How Racism Hurts My Bike.

Pardon me if this seems too basic, but racism SUCKS.

I hope that's an obvious thing that does not need much elaboration, but here's what got me going...

To lay the ground work:
I'm of the belief that racism in the United States (and most likely everywhere else...) is institutionalized. I recently had to write a paper for the Theology of Poverty class on where I saw racism in my neighborhood. Let's just say that I had a difficult time keeping it short enough for the paper guidelines. I said that racism isn't something that one really sees as much as it's something that we experience; whether on the top or bottom, and whether we know it's happening or not. My thesis or whatever read... "Racism is not really something that affects or influences life on the West Side, it is life, it is just how things work." I went on to explain several (not all, that'll be an ongoing/potentially lifelong process) of the areas in which I see racism. Today I found another one...

The streets are in lousy shape. Unless it's like a really major street, like Madison, you can expect to find plenty of potholes and cracks that certainly have bottom priority of getting fixed as opposed to some North Side neighborhood. I'm thinking the potholes will be there until the neighborhood is completely gentrified, because then they'll HAVE to fix them (I mean, you can't have white folks driving/parking on potholes!? Can you...?). It was and is the same way around Temple in North Philly. The neighborhood streets that surround campus are all torn up, but on campus they're pretty close to flawless. (For the record, I think Temple does a lousy job of advocating for the neighbors that live around them, and actually contributes to the problems, but that's a whole nother issue.)

I felt this mess in a painfully direct way today. It was the first 70+ degree day in Chicago in 178 days according to the Tribune. This means Jordan rides his bike to work because he couldn't ride in the snow/ice/mayhem all winter. Unfortunately, not only was it crazy windy out, but the street is just all cracked and split everywhere. Try fighting the wind, drivers that ignore/don't care about/loathe you, AND potholes that'll be here longer than me. Let me assure you it was quite the time.

Look. I know that there are potholes everywhere. I know that they're unpleasant everywhere. But I'm willing to bet a large sum of money that I don't actually have access to that the affluent potholes get fixed before they do on the West Side because they're affluent potholes. And that, to say the very least, sucks.

That's not a real bet by the way... (Because I don't have money, not because I'm not sure of what I said. Know what I mean?)

Peace.

P.S. The morning after I typed this, an article was printed in the Chicago Tribune about the allotment of $4.5 million to resurface Lake Shore Drive. Not surprisingly, it runs along the Lake (nice areas). The part where they're concentrating is on the North Side. Noteworthy. Check out the article here.