‘I Haven’t Seen You Out in the Wild’: White Woman Questions All-Black Hiking Groups—Then a Black Travel Expert Delivers a Viral Clapback
An award-winning travel influencer blames ignorance for a white woman’s reaction to an all-Black hiking group.
Lauren Gay, the voice behind the popular Outdoorsy Diva podcast, unleashed scathing commentary on a white Colorado woman who posted a video saying she had never dated a Black man who liked nature.
The woman went on to mock an all-Black hiking group outright, laughing at the very concept.
“Where are my Black men that like nature? You guys all be lying,” she generalized about Black men. “The last couple guys I dated told me they loved backpacking just like me. They love hiking, paddleboarding. I don’t think so.”
She said she was stunned to learn a group like this existed in her area.
“For a minute I thought maybe no Black man liked to hike or play in rivers or pools, but then I just saw Colorado has an all-Black hiking page,” she said, laughing in disbelief. “So are we exclusive now? We’re just doing all-Black hiking pages because I haven’t seen you out in the wild.”
Safe Spaces
Gay fired back on Instagram, where she has nearly 50,000 followers, calling out the woman’s entitlement and explaining exactly why all-Black community groups matter, particularly in nature.
“You better sit your a– down somewhere. Listen, lady,” the popular podcaster began,
“The purpose of Black hiking groups is so that Black people can find community and feel safe amongst each other in spaces, which as you stated, we don’t see a lot of each other all the time.”
“That’s why we seek out each other to do activities like hiking and going outdoors and being in the wilderness… places that are historically not always perceived as safe for us.”
Gay’s frustration comes as no surprise, since affinity groups built around race, religion, ethnicity, or shared interest are common well beyond the hiking world.
“This is not about interracial dating. I don’t care. Date who you want to date,” she said in her July 21 video, adding, “We created these groups for ourselves — for safety, for community. Not to be infiltrated by white women looking for a Black man to smash. This is some seriously pick-me behavior.”
Commenters online largely rallied behind Gay. One called out “all that giggling” from a woman who “claims to like Black men but doesn’t understand the need for Black spaces.”
Another summed up the frustration more bluntly: people can’t fathom different lived experiences and the value of enjoying the outdoors, or any space, with people who share your identity.
“What in the what,” the person wrote. “I’m so over people not understanding safe spaces.”