Rowing, Diversity, Inclusion and Racism

[rowing]

Discussion can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/amyQYG3CspE

[fullmetal]

Ah yes, scholarships/FA were mentioned as well, though that seems to be a widely recognized (partial) remedy already. It does bear repeating though, so thank you for that.

Someone mentioned naming a boat after prominent black people (that could go either way imo, but your club's mileage may vary).

[gamestop]

Agreed with above takeaways: the topic and discussion can be complex and intimidating, but some actions to diversify your boathouse don’t have to be.

Also thought a valuable takeaway was the call for white people to leverage their power, networks, talent, etc to be actively working to create more diversity and inclusion. It’s everyone’s responsibility and everyone has something unique they can bring to the table to help diversify the sport.

I wonder if USRowing is on a good path here or if it’s still the blind leading the blind when it comes to racial diversity. Leaning on Phila City Rowing, RowNewYork, Rowing in Color podcast folks, etc is probably the smartest thing they can be doing now but it also is an admission that USRowing isn’t ready to be at the forefront of this work, which hopefully won’t be the case forever.

[Mango]

This was more of a grassroots panel than anything. No current USRowing board members were on the panel (not sure if any were invited, given the topic of the panel, which was to discuss the experiences of those who have lived racial inequality in rowing). No particular clubs were given a spotlight other than the clubs represented by the panelists -- notable clubs I remember were DC Strokes and Philadelphia City Rowing.

From the panelists' perspective, the best diversity/outreach initiatives seemed to be exactly what rowing recruiting normally consists of -- except without the assumed-white culture filter. What does this mean in relation to the question you posed?

(My takeaways)

1. Stop looking for the culture fit, and start looking for the culture add.
When you think of the culture fit concept, you're really trying to see if a recruit or team member fits within the established team culture. This is always going to be pretty much white culture (whether we realize it or not, that is the truth of rowing). It's up to the coaches to lead the way and make room for culture add (or expansion, in my words). An example was given of a junior women's team where team hats were the norm, but a black rower's hair was too big for the hat. Apparently a visor was not a solution...and this became one of those things that just got in the way.

2. Minority attrition may not be what it seems.
If you're recruiting minority rowers but not retaining them, you might see reasons for leaving along the lines of other sport commitments, burn out, academics, or lack of interest. While some of those may be real contributing factors, there is a real possibility that the actual motivation for leaving is exclusionary team culture, and if you're a white coach, you'll never hear this from a minority rower because they just won't want to explain it to you. Earn their trust, stand up and put an end to any and all microaggressions or racially-tinted conversation in your control, and create a culture within which minorities can feel comfortable. You can invite minorities into the boathouse, but if they never feel comfortable inside, they'll leave. Coaches have the power to enable that comfort (lean on team leadership, set the example, set the tone and expectation of team culture).

3. Be equal opportunity in your acts of kindness.
The examples of Michael Oher in The Blind Side and Joe Rantz in The Boys in the Boat were given -- both students who were offered extraordinary chances to succeed despite coming from disadvantaged circumstances. In both cases, they were aided by people around them going above and beyond to help them succeed in sport. The question was posed in the panel: what can we do to give minority rowers a little bit of help to stay in the game? Rides to and from practice or school? Snacks? Equipment (gear, water bottles, tape, etc)? (These may all be things to which they don't have access and that they may be embarrassed talking about with anyone.) Give them chances to feel supported in their journey to rowing success.

4. Make the boathouse feel like home.
The question was posed: "Is the boathouse my home?" It's a good standard by which to judge whether your club has a racially-positive environment. That might mean installing board members or directors of color in leadership positions, or at the very least, encouraging them to run for those positions in your club. Maybe it means actively looking for non-white coaches and making sure your organizational by-laws include diversity/inclusion as goals. It might also mean updating your club website or social media presence to actively include photos of BIPOC clubs members.

I don't remember more off the top of my head, but the zoom recording link should be available at some point (I haven't seen one yet). I figure if your club can meet the above four standards, you're in a better place than 90% of rowing clubs. Certainly I don't think my club(s) meet that standard...

