were the first Native Americans to meet the Pilgrims in 1620 and have maintained a presence on the land for more than 12,000 years, only one of the Wampanoag tribes was federally recognized in 2007. Even today, their existence and lands have been challenged. [12]
A Wampanoag sits on a log surrounded by animal furs at the Plimouth Plantation Living Museum. Photo by Suru99, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Native American Land vs. Present Day American Indian Reservations
The left shows the traditional boundaries of Native American tribal lands . The right shows current Native American territories by acreage size. However, these territories only represent federally recognized tribes, which is inherently a white institutional construct (i.e., some tribes don't have the funds to apply for federal recognition, which often takes years and millions of dollars in legal proceedings).
Treaties Between Indigenous Peoples and White Settlers
Beginning in the late 1700s and lasting for nearly 100 years, the U.S. government enacted more than 500 treaties with Native Americans who hoped to preserve their land, heritage and resources. Nearly all were broken or violated by the federal government. The Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 ended the practice of recognizing tribes via treaties, leaving tribal nations with decades of broken promises and even more vulnerable to attacks on their land.
ߵߵWhat happened to the tribes quite often is that they thought they had a binding agreement… They, perhaps, moved to the restricted area they had agreed to. And then money never came from the Congress because the treaty was not ratified,ߴߴ says Robert J. Miller, law professor at Lewis & Clark College, tribal judge and author. [13]
The "Lasting Friendship" Bronze Sculpture in Marktplatz Park, Fredericksburg, Texas. Photo by Jacqueline F. Cooper, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1600s-1800s: African Slavery
Between 1619 and 1860, the Transatlantic Slave Trade kidnapped and transported approximately 12.5 million African men, women and children to the ߵߵNew Worldߴߴ in North and South America. Just 10.7 million survived the tumultuous journey.
The decisions and actions above shaped not only the contours of our landscapes, but also ideas about who owns land, who belongs on the land, how land should be used and how people move across land. Colonialism, white supremacy and violence significantly impacted the experiences of Black and Indigenous people with land and open space. As we move through the timeline, you will see how the attitudes and the actions taken by colonizers continued to be embedded in land-use policies.
Constitution
Did you know that the Constitution was shaped by the Iroquois Confederacy’s democratic conventions and system of government, the Great Law of Peace, practiced since the 16th Century? [21] ,[22] , [23] The forefathers also adopted their democratic symbology in the Seal of the 13 Colonies. The United States Great Seal illustrates the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) influence on the formation of American democracy. The eagle symbolized Haudenosaunee government being watchful and protective of its people. Also, the Great Seal uses 13 arrows to represent the 13 colonies in the way the Haudenosaunee used six arrows to represent the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy.
The seal for the President of the United States on Marine One, the President's helicopter. Photo by Joe Sohm, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1830 – The Indian Removal Act
In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act accelerating the removal of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole and Cherokee from their ancestral lands, so that white Southerners could convert the land to uses that were considered more productive, such as agriculture. [24] The journey to the Western Plains, now Oklahoma, is known as the Trail of Tears. Estimates are that the forceable removal involved 46,000 people or more during the 1830s and cleared 25 million acres of land for white settlement and slavery.
Indian Removal
“The food on the Trail of Tears was very bad and very scarce and the Indians would go for two or three days without water….Aunt Chin Deanawash came from Georgia on the Trail of Tears. Her husband died shortly after they got out of Georgia and left her to battle her way through with three small children, one who could not walk. Aunt Chin tied the little one on her back with an old shawl, she took one child in her arms and led the other by the hand; the two larger children died before they had gone so very far and the little one died and Aunt Chin took a broken case knife and dug a grave and buried the little body by the side of the Trail of Tears.” Lilian Anderson, August 20, 1837. Cherokee [25]
A silhouette of a person in a Native American headdress stands in front of a fire at the 37th Thunderbird American Indian Pow Wow. Photo by Jenta Wong, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Indian Removal
This is a vector line showing the approximate designated route of the Trail of Tears national historic trail.
1850 to 1900s: Local Parks Emerge as a Respite to Industrial Slums
The Industrial Revolution
The mid-19th century gave rise to a period of unprecedented urbanization and America’s Industrial Revolution. Many migrated from rural areas to city centers that promised jobs in factories and warehouses, as well as in rail and shipping yards. As cities grew, so did unsanitary conditions and congestion. Working-class neighborhoods deeply felt the effects of disease and overcrowding, as pollution filled the air and untreated sewage blanketed the streets.
In response, settlement houses, zoning ordinances and building codes were created to improve the public’s health. [26] At the time, parks were mostly located on the outskirts of cities in places only accessible to those with means.
