Entry 1: Southwick MX

Photo Courtesy of Steve Giberson, VitalMX.com

This picture (Giberson) is from a recent AMA Motocross Nationals practice in Southwick, Massachusetts. The spectators in this picture are people who were apparently not even motocross fans, but only went to the race to cause a ruckus. Every single time the riders rode by this area they would cheer on them… except for one rider, James Stewart. Every single time James rode by they would flash him a poster with hate words (not seen in this picture), and gave him inappropriate finger gestures. This inappropriate behavior was for James only, and it was used to hate against him. Why? James is black. These spectators could not even appreciate James’ talent, as he is the current Supercross champion, and has immense speed on the track. They were only focusing on his skin color. The worst part about this picture was that James’ Mom and Dad were right behind the spectators (lower left of picture), and heard and saw first hand what these people were saying and doing. When asked why they were acting the way they were towards James, the spectators did not really have an explanation. One even said that he would not care if someone did that to him or one of his relatives.

I chose this picture because I am a big motocross fan. When I read about this, it really upset me that people are so ignorant that they would go this far just to hate on a person. They were not even booing James because he was not their favorite rider, but because of his color. I thought that people would not hate on James because he is so talented, and really dedicated to what he does. But the fact that these people are judging him because of his skin color just shows how much our society still has not grown and progressed. If these people do not like a rider, then they can boo them because that is a part of racing and any other sport. Athletes will always be booed, but do not hate on them because of their skin color because it is just wrong.

One concept that this picture illustrates is from Allan Johnson’s book, Privilege, Power, and Difference: the idea of privilege, “the idea that one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they have done or failed to do” (Johnson 35). The spectators believe that they have something that makes them better than James because of their skin color. They got this privilege maybe because other whites put them in that category, thus making them think that they are superior and James and his family are inferior.

Another idea that this picture illustrates is from “Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination”: “…they (whites) could always look in the mirror and comfort themselves with the fact of being white and therefore elevated above people of color, even those who might have a class position higher than their own” (Johnson 47). The spectators probably thought that because they are white, they had superiority over James, who is black. When whites developed the idea of whiteness, they wanted a very privileged social society that was above everybody else. Over time they used this idea to acquire land, raw materials, and cheap labor. White supremacy has always been a part of society, and it definitely showed in this picture. Maybe these spectators comforted themselves by thinking that they were the best because they were white, and even though they knew that James was talented, it did not matter because James was not white.

I was definitely really surprised when I heard about this incident because it is not something that should be happening in society today. Also, in the world of motocross this type of incident very rarely occurs, so when it became a problem the motocross community was shocked and upset. When Johnson mentions that whites can always look in the mirror and comfort themselves, it confuses me because they make it sound like they are the only superior race in the world. Times have changed and I would have imagined that this type of thinking would have changed, if not omitted. James Stewart is not my favorite rider, and he is not the first person I cheer on when I watch a race. But even so, I do not boo him or make inappropriate remarks towards him or his skin color. I appreciate James’ talent and his abilities to put on a great race for the fans. Anyone that cannot get past his skin color or appreciate the hard work he has put into motocross, do not really understand the sport. I just hope that this type of incident does not happen in the future, and if it does, I hope that other fans will speak up against people similar to the ones in the picture.

Giberson, Steve. "Vital Buzz: Southwick." VitalMX.com. 12 June 2007. 28 June 2007 .

Johnson, Allan G. Privilege, Power, and Difference. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.