We are graduate students in the Nicholas School of the Environment working on our masters' project. The project is focused on analyzing the bicycle manufacturing process and using the results of our analysis to drive change in the bicycling industry. As part of the project, we are also conducting a survey of the Duke community to gauge consumer demand for sustainably produced bicycles. You are receiving this email because your department was randomly selected. We would greatly appreciate your help with our project! Every individual who takes the survey will increase the success of our project and the impact on the cycling community. Please note that you may skip any question you do not wish to answer and we guarantee that your answers will be kept strictly confidential. Thank you very much for your time and assistance!
So....smart, highly educated young people are spending time and money trying to save the environment by making BICYCLES more environmentally friendly. Think of all the margins on which we might work to reduce our environmental impact (suppose you care about that. You may not, but suppose for the sake of argument you do...)
How far down the list of "biggest problems" would you have to go to find "improve bicycle manufacturing process"?You skip over coal-fired power plants, efficiency of aircraft engines, incentives for burning / clear-cutting forests in developing nations.
And get all upset about those nasty, polluting bicycles. Amazingly, this is actually a thing.
Let me come out and say it: I know I do it. I try to be aware of it. But I do it. The way I react to people depends on several factors, but race is one of them. Knowing that can help you avoid sticking to that view, and one can overcome it by being aware.
This video is interesting, in this regard. I'm thinking of the Zimmerman trial, in particular. Zimmerman may have thought what many people would think, using race as a sign of suspicion. But you don't get to act that way.
(Yes, I blogged about this before. The stuff I wrote in the second half is still where I stand. It's not just statistical discrimination. It's UNjust statistical discrimination).
"One common denominator of successful bike programs around the world —
from Paris to Barcelona to Guangzhou — is that almost no one wears a
helmet, and there is no pressure to do so. In the United States the
notion that bike helmets promote health and safety by preventing head
injuries is taken as pretty near God’s truth. Un-helmeted cyclists are
regarded as irresponsible, like people who smoke. Cities are aggressive
in helmet promotion...'Pushing helmets really kills cycling and
bike-sharing in particular because it promotes a sense of danger that
just isn’t justified — in fact, cycling has many health benefits,' says
Piet de Jong, a professor in the department of applied finance and
actuarial studies at Macquarie University in Sydney. He studied the
issue with mathematical modeling, and concludes that the benefits may
outweigh the risks by 20 to 1. He adds: 'Statistically, if we wear
helmets for cycling, maybe we should wear helmets when we climb ladders
or get into a bath, because there are lots more injuries during those
activities.'" [Elisabeth Rosenthal, NYT op-ed]
I like the comments part of the article. The idiot parade is in full swing. The claim is not that (1) wearing a helmet is a bad idea, or that (2) wearing a helmet should be illegal. The claim is that the statistical risks are in line with wearing a helmet when you brush your teeth. People slip and fall in the bathroom, sometimes, and hit their heads. Not very often. And the survivable accidents on bikes where a helmet matters are statistically rare.
Now I fully expect some goofball to comment and say, "A helmet saved the life of my cousin's stepdaughter!" Yes. And your dad should have worn a condom.
(Nod to Kevin Lewis, who likely wears a helmet when he brushes his teeth)
I can't imagine riding a bike like that. Literally cannot imagine doing it, or wanting to. I mean, just read this. Or this, a fixie in action (though, if he didn't see her, not sure why the lack of brakes is a problem...)
Not for me. Proving (as if proof were required) that I am NOT a hipster. This is not exactly a "stop the presses" announcement, I realize.
Stanley Milgrom used guys with white coats. But it turns out all he needed was a cute blonde.
As one of the commenters says: "Good lord, are men ever stupid."
The earlier video is perhaps more disturbing. Actually, it just IS more disturbing.
What's disturbing is that I wonder if I would have treated the white kid and the black kid the same. I'm not sure. Just not sure. Disturbing.
UPDATE: A commenter asks, "Isn't this just statistical discrimination?"
"Just statistical discrimination"? Um...yes. But the point is that I knew what was going on, and I *still* found myself watching the black kid and getting madder, thinking, "It looks like he's stealing that bike."
Racism is persisting in a biased race-based belief even when evidence to the contrary is clear and convincing. I knew the trick, but I still was watching the black kid and getting mad.
When I was at Wash U, with Angus in grad school, sharing our office with Steve from "Day-ton," I went out on night late to ride my bike home. I saw a black kid sitting beside my bike, and immediately thought, "Is he stealing my bike?" In my defense, it was 3 a.m., and an odd time to be just sitting beside a bike in a parking area.
But I thought, don't be an asshat racist. Just go over there. As I walked up, he tried to hide the bolt cutters under his leg, and struck up a conversation. I asked if he had seen any really big rats around, since something had chewed the cable on my bike lock nearly through.
He jumped up, took his bolt-cutters, and sauntered off, whistling.
I reported the attempted theft. The Wash U po-po was all excited, "We know that guy." (My description had been, "Black guy, medium height, orange shirt.")
Next day, they called me in to do a photo line-up. Nine photos. Now, I am not making this up, people. Of the nine, four of the photos were of white guys. Of the remaining five, four were black and white photos. The remaining one was in color. The color was...orange. It was a black guy with an orange shirt.
I am ashamed to admit I went through with it, pointing out ("j'accuse!") the one color photo guy. The local Dick Tracies were VERY excited; "That's the one, all right, that's him, yepper!"
They told me he would be charged, and I would be called as a witness. But apparently when they called St Louis police to do the arrest, the kid ran. He ran out into a street, and was hit by a taxi. He died the next day.
The point is that I have some baggage here, on the whole black kid stealing a bike with bolt cutters thing. "Just statistical discrimination?" It is unjust statistical discrimination, I'm afraid.