Urban Parks and Displacement
Central Park resulted in more than 800 acres of green space. But for whom? Before it was Central Park, it was Seneca Village, a thriving and vibrant neighborhood. Seneca Village was a predominately African American community with small numbers of Irish and German immigrants. Many owned their homes and were employed. The city acquired the land for Central Park through eminent domain — the power of the government to take private land for public use as long as the landowner is compensated — displacing the original individuals and families. Although the residents of Seneca Village were compensated, questions remain as to whether they received just and fair compensation. [27] How many of the original Seneca Village residents were able to take advantage of this new park space?
Bow Bridge in Central Park, New York City, New York, after a recent snow storm. Photo by Mihai Andritoiu, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Olmsted Parks in the Industrial Revolution
Architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a leader of the early park movement, envisioned cities with large open spaces for contemplative recreation, with winding trails to increase access to nature and improve quality of life. In 1859, New York City built Central Park, the nation’s first landscaped public park, which Olmsted affectionately referred to as the “lungs of the city.” In 1870, Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, a 1,000-acre park system was created in Boston to address localized flooding, stormwater and sewage spurred by urban development. Although the parks created beauty and space for play for the emerging urban community, they also had the consequences of advancing economic disparities and upper-class agendas of cultural assimilation. [28]
The Muddy River of Boston's Emerald Necklace, an Olmsted park. Photo by Jon Bilous, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Between 1890 to 1900, planners experimented with ways to bring a smaller version of Olmsted’s vision to working-class neighborhoods to deal with so-called diseases of density, such as cholera. As described by Galen Cranz in Defining the Sustainable Park: A Fifth Model for Urban Parks, this “small park movement” was characterized by parks ranging from one to four city blocks.
European Immigration
During this era, large numbers of mostly Central, Eastern and Southern European immigrants came to the United States and were viewed as inferior. There was a dramatic shift in park planning during this time where parks were no longer just spaces for wealthy white people to recreate. They became essential social service centers for community members and immigrants to fill out government forms and adjust to life in a new country. [29]
European Immigration and Parks
Battery Park in New York City is renowned today for its ferry access to the Statue of Liberty, but from 1855 to 1890, it was the place of entry into the United States by many European immigrants and the site of immigrant processing. “The Immigrants” a sculpture made in 1973, remains in Battery Park representing the struggle and toil of the immigrants’ experience and displacement. [30]
A bronze statue of the European immigrants that arrived at Ellis Island, New York City, New York. Photo by Fabio Formaggio, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
The Great Migration
After the Civil War ended in 1865, the Reconstruction era started. The lives and movements of African Americans were dominated by segregationist policies, such as Jim Crow Laws and the Black Codes. What was not enforced by law was often enforced by the Ku Klux Klan through intimidation tactics, violence and lynching.
Buffalo Soldiers
The Buffalo Soldiers were known as America’s First Park Rangers. Black Civil War soldiers were legally prohibited from serving in the peacetime army, but the Army Reorganization Act enabled six Black regiments to be formed. They were charged with overseeing the Western expansion of the United States. With the development of several western National Parks, the Buffalo Soldiers became the first Park Rangers, evicting poachers and timber thieves and suppressing fires. [30]
A person in the uniform of a Buffalo Soldier riding a horse. Photo by Jim Lambert, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Stone Mountain Park, Georgia
Stone Mountain Park in Georgia is a beautiful park with a complicated history of not only white supremacy, but also hope. This park is where the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross to mark the group's “rebirth” in 1915, countless acts of violence have taken place, and a Civil War Memorial was carved. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. referenced “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia” in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Today, it is the site of Black Lives Matters protests. [31]
People sit in the foreground of Stone Mountain, Georgia, a monolith with a Confederate memorial etched into the rock face. Photo by James Kirkikis, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1862 – Homestead Act
Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, the Homestead Act accelerated Western expansion by rewarding Euro-Americans with up to 160 acres of public land provided they live on it, improve it for farming purposes, and pay a small registration fee. More than 270 million acres of land — approximately 10 percent of the total area of the United States — was given away through this act, but the law was, in effect, fueling land ownership and wealth among Euro-Americans.
1890s – Jim Crow Laws
Following the end of slavery in 1865, Jim Crow Laws emerged in cities and states legalizing racial segregation in neighborhoods, facilities and public space. For example, between 1866 and 1947, California enacted 17 Jim Crow laws creating isolated neighborhoods for Chinese-Americans, school segregation, voting restrictions and prohibitions on interracial marriage. These decisions impacted both access, quality and inclusivity of parks and recreation facilities for Black, Indigenous residents and immigrants, and their impacts are still evident today.
