Another Example of Systemic Racism: Bicycle Helmets… Seriously

Guest Post by PF Whalen

A recent article from the Seattle Times details a new campaign being undertaken by bicyclist groups in the Seattle-area to abolish a King County law requiring helmet-wearing by bicyclists. The reason the groups cite for seeking repeal of the law is racism, explaining that minority cyclists are being victimized by “disproportionate enforcement of the law.” Systemic racism has seeped so deep into our institutions, and racism within police departments is so prevalent, a black or brown person can’t even ride their bike without worrying about a white supremacist cop jumping out of the bushes to pounce on them for not wearing a helmet.

Like so many accusations of racism from the left, the argument against bike helmet laws quickly becomes incoherent. Initially the contention appears to be that minorities are being targeted whereas white folks are getting off scot free. “Look, there’s a black guy riding a bike. Let’s get him!” After the assertion of disproportionate enforcement, the article claims, “Black cyclists received helmet infractions at a rate nearly four times higher than white cyclists.” There’s that problem of unequal outcomes rearing its ugly head once again. But then the issue of affordability is seamlessly inserted into the debate, with an interviewee of the article explaining, “Folks aren’t riding around without helmets because it’s fun. They’re doing it because helmets aren’t cheap.” So, wait a second, what’s the reason? Are black folks being given citations at a higher rate because cops are unfairly targeting them, or is it because they can’t afford helmets?

There are strong arguments to be made for opposing such laws, but playing the race card by pointing at some type of two-wheeled, watered down version of racist police brutality isn’t one them. And neither is the idea that helmets are unaffordable. Take a quick trip to Wal-Mart and you’ll discover that even the least-expensive adult bike available still costs about $100, whereas a bike helmet can be purchased for under $15. If someone has enough money to procure a bike, logic would dictate they should also have enough money to buy a helmet.

The contentions of the anti-helmet law activists become even cloudier when we consider one of the solutions. In addition to ditching the helmet law, there should be a consideration of having the government provide the actual helmets. “Buy them a helmet and you won’t have to penalize them” advises the article’s interviewee. Therefore, consider the logic being promoted here: The government is racist because more non-white people get citations for going helmetless than white people, so let’s have that same government which we don’t trust buy us helmets. Make sense?

This latest claim of racist victimhood effectively illustrates three of the most blatant absurdities of leftist ideology:

  1. Individuals aren’t responsible for their own actions; ever
  2. The government is the solution to all of our problems, while simultaneously being the cause of all of our problems, and
  3. Taxpayer dollars are limitless, and probably grow on trees

Do opponents of the law present any evidence that the disparity in enforcement of the law is in any way based on race? Of course not, but then again they don’t need to produce evidence. And they don’t even attempt to make the case that black folks aren’t more likely to violate the law, because that point doesn’t matter.

If there are unequal outcomes, the cause is racism. The Derek Chauvin case for the death of George Floyd is just about complete, and not once has the prosecution given an iota of evidence showing that Chauvin’s actions were even remotely race-driven, yet the narrative of racism continues. The tragic death of Daunte Wright last week was clearly an accident with absolutely no indication that Wright’s race was a factor, yet the narrative of racism continues. And if black folks are more likely than white folks to get a ticket for not wearing a bike helmet, then that’s racist too; the narrative of racism continues.

In reality, we all make individual risk/reward assessments and make decisions based on those evaluations. In the case of bicycle helmets, there is an indisputable benefit of safety. If you get into a bicycle crash and you’re not wearing a helmet, your chances of a dramatic head injury increase exponentially.  For some of us, the decision is easy. When I ride a bike, I wear a helmet. I have a big head, and when I put the helmet on I look like Kazoo from The Flintstones. But I’m not exactly a slave to fashion, so I don’t care, which means the only drawback to wearing a helmet is the comfortableness. I don’t find the helmet particularly uncomfortable, and I’ve got enough stuff to worry about without adding traumatic brain injuries to the list, so it’s a no-brainer. For others, however, they may feel differently. Maybe they have long-flowing hair they want to show off. Or maybe they find helmets to be itchy. Or maybe they just don’t like the government telling them what to do.

Whatever the reason, it’s an individual choice. We’re all responsible our own actions. Personal responsibility is fundamental, and that should be the approach to many such issues. If you don’t want to get COVID, you can get vaccinated, but there’s a potential risk with the vaccine. If you want to get rich quick, you can invest in certain penny stocks and hit it big, but there are potential risks in such investments. And if you want to ride your bike with the wind blowing through your locks and the sun shining on your cranium, there are potential risks there as well.

There’s an interesting irony with the anti-helmet law crowd’s solution of scrapping the law; they sound like libertarians, which tend to be the polar opposite of leftists. Similar to seatbelt laws, a true libertarian would never support a bicycle helmet mandate. It’s not government’s role to save us from ourselves. And herein lies the strongest argument for repeal. Let people make their own decisions; their own risk assessments. Individuals are responsible for their own actions.

The problem is that if you’re a race-baiting socialist, you only focus on outcomes. If the law is repealed, and more black folks wind up sustaining traumatic head injuries than white folks, that outcome will be racist and the government will have been at fault; systemic racism. If the government were to buy everyone ‘free’ helmets, and if black folks were still being disproportionately ticketed, then that outcome will still be unfair; systemic racism. Because when you view every aspect of society through the prism of race, and if you can simply point to anything you don’t like and call it racist without any accountability from a complicit media, nobody is responsible for their individual actions… provided they have the proper skin color.

