Kyle, I will stand in solidarity with everything you just said. It's
refreshing to hear someone frame the idea of white and class privilege
in such an elegant but accessible way. Mainly I just wanted to voice my
support because this is a tough discussion to have but an important one.
To Bruce's comment about women and bike shops, I'd have to say that you
are using a symptom of patriarchy (few women not in bike shops) to
justify that outcome. For an analogy: if there was no bike rack or pole
or anything to lock your bike up to outside of a new Thai restaurant,
should the owner of the shop assume that you not eating there because it
"you as a cyclist innately don't like Thai food" or because there is
barrier to entry, not having a place to put your ride? If he assumes
it's because cyclists don't like Thai food, he'll never put a bike rack
out front and you'll never eat there. Maybe that's a goofy analogy but
maybe it's still relevant. We actually had this discussion with a couple
of women that frequently patronize the shop when we asked them if they
would be interested in a womens only night. Their response was pretty
interesting. They said that it would be nice so that new women patrons
could become comfortable in a new setting with other women but then once
they felt confident in the basics they wouldn't have any problem going
to regular shop hours because the wouldn't feel like they were relying
on men volunteers for everything. I think that makes a lot of sense.
As to the folks that get uncomfortable about this and feel they are
being accused of "being a racist" this examination of privilege isn't
about personal prejudice but rather about institutional racism, the
systems that have permeated American society from it's inception. Wage
and wealth inequities based on race, access to services based on race,
gentrification, unfair employment practices, structures of the economy,
allocation of democratic rights, these are all part of institutional
racism that is at the core of white privilege. Really it's about
admitting that it exists, owning it and trying to find ways to use it to
a mutual benefit of everyone involved (organizing a community bike shop
and empowering those communities without white male privilege) and that
is light years more progressive and effective than than going on about
how your not a racist and your oppressed too (not saying anyone here has
done that but it's a common response from liberal folks).
I think paying wage is a great way to enable marginalize peoples to
participate in Com. Bike shops and I'm sure there are many more, we need
to find those too! Keep the ideas coming!
Andrew
FM Community Bicycle Workshop