Jim Crow
Due to Jim Crow laws, City Park in New Orleans segregated Black entry and use until 1958 when a federal court ordered integration. In nearby Audubon Park in 1963, members of the New Orleans chapter of the Congress for Racial Equality were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing for using facilities in the park. [32]
A sign reads "Audubon Park" with trees, shrubs and vegetation in the background. Photo by Zimmytws, courtesy of Dreamsetime.com.
1890 – Second Morrill Act
The First Morrill Act of 1862 established Land-Grant Institutions National Program for colleges to specialize in agriculture and natural resources. The Second Morrill Act of 1890 specified that African Americans were to be included, creating 19 Black universities for natural resources and agricultural research, education and trainings.
1893 – Eminent Domain Powers Used to Create Rock Creek Park in the Nation’s Capital
Eminent domain refers to power of the government to take private land for public use as long as the landowner is compensated. Although this power was traditionally used to acquire land to construct public buildings, several cities, towns and villages have used it to create local park systems. In 1890, after Congress authorized the creation of a park along Rock Creek, the federal government used its eminent domain powers to acquire land alongside the creek to create the park. In Shoemaker v. United States, 147 U.S. 282 (1893), the Supreme Court affirmed the actions of Congress as constitutional. [33] Eminent domain also was often used in Black communities to maintain racial segregation.
A stone bridge in Rock Creek Park, Washington D.C., with Rock Creek below. Photo by Zylstraa, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1900s – Zoning
Zoning refers to a set of regulations that determine what and where you can build. Initially, zoning codes emerged to separate industrial, residential or commercial land uses and to curb nuisances. Zoning also was used to keep out unwanted groups of people. Racial zoning ordinances were used to exclude Black people and other ethnic minorities from white neighborhoods with amenities, such as parks and recreation facilities. These decisions laid the foundation for other discriminatory practices such as redlining, which refers to the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation use of the color red to denote geographically “hazardous” areas for insuring mortgages. Neighborhoods that were or located near predominately Black communities were always colored red. In far too many places, neighborhood zoning ordinances continue to perpetuate spatial injustice and racial discrimination through the built environment.
An all white digital model of city buildings and streets. Photo by Vtt Studio, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Mid-1900s to 1960s: Adding Recreation to Parks
In the early 20th century, Robert Moses, commissioner of New York City’s Parks Department, built playgrounds, parkways, and highways lined with parks throughout the city of New York. A key departure from Olmsted, Moses emphasized recreation, including sports fields and recreation centers.
Institutional and Structural Racism
While Robert Moses’ efforts to expand parks, playgrounds, pools and recreation facilities are championed in many planning circles, the impact of his legacy on Black and ethnic communities is more complex. In The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, author Robert A. Caro asserts that Moses invested more in parks in wealthier neighborhoods and even built bridges to make it more difficult for buses from Black neighborhoods to travel to beaches in white neighborhoods.
A small, wooden boat at Robert Moses Beach. Photo by James Kirkikis, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, many people of color were legally barred from, or segregated at, public recreational sites, including national and state parks. [35] Nonetheless, Ernest T. Attwell, field director for the Department of Colored Work, Playground and Recreation Association of America, describes progress made in supplying playgrounds and other recreational programs and facilities to African American neighborhoods in northern and southern cities throughout the United States. The author maintains that children grow physically, mentally and morally when exposed to such recreational activities. He was one of the first to advance the notion that adequate recreation facilities deter delinquency.
1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s – Racial Covenants
Racial covenants — agreements between property owners, sub-division developers, or real estate operators denying the sale or lease of a property in a given neighborhood to minorities, principally African Americans — emerged in 1917 following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Buchanan v. Warley, which declared city segregation ordinances unconstitutional, establishing the Buchanan Rule. [36] Racial covenants could be privately imposed, creating a mechanism to continue racial segregation despite the court’s ruling. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, covenants increased significantly. In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled racial covenants unenforceable; however, real estate agents continue to steer minorities to specific neighborhoods with less resources, including high-quality park spaces. In response to the Buchanan Rule, Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover created the Advisory Committee on Zoning and enlisted the expertise of outspoken segregationists, including Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the son of Frederick Law Olmsted. During his time on the committee, Olmsted said "in any housing developments which are to succeed,... racial divisions... have to be taken into account... . If you try to force the mingling of people who are not yet ready to mingle, and don't want to mingle," it will not succeed. ( 50 ) Olmsted Jr. would go on to play important roles in National Capital area planning and planning for Acadia, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks. ( 51 )
1920s to 1930s – Forced Deportations
In the late 1920s, anti-Mexican sentiment spiked during the Great Depression . As the stock market tanked and unemployment grew, Anglo-Americans accused Mexicans and other foreigners of stealing American jobs. Mexican-Americans were discouraged and even forbidden from accepting charitable aid. As fears about jobs and the economy spread, the United States forcibly removed up to 2 million people of Mexican descent from the country — up to 60 percent of whom were American citizens. Learn more about the Los Angeles story here .
