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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/f...ewanted=1&ref=fashion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
After reading this underlying racist and extremely late article about the convergenceof skateboarding in the "urban" market it seems that these days those who are slowly wallowing their way to irrelevance (thanks to Wordpress,Blogspot, etc) are trying to latch on to youth culture in ways that were previously shuddered in order to attract new readership.
Yes, there are Black kids skating. But actually they have been for a while, way before the God of mediocre action sports validation Pharrell dubbed himselfSkateboard P. Ever heard of Thrasher or TransWorld Skateboarding? Then again, if you've never been part of the culture, you'dprobably think that skate's best representation falls somewhere between Tony Hawk's Project 8 and The Lords of Dogtown.
You do get props for Wikipediaing the requisite Black skaters like Ray Barbee, Kareem Campbell and Stevie Williams, but you lose for not going outside forthe last 20 years and actually see that kids of all colors in the inner cities have been skating in drained pools and throughout the streets. Skateboarding hasa relatively low cost of entry and therefore that's why many impoverished minorities find it such as easy sport to take part it. All things being equal, afully set up deck is less than a pair of new Jordans. Any kid in line for sneakers can drop that gem on you.
Oh and did you know…
After reading this underlying racist and extremely late article about the convergenceof skateboarding in the "urban" market it seems that these days those who are slowly wallowing their way to irrelevance (thanks to Wordpress,Blogspot, etc) are trying to latch on to youth culture in ways that were previously shuddered in order to attract new readership.
Yes, there are Black kids skating. But actually they have been for a while, way before the God of mediocre action sports validation Pharrell dubbed himselfSkateboard P. Ever heard of Thrasher or TransWorld Skateboarding? Then again, if you've never been part of the culture, you'dprobably think that skate's best representation falls somewhere between Tony Hawk's Project 8 and The Lords of Dogtown.
You do get props for Wikipediaing the requisite Black skaters like Ray Barbee, Kareem Campbell and Stevie Williams, but you lose for not going outside forthe last 20 years and actually see that kids of all colors in the inner cities have been skating in drained pools and throughout the streets. Skateboarding hasa relatively low cost of entry and therefore that's why many impoverished minorities find it such as easy sport to take part it. All things being equal, afully set up deck is less than a pair of new Jordans. Any kid in line for sneakers can drop that gem on you.
Oh and did you know…
Statistics from a 1998 survey by Transworld Skateboarding Magazine report participation in skateboarding is roughly even across all income levels. The report shows that 34% of skaters where under the $35,000 income level, with a full 19% under the $20,000 mark, and even about half of those were under the $10,000 annual income mark.
Hopefully all those big numbers didn't hurt your head. But we're sure you can infer the obvious from that ten-year-old survey.
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