National Trust experiments with racial euphemism

The National Trust is embracing a trendy term for discussing non-white people.

The UK heritage organisation has announced plans to help 100 “people from the global majority” become walk leaders, joining a growing effort to help expand outdoorsmanship to a more racially diverse audience. The North Face, for example, offered a 20% discount in March to anyone who took an online course on inclusion which, among other things, taught that racial minorities need “affinity groups” where they can “learn about the outdoors without fear of being judged”.

May is National Walking Month, so we want to share the new Walk Together Pathway which will support 100 people from the global majority to become qualified walk leaders.

We are proud to be working with eight walking groups and seven outdoors organisations to get more people… pic.twitter.com/6tqin2uL7F

— National Trust (@nationaltrust) May 14, 2024

The National Trust was apparently undeterred by the widespread backlash last year to its exclusion of Christmas and Easter from its charity calendar, as well as its more recent incursions into the culture wars.

The phrase “global majority” is meant to “decolonise language” by declining to “situate whiteness as the norm”. Perhaps “the global minority” will enter the lexicon as well…