Blacks have reasons for not riding bicycles

By Debra Seth

Sitting in the smelly, dark basement of Bancroft, during a routine and slightly boring Johnsonian staff meeting, I found myself deep in thought.

No, I wasn’t engulfed in one of editor-in-chief Arthur Takahashi’s professor-like speeches or news editor Anna Douglas’ latest investigative report on Winthrop’s socially elite administration. Not even one of opinion editor Eddie Scarry’s rants could distract me from the idea burning in the back of my mind.

This was groundbreaking, and for the love of shopping they were going to hear my idea!

I held the words at the tip of my mouth as long as possible and when that empty, quiet moment I’d longed for finally revealed itself, I blurted it out: “Is it just me, or do you never see black people riding bikes on campus?”

Whew, what a relief. I’d said it and the response was exactly what I’d been hoping for.

Laughter, uneasy tension, and curious looks filled the air and the faces of the staff as they pondered my random yet poignant question.

Like me, they hadn’t really seen people of any other ethnic or racial background riding bikes on campus besides Caucasians.

Of course there was one staff member, who shall remain nameless, that dared to play devil’s advocate against my argument, stating that she indeed had seen a black person riding a bike on campus.

I quickly acknowledged and dismissed her claim. No way was she going to interfere with the concrete facts of my case. 

The fact of the matter is, you just don’t see black people riding bikes on this campus.  I don’t know if it’s because it doesn’t seem cool enough or if bike riding is equivalent to skiing, the 400m butterfly race, or golf (pre-Tiger Woods).  

Bike riding just doesn’t seem to be the black man’s forte.

Even more intriguing is the fact that children of all ages and colors love to ride bicycles. 

Who can forget their parents yelling at them to move the four or five bikes parked with kick-stands from the middle of their driveways on hot summer afternoons?  Or the feeling of the wind blowing gently on their face and the sound of the imaginary turn signal ticking in your mind as you made a hard right onto Any Street, U.S.A.?  

When did black people lose their love for bike riding and why does it seem whites have retained theirs?

Ideally, riding a bike to class would actually be cooler than walking because it gets you there faster, but just the thought of me rolling up to class all sweaty and then having to figure out where to park my bike is a bit too much to bear.

No way am I taking a chance of messing up my hair just to save two or three minutes to get from point A to point B.  Not to mention, there’s the social embarrassment of possibly riding by a hot guy on campus on a bicycle. Not cool.

But perhaps that’s the problem.

I think African-Americans don’t ride bikes on campus because it just doesn’t look cool.

It seems like a pretty stupid and vain reason, but a reason nonetheless. As a group, I feel we are so obsessed with vanity and making it “look easy” that we hinder ourselves from the convenience and health benefits bike riding and other activities offer.

I’m putting a lot of thought into an issue that may seem rather petty, but perhaps by exploring this topic, individuals can think of things they may or may not do based on cultural and social norms that limit their ability to fully experience life.

By acknowledging the silly reasons we don’t participate in certain activities there could be a lesson learned that will lead to a more fulfilling life.

Now that I’ve proven my theory, maybe I’ll get one of those old bikes out of my mom’s garage at home, dust the cobwebs off and bring it back up here so I can pedal my way into glee. Maybe I’ll wave to you as I sail past you at super-speed on my way to class, hair flapping in the wind.

Maybe I’ll let you ride on the back — or better yet on the handle bars just like the good old days. 

Maybe I’ll break the mold and be the “black girl that rides a bike”  on campus.  Maybe I’ll start a new trend of bike riding black girls and even get us established as an official on-campus organization. 

Maybe, just maybe. Oh, who am I kidding? No way.