Latinos hold signs protesting deportation at an immigration reform rally in Los Angeles, CA. Photo by Ken Wolter, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1930s – Redlining
“Redlining” refers to color-coded maps created by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation. [37] These maps were used by the Federal Housing Administration to guide mortgage lending decisions. Neighborhoods with predominantly white people were classified as a good investment and shaded green, whereas neighborhoods with substantial numbers of Black people and ethnic minorities deemed a bad investment and shaded red. Nearly no mortgages were issued in red communities, denying Black families homeownership and also determined disinvestment in other neighborhood resources, such as parks. Though redlining ended in the 1970s, its effects still can be seen and felt today.
A Closer Look at Redlining and Park Equity
Historic redlining and urban renewal policies continue to impact park and recreation access. To learn more about the inequitable outcomes of redlining and urban renewal in your community, visit Not Even Past: Social Vulnerability and the Legacy of Redlining or The Legacy of Redlining: Residential Segregation in 147 American Cities . [38]
This map includes redlining maps for mid-sized to large cities in the 1930s. Zoom in to view the redlining maps for cities across the country.
1933 – Executive Order Establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps
As part of his signature New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to create jobs. The CCC helped shape America’s park system. Millions of men were employed to plant trees and construct trails and to work on other environmental construction projects. African Americans and Indigenous people served in segregated camps within the CCC, laying the foundation for trails and parks that they were often prohibited from enjoying. This experience left a significant and long-lasting impact on their relationship to the outdoors. For African American corpsmen, parks and recreation was not a career path but a temporary occupation; they endured racial slurs, discrimination and limited opportunities for upward mobility. [ 39] [40]
Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration
The group cabin camping facilities at Cabin Camp 1 were built by the National Park Service (NPS) with CCC labor as part of the development of Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area (RDA) from 1935 to 1938. The RDA program was a New Deal initiative of the NPS, which repurposed underutilized agricultural land near urban centers into outdoor recreational areas. Chopawasmic RDA turned 11,000 acres of small farms and an abandoned pyrite mine along Quantico Creek in Prince William County and Stafford County, Virginia, into a model recreation area with five cabin camps. Camp 1 is also noteworthy in that it was one of two Chopawamsic camps (with nearby Camp 4) designated for African American campers at an early date. Camp 1 was used as Camp Lichtman for many years, hosting groups of African American boys from the Twelfth Street YMCA in Washington, D.C. This perpetuated a codification of local segregation practices with separate entrances for the Black camps on the north side of the site and white camps on the south. However, Camp 1 provided new camping facilities laid out according to the latest ideas in recreational planning at a time when few options were available to African American groups. By the 1960s, Camp 1 was used as co-ed and integrated Camp Goodwill by Family and Child Services of Washington, D.C. Prince William Forest Park is one of the only demonstration areas held by NPS (out of more than 30 around the country) possibly because it provided park space to Blacks in Virginia.
Hiking trail and bridge adjacent to the location of the historic Chopawamsic camps. Photo by Rzyotova, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1944 – Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
More commonly known as the GI Bill, the Servicemen's Readjustment Act was designed to provide a range of benefits to World War II veterans, including education stipends and low-interest loans to purchase a home. While the Act technically extended benefits to all veterans regardless of gender or race, its implementation left much to be desired. Many African Americans and women struggled to access their benefits due to systemic racism and discriminatory practices. Some banks refused to issue mortgages to African Americans, even with the government backing the loan. While many of their white counterparts used these loans to purchase new homes and move to suburbs rich with resources and improved physical environments, many African Americans remained in cities with aging infrastructure and limited investment.
1949 – The Housing and Slum Clearance Act
In 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed into law the Housing and Slum Clearance Act to rid America’s cities of “slums.” [41] Armed with new tools to support urban renewal programs, planners used this legislation to classify large swaths of Black and ethnic neighborhoods as slums and to demolish them for local redevelopment goals, including cultural and recreational centers. Colloquially planners called these urban renewal programs “negro removal.”
