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| White House |
The White House recently invited travel bloggers to attend the White House Travel Blogger Summit on Study Abroad and Global Citizenship which was held on December 9, 2014. When I heard rumors of the top 100 travel bloggers being invited to the White House for this prestigious event, I asked to see the list of the Top 100 Travel Bloggers which was not necessarily the same as the White House invitee list. However the Top 100 Travel Bloggers List did not include one Black or African American Travel Blogger. Upon further investigation as to which bloggers of color received an invite to this ground-breaking travel promotion event, it was revealed there were no Black or African American Travel Bloggers invited to this White House Travel Blogger Summit. I stated to the travel blogging community of whom are predominantly white that the list lacked Black People. Their responses were that Black Travel Bloggers lack the statistics and influence of White Travel Bloggers. We did not measure up to their metrics for the Top 100 Travel Bloggers List. Some of the bloggers inquired as to whom should be included on the list this verifying stats. I mentioned some top influential Black Travel Bloggers that I know personally as I don’t have stats of their readership available. Despite suggestions of possible candidates, not one Black Travel Blogger was present. The travel blogging community encourages black travel bloggers to keep trying, work harder and maybe next year you will make it. This group also stated that none of the black travel bloggers has the reach level of influence of Johnny Jet or Nomadic Matt. We pointed out to this travel blogging community that Blacks desire to learn about travel from people who look like them. Traveling while Black is an experience that can only be shared by a Black person. Despite a very heated debated Black Travel Bloggers were snubbed by the travel blogging community and not invited to the White House Travel Blogger Summit. This is unacceptable from a travel community group of people who are suppose to have a multicultural viewpoint from their travel experiences. White Privilege still exists in the travel blogging community. I am not sure how many of the travel bloggers who attended the summit participated in study abroad programs. If the Top 100 Travel Bloggers had that opportunity to study abroad, then it should have exposed them to be understanding and inclusive of other cultures, especially Black Travel Bloggers. These are turbulent times as America faces racial injustice of the murder daily of unarmed Black people in our society. One solution to America’s problem of racism and White Privilege is the study abroad program. White America needs to engage with other cultures because most White Americans live in a world that encompasses a circle of 96% White friends and do not encounter Black people until college or the workforce. So college study abroad programs would truly benefit race relations in the United States. There is hope for our nation.
