Skin Color under the Helmet

[tbonebusa]

I guess I must be prejudiced.....I hate ignorant people. I hate ignorant black people who perpetuate the "thug life" image that adds fuel to the fire of racists everywhere.....I hate ignorant white people that perpetuate the "trailer trash" lifestyle......

You don't need to single out a skin color or national background to find an idiot....they come in all shapes, sizes, and colors....I'm a lilly white, corn fed white boy with a blond haired, blue eyed German wife......I make enough money to live in the most sterile, bleach white neighborhoods around.....but I live in a great neighborhood....ethnically and culturally diverse...I have black neighbors, mexican neighbors, Hindus, Muslims, Asians.....my kid's school photos of their classes looks like a "We are the World" class picture....and I love it. All of them are good people, hard working, fun....we have BBQ's at my place in the summer that are the most fun you could imagine. I had a family reunion at my house last year, and some of my ignorant in-laws felt the need to comment on how "diverse" the neighbors were....I told them they were the best bunch of neighbors I ever had..... far better than the bunch of uptight, lily white yuppies I lived around at the last house....so concerned with private schools and keeping their kid's isolated from anyone with any color in their skin they couldn't see the damage they were doing.

I do, however, take issue with "Black" Bike week......as I would with White week, or Asian week.....but I also realize that many different races need the "strength in numbers" mindset to offset the ignorance they are surrounded by.....but I still think it only continues the hatred to keep isolating groups based on skin color. So, I question the validity of Black Chambers of Commerce, Hispanic Businessman's Clubs, et al........is it benefiting the minority, or deepening the divide??      

That's all I have to say......thanks for the look.....

TBone

 

[Busa_05]

last year during the round up in milwaukee, it was black biker week, the KKK prostested downtown. it was disturbing to see that sh!t. we all need to open our eyes though. crap like that and worse is still going and probably always will. i respect folks like you all who voice your opinions. be it anti-semitism, racism, what have you; it's sickening.

 

[7th Gear]

Seems to me Harley week is about people that ride Harleys.
It's not called "White week".
So why do the organizers for "Black week" have to inject color???

I bet Jesse and Al are behind it.

 

[vincent]

looks like nothing else really needs to be said here. I know there are white people that show up to black bike week, I did it 2 years ago. Got some harassment for it but in the main it was people joking around. The few that did seem to be actually irritated that I showed up were the younger guys, but mostly my friends put an end to that quickly. I say next year we get as many people of EVERY race as we can to show up to Myrtle Beach for the week and have a true bike week there!

 

[FAKK2]

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[Mr Brown]

I have mixed feelings on the subject of Black Bike Week. It would be nice, as some of you have suggested if nobody felt the need to make a bike festival and title it along racial lines. It would be nice if as Bob Marley said, we lived in a world where the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes, but we have not yet acheived that level of parity. The reason that Black Bike Week is named this is, as I understand it, because of the percieved lack of acceptance during the White festival. I'm sure there are many people at both events, prolly the majority of attendees, who could not care less about the color of their fellow riders, there will always be those for whom it is an issue. In the linked report, there is a woman quoted as saying "There's a queasiness among both tourists and locals when a predominantly white beach town morphs into an African-American biking mecca, says Tiffiney Bryant, a local waitress who grew up on the Strand. "Tourists come from these small towns where they're used to blacks being 'humble,' and suddenly they are outnumbered by blacks who are out being bold and having fun," she says. "I think they just get scared." The fact that seeing a certain group of people having fun, and being "bold" (whatever that means....) causes people to be scared shows me that racism will be a problem for many more generations to come. There is no logical reason to be racist, it is simply a crutch for people who are afraid to face their own inadequacies. This applies to both Black and White racists, it is what small minded, unintelligent people fall back on when they don't want to face the truth about themselves. 'Well, he must have said/done/worn/ate/drank that because he's a___ (fill in with epithet of your choosing)
I sincerely hope that the time will come when we in this country canput to rest the parts of our history which are so ugly and painfull, but make no mistake, racism is alive and well and we can't just ignore it and hope it goes away. The only way to combat racism is to get to know people of different backgrounds, and discover that we are not really all that different. We have traditions, history and stories that can be shared and enjoyed, not to mention food and drinks. I find it very hard to hate someone's culture when I have a belly full of their food! I teach my sons to respect everyone, regardless of where they are from, what they have and what color their skin is, unless they do not return that respect in kind. I can't change the world, but I can raise my kids properly.

 

[Busa_05]

Seems to me Harley week is about people that ride Harleys.
It's not called "White week".
So why do the organizers for "Black week" have to inject color???

