In the summer of 2020, the murder of George Floyd triggered protests, social justice movements, and nationwide discussion about how systemic racism affects every aspect of American life. The equine industry was not exempt from the conversation.

On June 1, 2020, The Chronicle of the Horse published an opinion piece penned by elite junior rider Sophie Gochman, entitled “Breaking The Silence Surrounding White Privilege In The Horse World.” In that article, Gochman called for those with power in the equestrian community to utilize that power to enact change and dismantle racism and social inequality. She communicated her frustration that others in the community were publicly silent on this issue, and asserted that silence was no longer acceptable.

Gochman’s piece sparked a flurry of discussion and controversy, including a response piece from elite trainer and horsewoman Missy Clark that was published just one week later entitled “Sometimes You Have to Read Between the Lines.” Clark’s piece was essentially a defense of the equestrian community, asserting that there is little to no racism in the equestrian community, that any exclusions of minority groups are not purposeful (and therefore not discrimination), and that Gochman’s perceptions of the equestrian community were inaccurate and inflammatory. While Clark recognized the existence of white privilege in her piece, she also insisted that discrimination did not exist in the equestrian community because the people that she knew and had experience with used their privilege to give to others. 

These two articles represented two factions of people within the equestrian community. The first group, represented in Gochman’s article, are those who see and are upset by the inequalities in our sport. They want change, and prioritize diversity and accessibility efforts that acknowledge and make accommodations for social inequities. The second group, represented by Clark, are of the belief that there is no racism or discrimination within the community and that, through hard work and a little bit of luck, anyone can reach their goals. For example, in Clark’s piece, she wrote,

“Because you may not see a majority of certain presences doesn’t mean there have been purposeful exclusions. In our world, some choices are forced because they’re based on the cold hard fact most people can’t afford to do this. It doesn’t mean that it’s fair, but it also doesn’t mean that it’s discrimination.” 

It becomes relevant here to understand the difference between discriminatory behavior and systemic discrimination, or more specifically, individual racism and systemic racism. The Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre defines individual racism as,

“…an individual’s racist assumptions, beliefs or behaviors…”

and systemic racism as

“…the policies and practices entrenched in established institutions, which result in the exclusion or promotion of designated groups.”

Clark may be correct that most equestrians do not actively engage in racist or discriminatory behavior, at least not on a conscious level. However, even if Clark is correct, this lack of individual racism does not necessarily negate the existence of systemic racism, and unfortunately, at this point in the conversation, we have a constant stream of information and black voices telling us that there is individual discrimination and racism in our sport.

Equestrians of color have reported feeling unwelcome and unwanted – no matter how welcoming the predominantly white equestrian community feels that they are being. 17 year-old Lauryn Gray put it extremely well in her 2020 article “Being a Bay in a Sea of Grays” when she said,

“My barn and the circuit I compete on have always been an extremely loving and accepting environment, but now that I’m no longer looking through rose-colored glasses, I realize that the same can’t be said about our community as a whole.” 

This community Gray and Clark both refer to is built on the same racist structures as the rest of our country and “getting in” to obtain that wonderful feeling of community support is harder for people who are not white. Clark’s mention of “financial constraints” in her piece alludes to this but seems to imply that financial constraints are not tied to race, when in fact they are.

Additionally, while it is true that many people of financial privilege make donations to help those who are less privileged and that many people treat others with respect, individual acts of charity or kindness alone cannot solve systemic-level problems or compensate for the microaggressions and discriminatory behavior of others. I would hope that those who are in power due to their privilege now will recognize that they benefit from racist structures that were formed long ago but are currently perpetuated by the silence of the elite.

Clark’s piece also failed to acknowledge the connection between whiteness and wealth. People of color have been legally and socially shut out of the same opportunities as white people in America, and this exclusion has disallowed them from building generational wealth and accumulating the sort of net worth required to compete in equestrian sports.

I laid out costs at each of the four levels of riding in the second entry to this series and, in the first entry, shared that, according to the United States Equestrian Federation 2022 Media Kit, the average net worth of a USEF member (which indicates eligibility to compete in recognized competition) was $955,000 with an average yearly income of $185,000 while data from The U.S. Census Bureau indicated that the average American household headed by a white person earned about $70,000 per year with an average net worth of $162,770, while the average American household headed by a black person earned about $41,000 per year with an average net worth of $16,300. While the average household in both racial groups falls far below the average wealth of a USEF member – however, the census data clearly lays out how much more “above average” a black household has to be.