Comments

1

OP honestly you need to check your own level if hate. As a person of color myself I can tell you that your entire post is untrue and your view is you telling yourself a lie. Peace be with you

2

There's a dangerous segregationist and de-integrationalist element in our communities that has a large megaphone so many are to cowardice to call them the racist agitators that they are. Who knows if the OP is even in Portland or if they are in some far away land trying to amplify racial animus in our communities for their own objectives?

3

You can join or start your own naked bike ride. Nobody is stopping you from either.

4

Anyone can come. Everyone is friendly. Is there a problem?

5

Sounds like you have a hard time being comfortable with who you are. You don’t have to be naked on the bike ride, if you are more comfortable you can wear clothes. You should go next time. I feel like it would be really freeing for you. One Love.

6

Its because black people have more common sense than white people. Naked bike ride. Good lord. Those poor bicycle seats!

7

This is one of the most racist posts I've read here, and I wonder why the Mercury allowed it. Replace "white" with any other race and it wouldn't be allowed, I'm sure.

8

And you are going to what, exactly, to make it "better"?

And what is "better"?

Are you going to join in? Apparently anyone can, you know.

Or did you just want to vent your spleen without doing any, you know, good?

9

A naked bike ride is more a statement about bicycling than nudity or skin color. Too many idiot motorists do not believe bicyclists (even idiot bicyclists) have the right to safely ride on city streets.

10

Portland is by latest census data...

Race and Hispanic Origin
White alone 75.3%
Black or African American 5.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone 0.8%
Asian alone, percent(a) 8.7%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.7%
Two or More Races 6.4%
Hispanic or Latino 9.8%
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino 69.5%

This year, KGW estimated 10,000 riders participated in WNBR 2022 in Portland, so you'd at least hope to see about 600 Black or African Americans, almost 1000 Latinx, and 870 Asians. Review of video certainly and quickly supports the OP's observation that these numbers are not present and that the overall ratio of White to other ethnicities is much higher than 70%. But, why?

My wife is Japanese. Not only would she never ride naked (I have, I'm white), she would very much right now feel unsafe doing so (she is generally afraid to leave the house most days because of anti-Asian violence, especially near where we live). I can not extend her situation to deduce the cause of other under-representations, but it does at least make it one possibility that lower attendance by non-white groups could be the result of feeling unwelcome and/or unsafe. This does not, however, exclude other possibilities, including simply lower participation in biking amongst various groups for other, including cultural reasons I can not speculate.

Nonetheless, yes, I DO think that these observations point to an ages-old truth when addressing diversity and inclusion, which is that achieving improvements in this area requires outreach and a very deliberate welcoming. This could be nothing more than placing the starting point and route to focus on historically marginalized communities or even alternate starting times/places that merge with the larger ride, encouraging all neighborhoods to participate, accompanied by flyers, news coverage, etc... to make sure of awareness and creation of an inviting and safe event.

All that said, this is only a microcosm of what all Portlander's know, which is that our legacy of institutionalized discrimination, most recently redlining, still defines neighborhood, poverty, safety, and commerce in our city and that without the hard and ploddingly slow work to fix that... we will remain a city defined by our whiteness.

Really, I think it's just a consideration if you want to live here. Certainly, I wish I had known. I've been shocked to find Portland more segregated and at times overtly and even violently racist than Houston and Austin, where I came from a couple decades ago. It's pretty disappointing and right now, post-CoVID, it seems to be getting only worse as civility itself seems to be eroding everywhere you turn.

To the OP... What we need most is for you to have the courage and leadership to participate, to invite neighbors, form cohorts that will make you all feels safe, but SHOW UP. Whether by invitation or by your own courage, we will only see change when more people like yourself participate, which will likely be a very deliberate act for at least a few years before things normalize to a better place. Thank you!


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