I bet Jesse and Al are behind it.

i'm not sure if you are responding to my last post or just posting in general. i thought i might clarify in case you were responding to my post. the round up that i am referring to was organized by the area black mc's. chapters came from all over the u.s. it was really quite an event. the chapter that I am familiar with, while not a member, is the Elite Road Dogs. great bunch of guys. on one side of the coin I can see your opinion clearly: Why give it a racial title? In this case, it wasn't the 100th and it wasn't 'harley week.' I believe though, that was exactly the point. They were celebrating their heritage. They were celebrating bikes. Black biker week. Just like Indian Summer, German Fest, the African American festival, and so forth. What disturbed me was the KKK coordinating a protest in conjunction with the festival. That was a big deal around here. Milwaukee didn't stand for it, though they had their say anyway.

 

[Rhythm]

The reason that Black Bike Week is named this is, as I understand it, because of the percieved lack of acceptance during the White festival.[/QUOTE]

 

[Aughtsix]

I don't believe any thinking person would argue that racism doesn't exist. It clearly does and it's a horrible thing.  The arguement would be which is the greater of two evils...

In our warped society racism has become politically correct and is an incredibly powerful force, politically and monetarily.  Not for the person(s) to whom the finger of accusation is pointed, but rather, for the person(s) from whom the accusation of racism comes.  It has become not only an excuse for socially negative behaviors of all sorts, but an excuse for a lack of socially positive behaviors as well.  It has become an excuse for those devoid of personal responsibility.  It has become an excuse for decrying any unwanted outcome.  It has led to the guilty walking free and the innocent being condemned.  It feeds a self pity that skews perception.  And it's self-perpetuating.

No question that racism is a blotch on the heart of a man, but it's become a tool as well.

So which is worse, the former or the latter...



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[willgetbusa]

yep, i agree. it's 2005, in the greatest country in the world and still a lot of hate based on skin color alone. ever heard of the term "JAP" bike. it's term that represent hatred but people still use it quite a bit w/o any concerns about their fellow americans. it's as bad as calling a bike from africa "******" bike if there were bikes imported from that area of the world.

it's sad but true.

 

[eynlai]

Guess I have a knack for inciting a riot.

But seriously: I, being chinese myself, I have never segregated myself to hanging out with just chinese or just asians. In fact, my real friends are a mixture of people. They're not my friends because they are a mixture, they're my friends because they're good peeps, it just happen that they are a mixture.

And I know what some of you are saying with the "Black Bike Festivals", the "Mexican Businessmen club", the "Martian Sawing" club... It's a form of self segregation. But from a non-white perspective, I can say that the original intent of the formation of these clubs/groups/associations were to give a community feel to those that feel that they have been left out, that there is support for them, by them. I'm not arguing that somewhere along the way, that turned into a self "poison pill".

It's a vicious catch 22. But if we look at the "Black Bike Festival", we don't know which came first: Did the black bikers experience discrimination prior and hence they created a event parallel called "Black Biker Festival" to the main event? Or was the "Black Biker Festival" created without the prior discrimination, thus bringing the discrimination upon themselves? Or to add a "third" side to the coin: Was the "Black Biker Festival" created not by the black bikers or the consortium that respresents them, but the main event planners and city officials to purposely segregate them from the main event?? We just don't know. But whatever the case, it was undue and blantantly a act of racism for the city officials and local businesses to act the way they did.

By the way, I don't segregate myself, thus I don't expect to be segregated by others.

Kevin Kesler, I see what you're getting at, but it's not as simple as that. You think that people cry "racism" without justification? I can agree with you in some circumstances, but in others, it's really is justified. Take what that local waitress said in that article. Some tourists and locals are fearful that the blacks aren't "humbled"

Dude, that sounds like she's confirming racism of that surround area right there. And let's not use your family history (no disrespect to them at all) to qualify you as an expert. But if you are in any sense "white" or the appearance of white, and with a last name like "Kesler", I'm guessing you really don't know what it's like to be on this side of the fence. I may not feel it as much as the black man, me being chinese, but I have felt it. In a personal plane and professional plane.

In almost all of my corporate meetings, and we're talking about Fortune 500+ corporations, how many black attendees do you think I've counted in over the years? 2. What do you think was predominent? That's right. I was in a client group meeting in Arlington Texas when I was subtly discriminated against! Our white client purposely asked my white co-worker a question when she need she was suppose to ask me when my roll was introduced to be the expertise to answer that question. Guess what? My co-worker redirected that question to me in front of her.

