Lack of diversity in shooting sports

[BerettaNut92]

Lotsa Filipinos at USPSA out here. I shoot with the White folks because I don't know Tagalog

 

[DrDremel]

Majjic, I live 25 miles North of Detroit. 85% black approx. The 10% is from the Census bureau. You might live in an area with a large black population but nationally, it is about 10%.

No offence was taken, just clarifying my statement.

Skunk, my wife is Filipino. For some reason none of here family will go shooting. But in the Philippines, ther is a huge gun culture, most likely out of having unrest every 10-20 years.

 

[Majic]

DrDremel,
I wasn't disputing your figures, just your analogy. By your referring to your locale (Detroit) I can understand what you are saying, but it doesn't quite hold true down here in the south. Even the urban areas aren't as restrictive with firearms as a lot of the northern areas and blacks are active shooters. You generally won't see them mixed with the other races shooting, but believe me there are a lot of them out enjoying the sport.

 

[Stand_Watie]

DrDremel,
I wasn't disputing your figures, just your analogy. By your referring to your locale (Detroit) I can understand what you are saying, but it doesn't quite hold true down here in the south. Even the urban areas aren't as restrictive with firearms as a lot of the northern areas and blacks are active shooters. You generally won't see them mixed with the other races shooting, but believe me there are a lot of them out enjoying the sport.

I know I have noticed a cultural difference not just overall between Michigan and the south (specifically Texas and Mississippi where I've actually lived) but even more notably between blacks in Michigan and in Texas (and the rest of the deep south that I've driven through). As an example, meeting a black guy driving an elderly pickup truck and wearing bib overalls or carharts was an unusual occurence in Michigan, but is run-of-the-mill here in Texas. Of course these are the guys that are more likely to have grown up in a shooting/hunting culture.

I had attributed that to there currently being a stronger rural/small town culture in the deep south, and the black population in Michigan (as well as the transplanted southern white population, as my grandparents were) having largely arrived there as a job seeking move from the south during the depression to work in the industrial sector.

In the late 30's they were running ads in newspapers all over the south desperately seeking strong backs to work in the steel mills in Michigan. Entire extended families of sharecroppers were packing up their bags and even having their bus tickets paid for by the companies that needed help badly. I believe this was also common in Illinois, Ohio, northern Indiana and Wisconsin. I discovered this little bit of American history talking with an elderly black man in east Dallas about ten years back who had packed up and moved to Michigan, and worked in the same foundry with my grandad for forty years, who then had moved back to Dallas after retiring.

 

[atek3]

In the late 30's they were running ads in newspapers all over the south desperately seeking strong backs to work in the steel mills in Michigan

backs or b(l)acks? was that a freudian slip or what

atek3

 

[DrDremel]

You are right about the overalls and pick-up. I have never seen that around here. But I think that is more cultural than race. In the suburbs, you don't see many caucasian people dressed that way either.

 

[shep854]

Very interesting thread. At the FOP Range, we have black and female shooters, and everyone that I've seen try to make them feel comfortable and welcome. Regarding ownership of guns by blacks, it's very common here in Alabama. After the recent murder of three officers by a thug using an SKS, there was no outcry in the community to ban these rifles. The most likely reason is that they are so common in black homes.

As far as cultural biases, remember that gun control is racist in its origins and practice.

 

[cxm]

Hyphens

What in the wide world of sports is a "PAN-ASIAN?"

Guess I'm old... I still remember when we were all Americans.

SIGH!!

That may be a big part of the problems...

Oh well....

Chuck

 

[Majic]

Guess I'm old... I still remember when we were all Americans.

You can't be but so old. For most of our country's history the original American was known as the Indian.

 

[YammyMonkey]

A really good friend of mine is black and he and his family have been gun owners and hunters for many, many years. He grew up just outside LA IIRC and has about an even number of "defensive" and "sporting" guns. Our shooting interests are a lot alike, anything from practical pistol/rifle to big game, bird hunting, sporting clays, whatever. His wife, also black and from the same area would come out shooting with us as well; until she got pregnant that is.

I think it takes a lot of nurture from the gun owning public to keep the opinions of us and firearms positive, especially in the poorer communities be they black, white, brown, red, green or blue.

As another interesting aside my wife worked for Child Protective Services in Pensacola, FL for a while and a lot of the other females she worked with were avid gun owners. My wife loves to go shoot the pistols. Not so fond of having a long gun kick her in the shoulder though. I should probably get the 10/22 sighted in since she doesn't even like the recoil from my AR.

 

[El Tejon]

I'm all for diversity. I attempt to date women of all ethnicities. And they all say "No!" See, the nation can come together.

