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Motorcycle subculture in America

According to Shelby, black solidarity is advocated due to the level of racism that the group faces in the United States.  Solidarity in the given context is the process of black Americans uniting to fight racism on their personal and collective experience. This solidarity of the blacks has been the foundation of the black nationalism (Shelby 23). He explores how the quest for black solidarity has been pursued from ancient times to the present time. He lightly notes that black solidarity is the solution to racism and the prevalent white supremacy. He contends that the notion that underlies black solidarity is their collective identity. Shelby also critiques the notion underlying the black nationalism based on a black collective identity as the basis for black identity.

He notes that the calls for black collective identity are doomed to fail in this era of post-civil rights. The main evident reason behind this is to ensure that it due to the presence of a diversity of various political and other social opinions in black community. The diversity brings about various ways of being black. The call to collective identity masks and conceals these differences. They all agree on the need to end racism but differ on the availability of a black identity. Shelby thinks that a more pragmatic approach called the pragmatic nationalism is more reasonable. He points that individuals should only draw look at the impact has on the individual lives of blacks, thus rallying for black solidarity in a manner that accommodates all. He contends that both the blacks and non-blacks can support this pragmatic nationalism because it does not present any of the problems based on collective identity. Thus, individuals who feel that they are in need of ending racism and injustices can collaborate with other individuals who are like-minded without feeling the pressure of a need to adhere to a form of collective identity.

He believes that solidarity that is built on some form of collective identity can be viewed as illiberal. He goes along the line to discuss that person who push for collective identity on conceptions of most black’s solidarity is often disrespectful to the blacks who may think along different ideological lines about them being black (Sylvan, 345). Thus, this collective identity view is illiberal. He is in dire need of presenting nationalism that respects the traditional liberal traditions. Blacks that have different political persuasions could collaborate to end racism and the injustices seen. He identifies that African Americans should feel free to choose how they identify themselves.

He points out that they should also be allowed to choose how they relate and view their relationships with other black African Americans and the larger community of non-African communities. In this context, he sidelines the context of individuals such as Appiah and outlaws the concept about the value of retaining racism. For him, whether an individual views himself or herself as racist or not is not an issue if they are committed to the racial equality plus their social justice. This is true since most persons who are deemed African Americans do not want their own country whether in America or outside its mass. Since their own goal is living in peace and having a productive life, their role should be in making race play a less role in the lives of the African Americans.

The main debatable issue here is whether there is an underlying role of racism in history of black Americans at this period of post-colonial era. An argument is possible that Shelby is arguing that the initial barriers present that prevented most of the African Americans from enjoying their overall freedom has been eliminated (Hayes 134). The present political and even the social climate demands for a change of the previous political strategies in place to eliminate racism. While the conception of a collective identity of individuals being black or not may have faced prior justifications in the past due to the levels of legislation passed, the social and political climates in place now allows for reassessing the current perceived understanding of the ongoing collective identity on black solidarity.

In the past era of post-civil rights, the appeal of collective identity separates the blacks more than it does unite them. However, Shelby is correct in identifying that there are various many ways of individuals identifying themselves as blacks. The concept of individuals pushing for collective identity may result into alienation of those individuals who are committed to liberation of the blacks. These alienated individuals of the black dynasty view collective identity as having, many confining rules, and regulations that individuals are supposed to abide with. He thinks that without trying to bring out the issues of collective identity, it would be easier to form good working relations that are past the ideologies formed by the individuals willing to find collective identity in their relationships.

Individual blacks can still find better means of relating with each other even without having to abide by various set rules and regulations. The idea of black community is also difficult in this situation given that Shelby argues against people identifying with similar behavioral ethics or code of conduct. If individuals were aware that to bring change to their lives, they have to share similar fears and beliefs about them being black, then they would rather not solve the underlying issues of racism and ethnicity that emerge. The reason is that these blacks are diversified individuals with different modes of thinking and different behavioral patterns. So telling them to behave in a certain way so that they can fit in would be difficult for them to conform with. Shelby believes that ending racism is the aspect of all blacks and doing away with racial boundaries is something that all blacks should do.