One thing I have noticed in my rowing travels as coach and boat rep is that boathouses are generally in one of two locations. Super affluent where money is no issue, water access comes at a premium price. Or two in poor neighborhoods, where property is cheap. Generally bordering something zoned for logistics and manufacturing. What you almost NEVER see is in these poor locations is community engagement. They don't volunteer at community gardens. They don't work with any local programs or community organizations. I can think of one I coached at, where this was a huge deal to me. I used to work at a local non-profit who helped house and get refugees on their feet. It was smack in the middle of the most diverse neighborhood in the city, incredibly vibrant with multiple nationalities and a bit of a hub for refugees. There was no presence in the community, and nobody really wanted us to as well when I brought it up.

It isn't just access and connecting with a diverse group of people. Rowing clubs all over the US work this way, get cheap land near water, they drive in, row, drive out. As progressive and loud as many in the rowing community are, there is an unintentional silent undercurrent of wanting to keep things pretty homogeneous.

[rowing]

As progressive and loud as many in the rowing community are, there is an unintentional silent undercurrent of wanting to keep things pretty homogeneous.

Some in the community are neither silent, nor unintentional about how they feel about black people...


Statement of Resolute Racing

Resolute Racing Shells is a company dedicated to building fast boats that aid people in realizing hopes and dreams. Competitive sports are an opportunity to develop and demonstrate character, to create pride about ones community, and to learn how to achieve excellence in every walk of life. We are acutely aware of, and indeed welcome, the long-needed national discussion about institutional racism, unconscious bias, income inequality, and privilege, as they relate to sport and to the broader world.

Part of this journey involves listening carefully to voices and points of view that are too often not heard even though they have been speaking truth for some time. In a way, we must all join together to retell our history to reflect our truer selves as a rowing community and as a nation. This is not easy. But it is very necessary. And no person trying to contribute positively to that discussion should be shouted down or shamed.

The Resolute Racing family strongly condemns the comments of one of its former owners on social media recently. The sentiments conveyed are not shared by the company or any of the people involved.

Resolute Racing has been under new ownership since June 2019. The Resolute Adaptive business was not part of our acquisition and remains with its original founders.

Since June 2019 we have committed to expanding access to rowing and to our finest Resolute shells among minority and disadvantaged communities. We have joined forces with Sykes USA and Finish Line Rowing under the Rowers Choice brand to create positive change in our rowing community with innovative content on training, coaching, community building, and these issues of diversity in rowing.

The Resolute Racing family recognizes that competitive rowing is not as accessible as it should be. We are committed to change. We invite customers, athletes, coaches, and advocate to reach out to us with ideas and suggestions for how we can all continue positive dialogue and make necessary change.

[caustic]

I'm not on the twitters, what did this former owner say?

[rowing]

I'm not on the twitters, what did this former owner say?

Paraphrasing, but something along the lines of - Blacks and their descendants having done nothing and they should only speak when spoken to.

[fullmetal]

USRowing structurally is not in a position to drive effective change imho...what can USRowing do? Change by-laws? Alter regatta registration requirements? Change organizational membership requirements? Tbh, they can't even really implement SafeSport well...so I'm not holding my breath. (How many coaches, administrators, and officials in the US rowing community are actually SafeSport compliant? Is anyone actually checking, keeping tabs, enforcing?)

They could be doing more -- as they are now by giving platforms to RowingInColor, RowNY, PCR, et al. But the hard work is unlikely to be done by USRA for all of the above reasons and perhaps more we can think of.

I didn't see the statement from the fmr Resolute owner, but I'm not surprised that we're seeing some true colors being shown. It's not that hard to publicly commit to equality and justice these days. Hell, even NASCAR is taking the lead; they've banned a certain flag and are also publicly committing to a no-holds-barred investigation into the Bubba Wallace noose incident. It's actually quite impressive for an organization whose core fanbase is likely quite conservative.

