Patrick- People of Color represents a more modern or post-modern approach to critically examining issues of Whiteness and how it is used to exert oppression, dominance and power over folks who lack it. A more off-line conversation that I'd love to have if you want to.
I found for myself that I had to stop identifying as a bike commuter many years ago as I got into a heated blog-comment war with the writers and commenters on Commute By Bike or BikeCommuters or some such blog when I brought this up. Their approach was that cyclists "make a choice" or "care about their bike" or somesuch thing that was intentionally excluding those folks who didn't look like, sound like and ride like themselves. This exclusionary principle is rooted in an idea of "othering" those who you don't want to be associated with. The conversation around the prices of objects reminds me of this post I found on PutThisOn recently about the price of a $100 sneake <http://putthison.com/post/145215317323/what-does-it-cost-to-make-a-running-shoe-fashion> r. On a pair of $100 running shoes, Solereview estimates Nike is profiting ~$5 per sale. $22 goes to producing the sneakers, then another $23 for shipping, marketing, and miscellaneous overhead. That leaves about a 10% profit on a $50 wholesale price for Nike. And the retailer? Ostensibly, there’s a $50 profit margin, but once you account for business expenses and discounts, they only do a little better at $6 per sale (largely because they’re giving up 25% off-the-bat for markdowns). On the Adidas side, margins are even thinner. Lesson: it’s hard to make money selling $100-200 sneakers made abroad. I don't know how to lower the cost of commodities and keep people buying and producing them adequately compensated. It seems like a lose/win or win/lose situation no matter what in our current system. -Justin On Friday, June 3, 2016 at 7:57:44 AM UTC-7, Patrick Moore wrote: > > I've lived in ABQ for over 27 years, and I've looked behind many > restaurants and been out on the streets very often before 8 am, and no, > around here you don't see many Hispanics (because that's who we are talking > about) riding bikes to work. Most of the local riders-by-need, as opposed > to the local riders-by-choice, are working teenagers, or college students, > and the working teens very soon seem to graduate to automobiles -- at > least, you see very few working class adults of any race riding bikes to > work. The other ride-by-need group are down and outers, but they are an > exception: most seem to prefer to walk -- they gather on 4th street just > south of I-40, a route I often drive. > > (Note: the local Hispanics are of two groups: those whose families came up > from Mexico in the 17th and 18th centuries, who are the majority, and > recent immigrants, most of whom are from countries south of Mexico. There > is a big distinction here, at least in the minds of the first group.) > > I daresay that in LA, for example, things may be different, with recent > immigrants from impoverished backgrounds arriving in a much more expensive > economy. But here, at any rate, as I said, most cyclists are middle class > riders who ride because (apparently) they want to ride. > > "People of color" seems to me to be a condescending cop-out. Northern > Europeans are colored -- a sort of pale reddish white. I prefer the terms > Black, Hispanic, Asian, White, and so forth. > > Speaking of "ethnics" on bikes -- condescending term; "ethnic" to whom? -- > this is very interesting: > > http://www.thursdaybicycles.com/bicycle_frames/sheep_herding.html > > The backstory: > > http://www.63xc.com/thursday/muttonmaster.htm > > This is set in an area I lived in or near for 4-5 years. Now there's an > ethnic bike! > > Patrick Moore, whose mixed-race heritage (my mother came from the group > whom William Howard Taft called "our little brown brothers")and years of > living in Asia and Africa make him rather immune to certain modern > anxieties or pieties. > > > On Fri, Jun 3, 2016 at 8:38 AM, masmojo <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> Well, maybe in New Mexico the commuters are white, middle class or >> whatever. I don't live there so I won't second guess you, but I seriously >> doubt it's any different than here. >> I will say that white middle class commuters are probably more visible. >> You don't see the others, because by the time you are going to work their >> bikes are already parked @ their job. Today on my way to work I noticed two >> dept. store bikes parked @ a construction site and 2 more parked at the On >> the Border restaurant just down the street. If you want to see the REAL >> commuters you have to be out around 7 in the morning or 8 at night! >> Otherwise, just take a look behind your favorite restaurant the next time >> you are out! >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> <javascript:>. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > > > -- > Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews. > By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. > Other professional writing services. > http://www.resumespecialties.com/ > www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/ > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Vereinigte Staaten > ************************************************************************** > ************** > *The point which is the pivot of the norm is the motionless center of a > circumference on the contours of which all conditions, distinctions, and > individualities revolve. *Chuang Tzu > > *Stat crux dum volvitur orbis.* *(The cross stands motionless while the > world revolves.) *Carthusian motto > > *It is *we *who change; *He* remains the same.* Eckhart > > *Kinei hos eromenon.* (*It moves [all things] as the beloved.) *Aristotle > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