1950s – Separate but Equal Laws
Born out of the Jim Crow era, separate but equal laws ensured that Blacks and whites went to separate but “unequal” schools, libraries, swimming pools and parks. In the years to come, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson formally established the constitutionality of the separate-but-equal doctrine, and two separate cases — Wong Him v. Callahan (1902) and Gong Lum v. Rice (1927) — specifically upheld states’ rights to segregate Chinese Americans in public schools. In the latter case, which involved another highly Americanized Chinese family in Mississippi , the Court set a powerful precedent that made it even more difficult for civil-rights lawyers to combat segregation. Parks at the time were segregated with separate entrances, campgrounds, bathrooms and picnic tables. “Whites only” and “coloreds only” signs were used as physical markers and reminders. In addition to exclusionary laws against Blacks, laws excluding Indigenous peoples, Mexican Americans and Asian Immigrants also were prevalent during this time period.
Black joggers running over bridge in a park. Photo by William Morgan, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1956 – The Federal-Aid Highway Act
Leveraging the Federal-Aid Highway Act and urban renewal programs, transportation engineers and planners acquired large tracks of land to construct the nation’s interstate highway system. Highways ripped through urban centers, commonly referred to as slums, where land was cheap and communities of color could be easily removed. These concrete structures created physical barriers to employment and other opportunities, as well as neighborhood resources such as parks. Families, and the local businesses that served them, were disrupted and displaced.
Children of all races enjoy a water fountain play feature in a city park. Photo by Russ Ensley, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
In Los Angeles, freeways ripped through Black and ethnic communities, including Hollenbeck Park while avoiding parks in the white suburb of San Dimas. [42] They are called the monuments of racism in Los Angeles.
1960s to Present Day: Reimaging Environments and Open Space
In the late 1960s, several fundamental environmental policies passed in the United States. Legislation such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency were created to protect the climate and improve the public’s health. African American, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, and Indigenous environmental justice champions worked tirelessly to protect their communities from hazardous wastes sites and pollution producing facilities.
Since the 1960s, there has been a growing movement to reimagine open spaces and to promote more healthful environments. Cities such as Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Detroit have reclaimed waterfronts, abandoned railways, former industrial spaces and streets to create park and recreation spaces.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund
In 1964, Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to conserve natural areas and create new parks, trails and recreation areas. It is funded by offshore oil and gas royalties totaling $900 million each year.
The Great American Outdoors Act
In August 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act codified permanent LWCF funding at $900 million each year, 55 years after its inception. The Hispanic community, including GreenLatinos and the Hispanic Access Foundation, were instrumental in the long fight for permanent funding, “ Land, Water Y Comunidad .”
A Latino couple hiking and having fun in the mountains by the sea. Photo by Hector Pertuz, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1964 – Civil Rights Act
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy asked Congress to create a comprehensive civil rights bill in response to massive and widespread protest and unrest due to segregation and discrimination. The Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex or national origin in hiring, promoting and firing, as well as discrimination in public accommodations and funded programs, strengthened enforcement of voting rights and desegregated schools. It ended the legal application of Jim Crow laws.
Civil Rights, LGBTQ+ and Parks
Five years after the Civil Rights Act, the LGBTQ+ community launched a series of demonstrations protesting a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. A year later, the first Pride Parade began at the site. [43] In 2018, Stonewall National Monument in Christopher Park across from Stonewall Inn became the first LGBTQ+ National Monument. Today, cities across the globe celebrate the Pride Parade, most which often start at local community parks.
A Gay Pride Flag waves at the 2019 Pride Parade rally in New York City. Photo by Alexis Randolph, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1968 – Fair Housing Act
In 1968, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act to end housing discrimination in programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) provision of the Act encouraged public housing authorities to expand housing choices in neighborhoods rich with opportunity and community assets, such as park and recreation facilities. In 2015, HUD issued new AFFH regulations to better communities by expanding housing choice. [44] In 2018, HUD suspended implementation of the agency’s 2015 AFFH regulation, making it harder to ensure all neighborhoods connect people to the resources they need to thrive.
Parks with Public Access vs. Public Housing Units Throughout the United States
Zoom in to see more in-depth geographic comparisons of parks versus public housing locations
1972 – Title IX of the Education Amendments of
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Its impact on women athletes and recreation was profound. Female sports participation increased over more than 1,000 percent at the high school level and 600 percent at college level. [45]
Title IX and Women in Sports
Billie Jean King, tennis champion and leader for gender equity in women’s sports, was a tireless advocate at the federal level to secure Title IX. She founded the Women’s Sports Foundation, and is renowned for the symbolic win of the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match to disprove tennis champion Bobby Riggs' claim that women’s tennis was inferior. With more than 90 million viewers, King’s win publicly exposed gender discrimination in sports and supported women’s perseverance for equality. [46] [47]
Historic photo of Billie Jean King playing tennis. Photo by Jerri Coli, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
1974 – The Community Development Block Grant Program
The Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) provides block grant funding to local governments to support development in economically distressed communities. [48] CDBG funds can be used to improve community facilities, including parks and recreation centers. Decisions about how funds are allocated can impact park access within and across communities. To date, more than $100 million annually has been allocated for park and recreation infrastructure. Some advocates have raised concerns over whether funds are allocated equitably across communities.