Virtually every day we see episodes similar to this one in Washington; they are becoming disgustingly commonplace. Speedy Gonzalez is racist. Dr. Seuss is racist. Bicycle helmets are racist. The left has become so prolific at labeling innocent people and things as racist, the term itself has become utterly diluted. For the left, it seems, everything is racist. And if everything is racist, nothing is racist.

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ASIG
ASIG

In the inner cities the people riding around on bikes without helmets are homeless people and the reason they’re not wearing a helmet is because the person they stole the bike from didn’t have the decency to leave the helmet with the bike at the time it was stolen.

fujigm
fujigm

When everything in your world is about race, you are a racist, by definition.

falconflight
falconflight

Or sick.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

The more bullshit laws you have, the more opportunities you give cops to hassle people disparately. Race is one reason, just like in the old days cops would hassle boys with long hair. This is a bullshit law. There may be better arguments than “racism”, but that one works, too. In NJ they arrest you for not having a bicycle license…

Auntie Kriest
Auntie Kriest

Phil Murphy and the good people of NJ must be some true imbecile rayssiss with these priorities. A bicycle riding license? Seriously?

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

Checked the regs, no such law on the books in NJ. There’s no law requiring an adult to wear a helmet either. This is just cops throwing their weight around.

Stucky

“Checked the regs, no such law on the books in NJ. There’s no law requiring an adult to wear a helmet either.”

Correct. The law applies to ages 16 and under.

=================================== =

Title 39:4-10.1

“In New Jersey, anyone under 17 years of age that rides a bicycle or is a passenger on a bicycle, or is towed as a passenger by a bicycle must wear a safety helmet.”

https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/bike/regulations.shtm

=================================== =

Regarding licenses. The state does not require them. However, local municipalities are free to require them. Below is a story of copfuks in Perth Amboy confiscating bicycles and even taking teenagers into custody.

https://nj1015.com/perth-amboy-cops-confiscate-bicycles-over-lack-of-license/

very old white guy
very old white guy

Helmets, like every other government intrusion on ones life, should be voluntary.

Old School Counselor

By systemic racism they mean whites have historically controlled most institutions, businesses, narratives, and government. The overseers and their black legions want to control those things. Until whites are subjugated and eventually erased, this will continue. We are at the tipping point right now. It looks like the anti-whites are about to take it all. Our only possible course is white consciousness and white activism now.

Ken31
Ken31

Blacks may want to control those things, but they do not have the ability.

Russ Wood
Russ Wood

E,G. See South Africa…

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

” In the case of bicycle helmets, there is an indisputable benefit of safety. If you get into a bicycle crash and you’re not wearing a helmet, your chances of a dramatic head injury increase exponentially. ”

If you fall without a helmet while walking the same is probably true. Perhaps mandating helmets for anyone who gets out of bed would prevent those as well. The issue isn’t whether something is or isn’t a prudent practice, but whether we as human beings have a right to make decisions for ourselves about our own lives. Blacks aren’t wearing helmets because they look stupid and they make bicycle riding seem like a pain in the ass instead of just being a fun mode of transportation. Maybe we institute some kind of bicycle regulatory agency and set up airport style checkpoints along the roads, a BTA.

How about the government just fuck off for once and let people make their own decisions and accept their own level of risk taking? When you are a child certain levels of protection are put in place because your lack of experience and maturity requires someone looking out for you. Traditionally they were called parents. Once you reach adulthood it has been widely accepted throughout the ages that you have some degree of autonomy in accepting responsibility for your behavior. People who swim are statistically more likely to drown than those who do not. I bet I could make a case that swimming should be prohibited to prevent drownings, but where do you stop? And if government intervention, control, and authority were the panacea in risk management, then no one in prison would ever be injured or violated. How’s that working out?

brian
brian

Its all about conditioning the sheep to accept the shackles. slowly, one link at a time. But take comfort little sheep, its for the greater good, and your safety of course…

Anonymous
Anonymous

Got a $10 dollar head , wear a $10 dollar helmet !
If injured in an accident and not wearing a helmet perhaps denied health insurance for your injuries would encourage someone to purchase a $20 dollar helmet and $80 dollar sneakers instead of no helmet and $100 dollar sneakers !
Just saying ! LMAO

brian
brian

Maybe that $5 bubble wrap bicycle suit too… compliment that helmet

MrLiberty
MrLiberty

This list of bullshit laws is endless. But rather than having an honest discussion as to how all this petty bullshit gives the cops the opportunity to stop ANYONE and hassle them, we have to make it racial. More unarmed whites die at the hands of police than any other group, yet we cannot have a discussion about police without making it racial. The primary reason cops hassle people of color is the war on drugs. Why no discussion in the black or other color communities about ending this immoral violation of individual ownership and rights?? There are indeed root causes of these problems in our society, but racism is not anywhere near the root. But GOVERNMENT POWER makes up 99% of the root for sure.

gilberts
gilberts

Why not revoke the helmet laws because in a free republic you wouldn’t be required to buy or use accessories to enjoy yourself and because in a free republic you would be free to take whatever risks with which you feel comfortable? If more blacks die because they don’t want to wear a helmet, OK.

When white libtards talk about Seattle and Portland being racist, there’s a serious problem going on. I remember when racism actually involved real racism and violence instead of inconveniences and different outcomes and faked crimes. At this point, racism is so rare, blacks have to pre-enact it.

Ken31
Ken31

You just don’t get it. You need to surrender your inalienable rights because of insurance companies.

Ken31
Ken31

When an oppressive police state was desired, helmet laws that strip people of their God given rights are OK. But when niggers don’t want to wear a helmet because they are stupid animals, then we need to worry about racism, not liberty and Natural Rights.

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