Running racism in America thread

Bike Helmets Are Racist


Seattle Bike Helmet Rule Is Dropped Amid Racial Justice Concerns

In Seattle, home to one of the largest populations of bike commuters in the country, officials have overturned a decades-old regulation requiring cyclists to wear helmets because of what they called discriminatory enforcement of the rule against homeless people and people of color.

The King County Board of Health voted to repeal the requirement on Thursday, with only one member opposing the decision to roll back a measure that even critics acknowledge has saved lives.

“The question before us yesterday wasn’t the efficacy of helmets,” said Girmay Zahilay, a board member who is also a member of the King County Council. “The question before us was whether a helmet law that’s enforced by police on balance produces results that outweigh the harm that that law creates.”
…
A separate analysis from Central Seattle Greenways, a safe streets advocacy group, found that Black cyclists were almost four times as likely to receive a citation for violating the helmet requirement as white cyclists. Native American cyclists were just over twice as likely to receive one as white cyclists.

Neither study looked at whether homeless people or people of color wore helmets less frequently than other groups, but the Central Seattle Greenways study did look at racial demographics of cyclists and found that people of color were less likely to ride bikes than white people.

 

Or, too many cops are.

 

Or disproportionate law breaking leads to disproportional enforcement but like most of life, it’s a bit of everything.

 

That’s not at all what the story said, the concerns of Council members was that police were enforcing the law unevenly.

 

It’s a law that is racist because of enforcement not in intent. Disparate impact. A lot of moron cops jacking up black kids because cops are power hungry, simpletons. Bike helmets cost money. So you are enforcing a socioeconomic divide.

but the intent of the law is to save lives. And we as a society have decided that’s not a good enough reason to have laws anymore.

 

No. Society has decided not to give racist cops any more opportunities to exhibit racist behavior.

You do realize these minor violations that are enforced disproportionately against people of color are what lead to the deaths of people of color right? When was the last time you saw a white person with their neck stepped on for 9 mins? Or a white person shot and killed after being cited for jaywalking?

 

I thought the Nutters didn’t like her because she used to be a bartender and didn’t belong in politics?

 

Black people are less likely to ride a bike than white people but are four times more likely to get a ticket for the helmet law. But sure, let’s deflect with an idiotic “helmets are racist” comment.

 

I mean they wuz dressed like they wanted it, with baggy jeans and backward caps. /s

 

This is the most watched man in cable news. It is what the GOP has become.

 

A friend wearing a helmet went over the handlebars, broke his neck and died.