1990 – The American with Disabilities Act
Modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities, including physical or mental impairments in all areas of public life. Local park and recreation spaces are required to comply with ADA regulations; however, many are in different stages of implementing improvements to guarantee that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to enjoy these public spaces.
Disabilities and Discrimination in Recreation
Tourette’s Syndrome is a neurological condition that includes repetitive and involuntary vocalizations or movements, called tics. Tics cause unwanted attention, micro-aggressions and discrimination. Though now determined to be protected by ADA, a teen with Tourette’s in Massachusetts was repeatedly reprimanded because of her tics in karate class. Classmates’ parents complained forcefully and recreation leaders would no longer allow her to join the class — only offering her instruction individually. The experience was so demoralizing she stopped karate altogether.
Man in wheelchair with his family enjoying the beach hand in hand. Photo by Roman Zaiets, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Confronting the Challenges of Today
Increasingly, there has been discussion and action focused on expanding access to local, public parks and recreation for Black, Indigenous, people of color and other minority groups, as well as individuals with disabilities, who, historically, had been excluded. As park and recreation professionals take steps to correct these inequities, they will need to consider how the following issues might impact access today and in the future.
COVID-19 and Health Equity
In 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) highlighted the essential nature of local, public parks and recreation spaces. It also illuminated the glaring inequities between communities that have access and those that do not. As millions across the United States “sheltered in place,” outdoor spaces served as an outlet. However, far too many were unable to fully reap the benefits of these spaces because they were too far from their residence, unsafe (i.e., did not provide enough space to safely physically distance or did not feel safe due to crime or the condition of the space), unclean and/or unwelcoming. These inequities in park access also exacerbate other health inequities with regards to chronic health conditions — including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke — which are more common and can be more severe among members of different racial or ethnic minority groups. [49] Additionally, a disproportionate number of “essential workers” who aren’t able to work from home, including those within the park and recreation profession, are people of color.
COVID-19 also has exacerbated an already alarming crisis across the country. More people are facing trauma, social isolation, adverse experiences, and adverse environments contributing to increased rates of depression, anxiety and suicide. Access to parks, green spaces and recreational programs are shown to improve mental health outcomes. To advance health equity and support community healing in the wake of trauma, park and recreation professionals need to acknowledge and address the physical and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people of color.
Playground closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Ritaanisimova, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
The onsite of the COVID-19 pandemic permeated the rise of Asian American/Pacific Islander bullying, hate and discrimination fueled by the Trump administration. “Enough of the demeaning usages of ‘Chinese virus,’ Wuhan virus,’ and ‘Kung-flu,’ especially from our nation’s leaders…. Enough of the scapegoating. Enough of using the Asian American community to stoke people’s fears about COVID-19,” said Representative Grace Meng (D-N.Y.). On September 17, 2020, the House of Representatives passed Resolution 908 condemning Asian American racism.
Red paper heart with #StopAsianHate text on surgical face mask in response to Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Ratana, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
NIMBYism, Gentrification and Displacement
Couple sit on a bench enjoying the High Line linear park in New York City. Photo by Littleny, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Where one lives can make it easier or harder to enjoy the benefits of local, public parks and recreation spaces. “Not In My Back Yard,” NIMBY, has increasingly been used to describe opposition to the construction of multifamily affordable housing buildings. As neighborhoods change, housing prices increase, affordable housing disappears, and legacy residents and cultural institutions are at risk of being displaced. Many legacy residents justifiably fear green gentrification — the process by which adding green spaces and amenities attracts wealthier residents and increases property values, and oftentimes, leaves them displaced as they are unable to afford their homes.
The 606 Greenway in Chicago and the High Line in New York City's former “Meat-packing District” are some examples. Gentrification and displacement can impact park access in several ways. Legacy residents who remain in their community may not feel welcomed at new neighborhood parks. Those who are displaced may relocate to a community with improved park access or a community with worse access, depending on where they can find affordable housing.