Well, everyone is talking about "at my range, my gun store, my city, blah, blah, blah", and no is talking about "what to do." Hmmm, what to do, what to do, oh, I know--DO SOMETHING! GO INVITE A BLACK DUDE TO GO SHOOTING!

 

[YammyMonkey]

DO SOMETHING! GO INVITE A BLACK DUDE TO GO SHOOTING!

I DID! And we took his wife with us too. And yes, she did shoot, and she liked it!

 

[Johnson]

With the wide variety of firearms I have available to me, diversity is not a problem.

 

[jeff-10]

Ranges in South Florida are full of blacks and latinos. Don't know about the games because I do not compete. You are hard pressed to find a latin guy in South Florida that doesn't own a handgun. I couldn't say the same for the white guys I know.

 

[BerettaNut92]

What in the wide world of sports is a "PAN-ASIAN?"

Yeah, last I checked, we used woks....

Guess I'm old... I still remember when we were all Americans.
[snip]
That may be a big part of the problems...

Nope. THR has Germans, Norwegians, Filipinos, Israelis, et cetera, on this board as well. How is that a problem?

 

[Neva]

Yammy - get her a Beretta Storm... big fun to shoot and a pleasure as far as recoil, etc... smaller, too, so a woman can get wrapped around it....

Diversity? I want to turn everybody out there into a gun lover, regardless of ethnicity.... safety in numbers, as they say....

 

[MP5]

Food for thought vis-a-vis race and shooting sports:

http://www.cnn.com/US/9907/12/naacp.guns.02/
http://www.csgv.org/news/headlines/03_04_04_naacpsbig.cfm

The NAACP is a major enemy of the RKBA. Fortunately, despite efforts of such groups to disarm their constituencies, at my local range I see women, blacks, Hispanics, etc. on a regular basis.

 

[benEzra]

Friend of mine is a sergeant in the Marine Corps, and he and his wife are both shooters (both African-American). I sent a lot of gun magazines his way while he was recently in the sandbox.

 

[Frohickey]

Yeah... lack of diversity in shooting sports.

I see lots of Asians, but where are all the whites that like to shoot guns?

 

[Duke of Lawnchair]

...but where are all the whites that like to shoot guns?

They're too busy trying to become diversified.

 

[manwithoutahome]

Here in Oregon, central and eastern there aren't that many people from different backgrounds (I don't like the word "race" any more).

I would love to see more people of all cultures/backgrounds get into firearms. That's why I like Kenn Blanchard and his pics and Shunks pics on the board (I think it's shunk or shunkabilly?).

I would also like to see more women get into the mix. And especially women of different cultures than just the white women. There is nothing sexier than seeing a black women or especially an asian women with a gun .

That reminds me, I don't think that I've ever seen a black or asian women with one of those "evil" guns on the front of the Blue Press. That could go along way into getting women of different cultures into shooting. Anyone think that it's a good idea to email Dillions about that?

Anyway, most people think that shooting or gun owning is a "white man's" culture and that peoples of others cultures are "fighting against the white man" by automatically being anti-gun. We need to show everyone, no matter the culture, that gun ownership and that Right belongs to everyone, not just the "white man".

Wayne

 

[Majic]

Anyway, most people think that shooting or gun owning is a "white man's" culture

If you are in an area dominated by just one culture and don't socialize with the other cultures then how would you know how most people think?

 

[manwithoutahome]

Majic

Wasn't said to start a flame war. Was said because the only Black man in our shooting range commented, "Many black people think that the shooting sports is a white man's thing".

Was in a discussion the same as this. I'm not sure what you were trying to say in your reply but that is not what I meant.

Wayne

 

[DesertEagle613]

Dude, most places I know where people REALLY fight against the "white man" culture, they do it with guns...

In fact, I would argue that the real "white man" culture that blacks and others should be fighting against is submission to the nanny-state. Most blacks and Hispanics I know are far more into personal responsibility than many whites.

On that topic, WHY must so many Jews be so enthusiastic about handing over their freedoms and safety to das republik? (Not that I believe that the republic is a republik yet, but these guys sure seem to want it that way.) It ticks me off that we're plugging along trying to keep ourselves free and some "let's join hands for world peace" type comes and messes things up. And if they ever start the roundups again, he's going to end up hiding behind ME and other Real Jews who actually have guns and know how to use them. Grrrr.

//rant_off

 

[Cliff]

Manwithoutahome,
Here's a few pics from my group. We are a bunch of instructors and noninstructors that reach out to the public and debunk a lot of myths regarding guns,and we push proper and safe firearm shooting and handling. Link is here.