“It’s clear that surf culture does have a problem, and that problem stems from a lack of diversity within our ranks. “History of Surfing” author Matt Warshaw pointed out in a 2015 essay published on Surfer.com that, as a pastime developed largely by brown-skinned Polynesians (as well as Africans in some places and Peruvians in others), surfing has always been multi-cultural.”
https://www.surfer.com/features/stir…e-melting-pot/
“After all, it was whites who were forced to “break surfing’s glass ceiling in terms of race, a hundred-plus years ago, in Hawaii,” says Warshaw. For surfers, “Hawaii is always there in the back of our minds. Play the race card, in other words, and you answer to Duke Kahanamoku.”
Commentary
In the early 70’s, anyone growing up in Southern California going to the beach – and surfing – would have never experienced any overt signs of “racism” among beach bums. At that time the best surfer in the world was Gerry Lopez who was an Hawaiian. But surfers are very territorial – if you’re not a known local, you will meet with some hostility, regardless of race. And most of the outsiders that get discriminated against as outsiders are white.
If non-whites invented surfing, why are virtually all the world’s greatest surfers white?
In Southern California, you’d never see blacks, and rarely see any hispanics – it’s not part of the culture, and it’s not about “access”. Anyone with a car can go to a deserted beach. Surfing at the highest level is an extreme sport that takes a lot of guts. The answer is simple: whites make the best surfers because they are the best at surfing.
Deal with it.
Of this, there is no question! As a former surfer from So.Cal I can tell you 95% of surfers were white and the other 5% were Mexicans who thought they were white, acted white and hung out with whites…nice post