Transportation Equity
Inequitable transportation access, poor connectivity, inadequate wayfinding, unsafe street design or sparse maintenance of trails, sidewalks and roads can make it challenging to access local park and recreation spaces. Lower income individuals are more likely to use alternative transportation modes, such as bikes or public transit, than those with higher incomes due to the economic cost associated with owning a vehicle. Expanding safe, affordable and reliable multimodal transportation options (e.g., walking, biking, taking public transit, driving) to parks for people with low income, people of color and individuals with disabilities is a critical element of park access.
Law Enforcement/Police
There is a long-standing history of people living in Black and communities of color not being safe, feeling threatened, and losing their lives in or around our country’s parks. Despite being deeply rooted in tradition and culture, possessing strong intergenerational familial ties, and having a strong sense of community knitted together with a fabric of faith, Black and communities of color are still the targets of police brutality and in some cases, brutality and death at the hands of vigilante citizens. For example, Trayvon Martin, who was fatally shot by George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012, and eight years later — almost to the day — Ahmaud Arbery was allegedly murdered by a father and son duo, Travis and Gregory McMichael, on February 23, 2020.
This brutality against largely Black people, oftentimes, in park spaces, is further evidenced by the killing of Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot in a Cleveland park on November 22, 2014. Rice at the time of his death, was a 12-year-old African American boy, shot and killed by Timothy Loehmann, a 26-year-old white police officer, while throwing snowballs and playing with a toy gun in Ohio. In the summer of 2020, Christian Cooper was recreational bird watching in a New York park, when a white woman called the police to falsely accuse him of trying to assault her. This incident exemplifies the mental harm Black people and other people of color endured in addition to their witnessing the brutalization and killing of innocent Black people and people of color in their communities. Racial profiling, harassment and police brutality make it harder for people of color to feel safe in local park and recreation spaces.
Cardboard coffins stating "I Can't Breath" at a vigil in Nashville protesting police brutality and racism in the justice system. Photo by Kyle Lincoln, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Climate Change
From devastating fires to more frequent storms, communities across the country are experiencing the negative impacts of climate change. Increasingly, heat stress and severe flooding threaten the physical, mental and economic health of residents. While severe storms affect everyone, low-income neighborhoods and communities of color are disproportionately impacted. As a result of discriminatory land-use and investment practices, aging infrastructure and decades of disinvestment, these communities have traditionally lived and worked closest to pollution-producing and environmentally damaging factories, warehouses and facilities . To advance environmental justice and climate resilience, park and recreation professionals will need to confront the disparate impacts of climate change on low-income neighborhoods, communities of color and individuals with disabilities.
Widespread wildfire in Lake Elsinore, CA in 2018. Photo by Kevin Key, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Civic Participation
The way public spaces are designed, built and maintained, including parks and recreation amenities, influences how those spaces are used, how communities are connected, and the ability to foster strong social networks. Local parks and recreations spaces can help cultivate a sense of attachment or belonging to a community and, in doing so, foster civic pride. They also can serve as spaces for democracy. Christopher Park in New York City's Greenwich Village was the epicenter for the LGBTQ+ community movement, and there is a long history of parks as spaces for protest. In 2020, many local parks were used to organize protests in response to the killing of George Floyd and the Movement for Black Lives.
Black man in a bulletproof vest holding a fist up for Black Lives Matter at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C. Photo by Julian Leshay, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
U.S. Park Names and Historical Monuments
Streets, schools, and even local park and recreation spaces have been named for historical figures who did not acknowledge or value the life of all people, and therefore, took part in the dehumanization, enslavement and degradation of certain groups, specifically people of color. Across the country, local park and recreation spaces were named or included monuments that honor the “ heroes ,” who stood for Confederate ideals and inhumane practices that harmed so many. To create welcoming and inclusive spaces, the complete history of this nation must be confronted. It is critical to acknowledge the subliminal messages people are met with as they enter and enjoy park spaces that are named after Confederate leaders whose missions included separating and dividing this country.
Confederate Soldiers Monument at Averasboro Battle Field in North Carolina. Photo by Rex Williams, courtesy of Dreamstime.com.
Mitch Landrieu, former New Orleans Mayor, addresses removal of Confederate Statues. “These statues are not just stone and metal. They are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. These monuments purposefully celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy; ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, and the terror that it actually stood for.”
Welcoming Spaces
In addition to communities of color, other marginalized minority groups, such as people with low income, immigrant and new American communities, people with physical and cognitive disabilities, and LGBTQ+ communities, have felt unwelcomed and unwanted in local park and recreation spaces [29] , [30] . As the United States becomes more culturally diverse, park and recreation professionals must work to provide safe spaces that are welcoming, inclusive and culturally relevant for all people, regardless of race, color, ability, sexual orientation or religion, so all people can reap the benefits of park and recreation amenities in their communities. Acknowledging and retaining cultural references and needs are vital for creating more inclusive spaces. By engaging with, listening to and granting decision-making power to the voices of community members who have been historically excluded, as well as intentional engagement, messaging and representation, park leaders can create more welcoming spaces.
