Fellow rider gunned down

By Cheryl Stewart.

I feel compelled to write about my personal feelings regarding yesterday's shocking shooting in Arizona. One little-known fact about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was gravely injured in the shooting, is that she loves to ride motorcycles and chairs the House Motorcycle Safety Caucus. It is clear that Rep. Giffords was targeted because of her political views and votes. Like many lawmakers, she had received violent death threats as a result of her votes on health care legislation and immigration issues. Like many Americans, I abhor the increasingly violent rhetoric promoted by politicized fringe groups and irresponsible individuals. I feel that these frightening groups and individuals have been provided with a megaphone courtesy of politically motivated 'news' outlets. I couldn't be more convinced that we just witnessed the predictably tragic result of all that irresponsibly violent rhetoric.

 

Unfortunately, there are those in our riding communities that have added more than their share of fuel to the fire. There are those who feel entitled to threaten violence over helmet laws and/or loud pipes legislation, among other contentious topics. This must stop. Can we all please make a point of having reasonable conversations? Can we all please expect and demand rational, adult discourse?

 

It is so easy for riders to fall into the trap of assuming that 'they're all out to get us', 'politicians hate us', 'LEOs are looking for an excuse to harass us'. The Task Force started out with the conviction that we're no more or less misunderstood than any other minority group. The difference is that we've been so busy being resourceful New Yorkers that we haven't bothered to organize ourselves for our own protection. Why did we lose the last legal dedicated two-wheel parking in NYC, (South and Wall Streets), two summers ago? It's been confirmed that there was simply no one from our team present at the planning meeting to insist that our parking be preserved and/or expanded to another area. That meeting happened more than a year prior to the formation of the NYMSTF. Our goal is to be present to speak out at any future meetings that pertain to our rights and special needs.

 

When confronted with an obstacle, successful riders are trained to find a way around it, as are seasoned New Yorkers. Those of us who are both can sometimes generate a double load of resourceful solutions. That means that NY riders sometimes wait for infringements on motorcycling to become untenable before we organize ourselves to defeat them. Can we please stop claiming that 'they're out to get us' when we've barely begun to educate 'them' about our needs? There's just no such thing as a monolithic 'they'. When we talk about an amorphous 'them' we contribute to the atmosphere of paranoia and hatefulness that fosters violent confrontations. Let's apply some of that creative, resourceful thinking to good solutions that benefit all New Yorkers.

 

I wish us all a peaceful New Year. My thoughts remain with the survivors and families of the dead and injured in Arizona.