Growing up in NJ and living my life in NJ and around the shore, I couldn’t count the number of black surfers on one thumb. There were none. I guess it just goes to show, if you’re going to find dynamic individuals, whether first hand or through relations, FR is the place to find them!
Thanks and enjoy the weekend. Take care.
It's all a matter of location, opportunity, and tradition. I just wanted to add to what Fortunate Sun said above... Like Fortunate Sun, I spent summers at the Jersey shore, too. The vast majority of people on the beach always were "white" (err, "tan", or at least trying to be) at the Jersey shore, so, of course, most people around here probably think black people don't like the beach.
One factor in the number of "white" beachgoers may be the desire to "get a tan". ;-) But, people also tend to go where their great grandparents and grandparents and parents grew up going. It's all about family tradition.
My husband (who is black) grew up in the same area that I did, but his family didn't have the tradition of going "down the shore" every summer. When we moved to NJ, I talked him into going to the beach once, and he was hooked. Ever since then, he always wants to go to the beach, while I can barely tolerate it these days. I have some sort of allergic reaction, and I'm miserable the whole time. :-(