Motorcycling subculture

It was a culture that was established back after world war two into the current cultures of individuals living in America (Stich 100). The members of this subculture are mostly the African Americans who are bound together by solidarity of being blacks. They are in dire need of fighting the aspect of racism that faces them in the United States. Though the level of racism has declined now comparing to how it was in the past during the formation of the sub-culture in the 1950s, they are involved in various activities that describe their solidarity. These members come together with their bikes to bond together and assist each member in the event of any problems arising. These members of the motorcycle sub culture are associated with engaging in high-risk motorcycle racing. Though this kind of racing is dangerous, members identify with each other through these kinds of racing.

A few non-African Americans are settling down and joining these subcultures and they are even seen attending functions of these individuals. Women are also joining the brotherhood of bikers. After years of feminists’ progress in the larger society, some of the females are playing subordinate roles in the motorcycle subculture. Other women have become full-fledged of the American sub-cultures participating in all the events recorded in the sub-cultures. Though the motorcycle subculture is regarded as an outlaw in America because they are not in the American Motorcycle clubs and do not adhere to the rules set.

The sub-culture has their own laws, which members have to follow for their own good. Some members of this sub culture have engaged in creation of motorcycle clubs, which are viewed, as outlawed. Though most of the individuals in the outlawed motorcycle clubs do not engage in criminal activities, others do peddle drugs and engage in criminal activities. To them, solidarity is important, they come together to fight cases of shunning by various members of the community who view them as criminals. They also come together to help each other in times of needs. Such individuals identify themselves by adorning a motorcycle vest with large specifications of the club, which can be either a specific patch or patches. They engage in collective identity when it comes to finding solutions to the problems facing them.

The organization of this subculture differs according to the typical organization of the members. The members of these sub-cultures are not criminals pa se. they adopt similar codes of doing their activities including charity events. In accordance with the aspect of diversity, such members share similar views and fears. They have to abide by the set rules and regulation of the sub-culture else, they seize becoming members. It is not difficult to spot members of different groups of the sub-culture due to the various forms of clothing that they adorn according to the specifications of the specific group of the subculture.

Various groups of the motorcycle sub-culture including the motorcycle club and the biker gangs relate to the initial group for which they are part by the aspect of all of them being participating in various events of the cycling. All their functions must have some motorcycle activity else, they will not feel fulfilled. Thus, in accordance with the considerations of Shelby, the groups forming the sub culture are organized have their group identity that they identify with. It is important for members to follow the recommended and set laws thus enabling them to be in a better understanding of the requirements of the group.

In some instances, some of the groups in the motorcycle sub culture engage in criminal activities besides their main connection of bike riding. Most of them even maintain a website where they identify themselves through possession of tattoos and patches, they have written their own constitution and trademarks and their clubs have names and logos. Most of these groups also have public campaigns aimed at cleansing their public image. What makes such groups that engage in criminal activities different from the mafia is that they do not use violence and crimes in the pursuit of profits unlike the mafias. Their priorities are reversed and they indicate that the acts of mayhem and also lawlessness is important in living. Such are the members who ruin the name of all other individuals in the motorcycle sub culture.

Due to the lawlessness of these few groups in the subculture of motorcycles, most individuals view all the groups in this subculture as lawless. Moreover, because most of these groups engage in the acts of charity works or other helping activities to their members and also fight for the rights of its members in the larger society, their activities are viewed as lawless and they can sometimes be apprehended for conducting their activists’ activities in public. Like in the case of solidarity that Shelby identifies with, these members come together in various aspects of the society when called for. They live in such unity such that a member cannot be having problems and they fail to come in and help. Moreover, they are supposed to abide by the set rules and code of conduct in all they do despite the current situation facing them. Most individuals point out that such groups are attracted together by the mystique of the images they portray despite the effect such situations have on the members of the public.

A typical group of the motorcycle subculture is often composed of a president, a vice president, treasurer, secretary, a road captain and often an individual who acts as a sergeant at arms. It is common to find such group members adorning similar insignia, organizational structures, and trappings including beards and also leather outfits. Though there are other non-members of such groups who also adorn such outfits and structures, sometimes it becomes difficult for members of the public to tell the difference between the two.

Works Cited

Hayes, Bill. American biker. Birmingham: Flash Productions, 2010.

Shelby, Tommie. We Who Are Dark. Havard: Havard University Press, 2009.

Stich, Sidra. Made in USA . Berkeley: University Of Calfonia, 2007.

Sylvan, Robin. Traces of the spirit. New York: New York University Press, 2009.