Regarding boathouses and diversity/outreach -- It *can* be hard to diversify a boathouse. Some clubs elect their own representatives, so now you have to win a popularity contest. Some clubs don't even elect their leadership, and good luck making any changes without a benevolent dictator in place. Outreach requires sweat equity and volunteer work to execute, and it can be difficult to get volunteers, depending on how effective your club leadership is. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be done, but I am recognizing that it will be an intensive effort for some clubs to do this kind of work.

(Maybe more grants from USRowing awarded to clubs for programs would be an effective start, though USRowing is probably bleeding cash right now. Any guesses as to whether the NRF would fund this kind of grant initiative?)

[rowingpun]

I'm not pointing criticism at anyone in particular, but often in these inclusion discussions there is a lot of talk about subsidy and financial aid. There is a lot to be said about organizations like ROW NY, and others like it that I'm not aware of. (By the way, if you want to see kids who love rowing, jump in the launch at ROW NY) Cut I think that takes the conversation in a bad direction. Too often we get this white savior complex, kind of like charter schools or TFA swooping into black communities. "I know how to solve their problems, throw money at it!" Pointing to money as a determining factor is harmful because it unconsciously perpetuates a stereotype of minority=poor. It is too simplistic and ignores the nuances of systemic issues. There are plenty of white teenagers who don't join because of money or need their due subsidized by the team. And there are plenty of students of color at these schools who have the money to join and yet still do not. Clubs are a little different in terms of visibility, but the same examples apply. Cost is a factor for any population, and most if not all teams already have FA in place.

That said, I think that the "culture add" takeaway is the most important. I've had rower join just because there was another black girl on the team; later she said she was so happy when she saw other black rowers at competitions or in our own upcoming novice group. Many students of color at majority white schools have a tough time relating and fitting in with or being accepted by their white peers already, so when you have the challenge of being the only person of color on a rowing team that can seem even more intimidating. A good exercise for any coach is to talk to the kids who consider the team, but don't. There could be outward facing culture problems we aren't aware of that deter other students from joining.

As a high school coach I knew that we were always fighting an uphill battle against the perception of the team as nerdy insular cast offs(maybe true). The best way to fight that was to turn those nerds into college rowers with a wall full of medals, success begets success. But how do we change the perception of being a white sport? Maybe it's the same as attracting any other athletes, starting with more welcoming in general and taking the chip off our shoulder.

[Mango]

[quote="rowingpun"]I'm not pointing criticism at anyone in particular, but often in these inclusion discussions there is a lot of talk about subsidy and financial aid. There is a lot to be said about organizations like ROW NY, and others like it that I'm not aware of. (By the way, if you want to see kids who love rowing, jump in the launch at ROW NY) Cut I think that takes the conversation in a bad direction. Too often we get this white savior complex, kind of like charter schools or TFA swooping into black communities. "I know how to solve their problems, throw money at it!" Pointing to money as a determining factor is harmful because it unconsciously perpetuates a stereotype of minority=poor. It is too simplistic and ignores the nuances of systemic issues. There are plenty of white teenagers who don't join because of money or need their due subsidized by the team. And there are plenty of students of color at these schools who have the money to join and yet still do not. Clubs are a little different in terms of visibility, but the same examples apply. Cost is a factor for any population, and most if not all teams already have FA in place.

That said, I think that the "culture add" takeaway is the most important. I've had rower join just because there was another black girl on the team; later she said she was so happy when she saw other black rowers at competitions or in our own upcoming novice group. Many students of color at majority white schools have a tough time relating and fitting in with or being accepted by their white peers already, so when you have the challenge of being the only person of color on a rowing team that can seem even more intimidating. A good exercise for any coach is to talk to the kids who consider the team, but don't. There could be outward facing culture problems we aren't aware of that deter other students from joining.

As a high school coach I knew that we were always fighting an uphill battle against the perception of the team as nerdy insular cast offs(maybe true). The best way to fight that was to turn those nerds into college rowers with a wall full of medals, success begets success. But how do we change the perception of being a white sport? Maybe it's the same as attracting any other athletes, starting with more welcoming in general and taking the chip off our shoulder.[/quote]

These two points speak loudly.