No doubt that some members of certain group cast a steretypical imagine on the rest of the group (gangsta for the blacks, gang-bangers for the Mexicans, mafioso on the Italians, etc...). But that is not validation to place the blame on the victims. Yes, the intensity and level of racism varies by geographical area. But please don't say that blacks should leave the past in the past. Because it's not. Read that article again and tell me that it is. Please do. I don't think you can because it's so blatant, what the local waitress said, what the city officials decided, what the local businesses did, and the actions of the local police. You think they left the past in the past?

And I'll admit it, I AM PREJUDICE as hell! But not in a race sense. I freaking hate black gangsta, Mexican gang bangers, Asian gangsters, Italian thugs, white racist trash, ego/power tripping police, etc... I hate them all because they misrepresent their respective groups. In fact, I HATE the word "RACE". I don't see knee sliding, I don't see bumpers bumping, I don't see a green light and I don't see a checker flag at the end. I prefer ethnicity.

Sad that color has entered the bike world. To me, with our riding gear on, helmet on, we all should look the same. We all should look good

Why do most of us wave at one another as well pass? Even to Harleys, cruisers or even biker cops? I thought it was a brotherhood/sisterhood that was bonded by the thrill of the ride, the element of danger, and the euphoria of the engine humming between our legs that we share. I didn't think that should ever be divided by the color underneath the gear.

 

[Relsek]

.....And it's self-perpetuating.

This is my point.

Kev

 

[Relsek]

Kevin Kesler, I see what you're getting at, but it's not as simple as that.  You think that people cry "racism" without justification?  I can agree with you in some circumstances, but in others, it's really is justified.  Take what that local waitress said in that article.  Some tourists and locals are fearful that the blacks aren't "humbled"

 Dude, that sounds like she's confirming racism of that surround area right there.  And let's not use your family history (no disrespect to them at all) to qualify you as an expert.  But if you are in any sense "white" or the appearance of white, and with a last name like "Kesler", I'm guessing you really don't know what it's like to be on this side of the fence.  I may not feel it as much as the black man, me being chinese, but I have felt it.  In a personal plane and professional plane.

I'm not saying that all crys of racism are not justified, I am saying that when the cry of racism is used, and it's not justified, that the true crys of racism will fall on deaf ears. It's like the story of the boy that cried wolf.

I totally understand wanting to be with your own group when that group is being discriminated against, I was in Japan long enough to get the idea how that feels. I can't believe I even bought a Japanese bike now that I remember the way I was treated over there. I guess I just forgot about it.

I grew up in a small town in Missouri. I never learned about segregation, we didn't separate ourselves from each other. We were never taught to treat people different based on the color of their skin. I was first introduced to racism when I joined the Air Force. Any black friends I had would abandon me as soon as any other blacks came around. I got to where I wouldn't even bother because they all seemed so phony. It took several years after I left the Air Force to get back to normal.

Like Steve said earlier, it's a self-perpetuating problem.

Kev

 

[Creekboy]

Its funny how regions vary, if a Big Black rally was in Detroit, or Cleveland, or others parts of the north I doubt very little would be said or done. But there has been racial separation in the South that dates back way before the Civil war. Unfortunately there has been racism since the beginning of time, and until the end of time will it seize. There's bad apples in every crowd, there is white trash as well as black trash. I base my life on doing to others as I would want done to me, In the presence of God we are all equal , but until then we deal with this issue, I guess I can sum it up like this Your my brother regardless what color,race, or gender you are until you do me wrong, I have alot of black brothers whom Im very close, we ride have fun and visit each others homes and like we say get below the surface we all bleed red. .....

 

[FL Knifemaker]

With my black friends, we blame race issues and arguments (been known to happen) on the "fugged UP music" we each listen to, laugh it off and move on

I hear both sides of the Black Bike Week discussion. I'm still out to lunch on this one

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[jetset]

I went to BBW last year in MYR and it was like the Gestapo out there.Some resteraunts were closed they put sand on every corner blocked most of the streets and funneld traffic so they could control every thing.

Now on the other hand the week before at bikefest they had beer trucks on the street at atlantic beach no problem with open containers that week and what no Gestapo.

Lets just say the more things change the more they stay the same.Ignorance is BLISS.
Nuff Said

 

[Rhythm]

All I gotta say is that I got love for all you Playazz  

Also anyone going to <span style='color:red'>Soul week</span> next year  

 

[cache]

my kid's school photos of their classes looks like a "We are the World" class picture

 

[xyu]

It doesn't matter what color our skin is...we all bleed red.

 

[Rhythm]

Their workn on it XYU