This program is bringing youth of color into a sport dominated by white men
This program is bringing youth of color into a sport dominated by white men
I recently wrote a story about the National Links Trust, a nonprofit that seeks to introduce D.C. youth to the golf industry.
Washington, D.C., has made headlines over the past several months for upticks in crime within the city limits. The nation’s capital has emerged as one of the country’s hot spots for carjackings, even as violent crime has waned somewhat across the U.S. What has been unique about much of the crime in the Washington area is that a disproportionate amount appears to be attributable to teenagers and young adults.
Experts say that the rise in youth crime can be chalked up to a variety of causes — desperate circumstances, a desire to make some quick cash, or the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington also holds the worst Black-white unemployment ratio in the entire country, according to the Economic Policy Institute think tank — with vastly disproportionate unemployment rates in wards 7 and 8, underserved and predominantly Black areas in the district.
The National Links Trust — a nonprofit whose mission is to make the largely white male sport of golf more accessible and affordable — wants to provide Washington’s youths with another option: finding themselves on the links.