...If at this point you are feeling defensive, blamed, or attacked, understand: This is not about your feelings. The awareness raised through these events has brought out big stars like Meb Keflezighi and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to share their experiences and struggles that happened during their illustrious careers. You can also read the New York Times’ “Running While Black: Our Readers Respond” to see what average runners go through in their daily lives while running. 

There are many things you can do to improve the experiences of BIPOC runners in our community to make them feel comfortable and welcome, to make them feel they belong, regardless of their fitness or finishing times.

The most important step is self-transformation: Educate yourself; Google is your friend. Be curious and aware of issues affecting some communities, not defensive or offended. Acknowledge that you are part of a society that has created structures of power and privilege, and you play a role in it. This is not about your feelings; it’s about their experience, which includes their deaths. 

Stop saying “I don’t see color” or any variation of it (“all people are the same to me” or “all lives matter”). Colorblindness is a way to deflect responsibility, and it  only serves to make White people comfortable. It protects and shields you from getting to know the realities of different populations and having uncomfortable conversations, but it doesn’t allow you to see their challenges. This is why we say that Black Lives Matter—specifically because Black people are continually over-policed, profiled, and subject to all sorts of scrutiny. 

Work on equity and inclusion, not just on diversity. Tucson’s running community is a diverse community, but is it inclusive? Does everyone feel heard or seen? Are all voices and experiences represented in running groups, businesses, or boards of directors? Inclusion is a system where everybody feels comfortable, heard, seen—an environment where diversity is expressed and accepted, not just present for a photo or a meeting.

Make people feel they belong in your group instead of making them feel like they have to fit in—it should be your effort, not theirs. You take the burden. Understand the difference between belonging and fitting in and welcome different people in their own space. Don’t patronize or condescend. Acknowledge their humanity, their background, disability, physical shape. And, very importantly: Hire them for roles in your organizations or events, and pay for their labor and expertise.

Diversify your role models: Read and watch non-White authors, books, documentaries, athletes. Support non-White running businesses. Sign up for races in different locations. Follow and share non-White running role models and stories of running, not just those who conquered mountains or who ran the longest or reached the highest point—these are all stories of privilege. Read about running from the perspective of people for whom running is an ancestral practice, a ceremony, a community-wide event, not just an outlet to get medals or travel around the world. 

Seeing, confronting, and stopping racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia and other discriminatory acts is everyone’s responsibility. You may not be at fault, but it is your responsibility to do something to disrupt behaviors, systems, and biases widely accepted in society.

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