To the first one. As I stated above, a lot of rowing clubs are in poor industrialized neighborhoods because of the cost of land. It costs zero dollars to be a presence in the community. Indecision is a decision whether we like to admit it or not, and not being involved in your (rowing clubs) physical neighborhood is an active choice. Obviously this changes from area to area, and not terribly congruent to the Charles, Philly, Marin, etc. Their journeys are different.

To the second part, this one speaks loudly. When I was finishing my degree in Urban Planning, we went into the east side (primarily black), and were basically asked to make the community better. So we put on our savior hats and used all our data about aesthetics and how people take care of their communities better, safer, cleaner, etc. Off we go with plans to plant trees, update parks, and lobby to repave sidewalks and driveway skirts. None of us for weeks, actually asked a single person who lived there what they needed or wanted. Once we did, we basically scrapped everything (re-prioritized). They overwhelmingly wanted dental service. The community didn't have many or any dentists near by, and dental insurance is not typically included in low wage jobs. Dental work was expensive and really an inconvenience. So we worked with the dental school to come to the neighborhood monthly for free dental work. Point is, as good intentioned as people we need to listen rather than dictate what other people need to succeed.

[lt.wolf]

Here is the tweet

[caustic]

wow. that's messed up.

I agree with previous posters - we have to actively fight our "white savior" instincts and not make this about "fixing" a problem. It's about growing a culture that *isn't* based on white clubs "inviting in" minorities to participate in what's essentially a white-privilege social group. It has to be about talking with and asking questions to the communities around clubs about what it is they want and need, and working WITH them to bringing that about - when a club leans into its local community, instead of fostering a fortress mentality, nothing but good things will happen. when local residents see the local club as "their" rowing club, the club benefits AND the community benefits. It means swallowing our pride and defensiveness and understanding that it's not for us to swoop in and seagull supervise the local community to assuage our guilt.

The local community members in an industrial or urban district are probably not going to empathize with a white rower doctor who just had her mercedes keyed by a homeless person. BUT, a local community member who is also a club memeber is going to be hanging around the boathouse more often volunteering for the club, and as a side benefit there are people there who can deter vandalism and crime, AND, even BETTER, invite MORE local community members to come into the club, because hey! there's already some local folks they know who are members! It generates a positive cycle of growth and inclusivity. Maybe that rower doctor could reach out to community leaders and start a conversation between them and her healthcare employer about what clinic needs that community may have, for example.

If you want to have concrete things that every club can do to help create this feedback loop, it's actually very easy to know the solution, but very hard to bring it about. Club membership costs need to drop. General club use boats need to increase. There should be a "no questions asked, just report damage" policy. Clubs should have regular events where they invite the community to come out. 2 of these things are admittedly pretyt difficult to do - land rental/taxes are always going up it seems, membership numbers always seem to have yearly flux, old boats get cycled out and new ones get purchased, etc. etc. etc. Clubs just need to make it a priority, and to do it by finding out how or where they can maintain things for less cost, or use new equipment or items that can multitask, or to think of more creative ways to raise funds without having to rely on high membership prices.

[fullmetal]

Welp, Misha's true colors have flown.

Anyway, excellent points to the above, and I think it speaks to something that might not be pleasant for us to hear: rowing is not going to solve the problems of the disadvantaged, BIPOC community. I think when you center their voices, they tend to want things related to the end of systemic racism in all American structures. That's not something that rowing can directly provide: housing, food, healthcare, education.

You can attach some of these to rowing: healthcare through providers who are members of the club, maybe some food programs related to youth outreach, maybe a tutoring program attached to youth outreach. But rowing in and of itself isn't the solution. If any club manages to work the above three suggestions into their programs, that is a club I would love to join.

[lt.wolf]

Just an FYI, An apology has been issued

[fullmetal]

By Misha?