Lafayette Doty
The Black Race
We don’t all start from the same beginnings and this can affect one’s ability to enter a physical activity. The stereotype that “Black people can't swim” is deadly. Studies have shown that African American children are drowning at a rate 5.5 times more than the average white child. By exposing the immoral barriers that the African American community has and is currently facing, The Black Race will unmask viscerally why "Black people can't swim".
The combination of film, architecture, and industrial design was used to push how we digest design and information. Using the long established olympics as a format, The Black Race dives further to expose inequalities through discursive objects and events.
Trailer for the Black Race Film
The Black Race Film
As a fitness enthusiast, designer, and young African American, I feel compelled to expose the immoral barriers that the African American community has and is currently suffering. According to USA Swimming, formal swimming lessons reduce the likelihood of childhood drowning by 88%. By educating the general public and African American families we can not only save lives, but we can also enrich them by sharing the joy, peace, and love of swimming. Just as the deepest waters are yet unexplored, the potential for education on this issue holds great depth. Using design as an intervention on this lethal stereotype that “Black people can’t swim”, The Black Race will educate and give form to structural racist practices around swimming.
*Athlete = anyone with a body
Swimming Starting Block
The “See-Saw” Starting Block was designed to discuss the historical legacies of Jim Crow era laws in which African Americans were segregated, physically abused and verbally assaulted. The block uses your own weight against you and instantly knocks one off as a way of denying you the ability to be in the pool.
Track Starting Block
The track Starting Block was designed to limit one's full range of motion. Typically athletes* get to change the angle and position of the blocks but here the athlete* is fixed. The block is in a fixed position in order to hint at conforming while being Black in these athletic spaces.
Athlete Village Dining Hall
The Dining Hall at the Athlete Village was created as a way to dive into the economic disenfranchisement of communities of color and nutrition. The layout of the space was divided into two areas: healthy, fresh, ready to make versus the convenient store side filled with prepackaged foods, fast foods, and liquor.