Moving Toward Justice
Park and recreation professionals provide essential services to people in their communities. Lacking access to parks and recreation is an injustice. To achieve just and fair park access for all people, agencies must acknowledge, harness and celebrate the unique power and resilience that dwell within communities while working to remove the barriers that perpetuate the inequities that exist between them.
To achieve just and fair inclusion, park and recreation professionals must not only review the history of local spaces, but also continue to ask questions that expand how to think about equity and corrective justice:
- Distributive – Who has physical access to local park and recreation spaces?
- Procedural – Who decides the budget, operations, maintenance and programming?
- Interactional – How are people treated in local park and recreation spaces? Who feels welcomed? Who feels unwanted?
- Representational – Do people believe their experiences, culture and history are represented in local park and recreation spaces?
- Care – How do people steward local park and recreation spaces and the broader environment?
As park and recreation professionals remain committed to this cause, it is important to hold each other and elected officials accountable for the policies, programs and practices that are funded and implemented within park and recreation facilities. By doing so, our profession affirms the sacredness of the earth and the interdependence of all living things, elevating equity in parks and recreation spaces.
The second phase of this resource will highlight actionable steps that celebrate our diversity and create an new path toward park access and enjoyment for all.
Terminology
Access: The just and fair quantity, proximity and connections to quality parks and green spaces, recreation facilities, as well as programs that are safe, inclusive, culturally relevant and welcoming to everyone.
Equity: The absence of avoidable, unfair or remediable differences among groups of people, whether those groups are defined socially, economically, demographically or geographically or by other means of stratification. Equity = Fairness and Justice (Definition taken from The World Health Organization )
Diversity: Differences in racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, geographic and academic/professional backgrounds; people with different opinions, backgrounds (degrees and social experience), religious beliefs, political beliefs, sexual orientations, heritage and life experience (Definition adapted from Racial Equity Tools )
Inclusion: Authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into the processes, activities and decisions/policy making in a way that shares power, recognizes and celebrates differences, ensures that people feel welcome and everyone has the equitable access to opportunities. (Definition adapted from Racial Equity Tools )
Removing barriers, both physical and theoretical, so that all people have an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of parks and recreation. (Definition taken from the National Park and Recreation Association )
Land Use: The relationship between people and the land. How the physical world is adapted, modified or put to use for human purposes. This includes even the “non-use” of lands reserved as wilderness or protected from human impact. (Definition taken from The Glossary of Land Use and Planning Terms )
Microaggression: The everyday verbal, nonverbal and environmental slights, snubs or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. (Definition taken from Racial Equity Tools )
Additional Suggested Reading
Redlining and Urban Renewal
The Great Migration
“A Complicated Past” https://www.npca.org/articles/978-a-complicated-past
LGBTQ+ and Gender Spectrum Inclusion in Recreation
Confronting the Challenges of Today
Fair Housing, CDBG and Park Access
ADA and Park and Recreation Resources
About NRPA
The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) is the leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to building strong, vibrant and resilient communities through the power of parks and recreation. With more than 60,000 members, NRPA advances this mission by investing in and championing the work of park and recreation professionals and advocates — the catalysts for positive change in service of equity, climate-readiness, and overall health and well-being.
Authors and Contributors
Alyia Gaskins, Founder and CEO of CitiesRX
Tiffany Pertillar, Co-Founder and CEO of Epic Health Solutions
Charles T. Brown, Founder and CEO of Equitable Cities
Jared Mummert, Program Manager, NRPA
Darci Schofield, Senior Program Manager, NRPA
Rachel Banner, Director of Park Access, NRPA
Autumn Saxton-Ross, Vice President of Education and Chief Equity Officer, NRPA
Editors
Jennifer Fulcher-Nguyen, Editor, NRPA
Suzanne Nathan, Communications Manager, NRPA
Melissa May, Senior Research Manager, NRPA
Vitisia Paynich, Executive Editor, NRPA
Acknowledgements
This resource would not be possible without the diligent work and expertise of Carmen Kuan, a researcher from Rutgers University, and Femi Adelakun, CEO and Director of Geospatial Analysis at City78. Dr. KangJae "Jerry" Lee, an assistant professor from North Carolina State University and many other NRPA staff and board members also provided valuable knowledge, review and insight to inform content and development. We thank them, dutifully, for the time and effort they put into making this resource.
This work was made possible by the generous support of The JPB Foundation .
