Abstract
This chapter examines race and leisure travel in America. It explores the impacts of racial inequality, segregation and discrimination on the travel industry. This work aims to examine how the history of Black Travel has led to the existence of Black Travel Tribes. It will also describe the nature of the tribes, why they exist, and what they hope to accomplish for Black travellers around the world. The chapter will begin chronicling the impacts of slavery and segregation on Black Travel, followed by an exploration of Black Travel Tribes, their shared identities and collective mechanisms, concluding with a discussion on growth opportunities and challenges facing the tourism industry regarding Black Travel Tribes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The word ‘Black’ is used throughout the paper to describe people of the African diaspora. ‘Black’ is a political identity that acknowledges an understanding of shared experiences of injustice, by extension of this identity, APA, MLA, AP and other format styles have slowly embraced the respect that should be given to various racial and ethnic groups and how they wish to be labeled. Thus, any mention of those groups ought to reflect this respect and distinction through the capitalization of their group name (i.e. Black, White, African-American, Latinx, Syrian, or Lakota). Adopted from Dillette et al. (2018).
- 2.
The ‘Jim Crow Era’ recalls the time when racial segregation was legal in the United States of America between 1877 and 1965. Laws included the enforcement of racial segregation in public facilities such as transportation, housing, education, restrooms, hotels, restaurants, drinking fountains etc.
References
Agarwal, V. B., & Yochum, G. R. (1999). Tourist spending and race of visitors. Journal of Travel Research, 38, 173–176.
Alderman, D. H. (2018). The racialized and violent biopolitics of mobility in the USA: An agenda for tourism geographies. Tourism Geographies, 20(4), 717–720.
Alderman, D. H., & Modlin, E. A., Jr. (2013). Southern hospitality and the politics of African American belonging: An analysis of North Carolina tourism brochure photographs. Journal of Cultural Geography, 30(1), 6–31.
Anderson, M., & Hitlin, P. (2016). Social media conversations about race: How social media users see, share and discuss race and the rise of hashtags like# BlackLivesMatter. Pew Research Centre.
Benjamin, S., Kline, C., Alderman, D., & Hoggard, W. (2016). Heritage site visitation and attitudes toward African American heritage preservation: An investigation of North Carolina residents. Journal of Travel Research, 55(7), 919–933.
Burton, D., & Klemm, M. (2011). Whiteness, ethnic minorities and advertising in travel brochures. The Service Industries Journal, 31(5), 679–693.
Buzinde, C. N., Santos, C. A., & Smith, S. L. (2006). Ethnic representations: Destination imagery. Annals of Tourism Research, 33(3), 707–728.
Buzinde, C. N., & Santos, C. A. (2008). Representations of slavery. Annals of Tourism Research, 35(2), 469–488.
Byington, L. Brown, B., & Capps, A. (2018). Black Americans are still victims of hate crimes more than any other group. Retrieved from the Texas Tribune on May 23, 2018, from https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/16/african-americans/.
Carter, P. L. (2008). Coloured places and pigmented holidays: Racialized leisure travel. Tourism Geographies, 10(3), 265–284.
Davis, J. F. (2018). Selling whiteness? –A critical review of the literature on marketing and racism. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(1–2), 134–177.
Dillette, A. K., Benjamin, S., & Carpenter, C. (2018). Tweeting the black travel experience: Social media counternarrative stories as innovative insight on #TravelingWhileBlack. Journal of Travel Research. https://doi.org/10.11770047287518802087.
Floyd, M. (1998). Getting beyond marginality and ethnicity: The challenge of race and ethnic studies in leisure research. Journal of Leisure Research, 30, 3–22.
Foster, M. S. (1999). In the face of” Jim Crow”: Prosperous Blacks and vacations, travel and outdoor leisure, 1890–1945. The Journal of Negro History, 84(2), 130–149.
Green, V. H. (1956). The Negro Travellers’ Green Book. New York, NY: Victor H. Green.
Holland, J. W. (2002). Black recreation: A historical perspective. Chicago: Burnham Inc., Publishers.
Johnson, C. Y. (1998). A consideration of collective memory in African American attachment to wildland recreation places. Human Ecology Review, 5–15.
Lee, K. J., & Scott, D. (2017). Racial discrimination and African Americans’ travel behaviour: The utility of habitus and vignette technique. Journal of Travel Research, 56(3), 381–392.
Mandala Research. (2018). African American Travelers report. Retrieved from https://www/mandalaresearch.com/reports.
Martin, D. C. (2004). Apartheid in the great outdoors: American advertising and the reproduction of racialized outdoor leisure identity. Journal of Leisure Research, 36, 513–535.
McClain, D. (2016). The black lives matter movement is most visible on Twitter. Its true home is elsewhere. The Nation, April 19.
Nomadness Travel Tribe. (2019). Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.nomadnesstv.com/on.
Olick, J. K., Vinitzky-Seroussi, V., & Levy, D. (Eds.). (2011). The collective memory reader. Oxford University Press on Demand.
Philipp, S. F. (1994). Race and tourism choice: A legacy of discrimination? Annals of Tourism Research, 21, 479–488.
Philipp, S. F. (1998). African-American perceptions of leisure, racial discrimination, and life satisfaction. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 87, 1418.
Philipp, S. F. (1999). Are we welcome? African American racial acceptance in leisure activities and the importance given to children’s Leisure. Journal of Leisure Research, 31, 385–403.
Philipp, S. F. (2000). Race and the pursuit of happiness. Journal of Leisure Research, 32, 121–124.
Price, P. (2010). At the crossroads: Critical race theory and critical geographies of race. Progress in Human Geography, 34 (2): 147–74.
Rogers, B. F. (1955). William EB DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and Pan-Africa. The Journal of Negro History, 40(2), 154–165.
Shinew, K. J., Floyd, M. F., & Parry, D. (2004). Understanding the relationship between race and leisure activities and constraints: Exploring an alternative framework. Leisure Sciences, 26, 181–199.
Washburne, R. F. (1978). Black under-participation in wildland recreation: Alternative explanations. Leisure Sciences, 1, 175–189.
Yankholmes, A., & Timothy, D. J. (2017). Social distance between local residents and African-American expatriates in the context of Ghana’s slavery-based heritage tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research, 19(5), 486–495.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dillette, A.K. (2021). Black Travel Tribes: An Exploration of Race and Travel in America. In: Pforr, C., Dowling, R., Volgger, M. (eds) Consumer Tribes in Tourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7150-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7150-3_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-7149-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-7150-3
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)