Dear CRCA members and the broader cycling community:
With the country in turmoil and institutional failings exposed in every facet of society, none of us can afford to remain silent any longer. We must take a public stand against the continuing incidents of violence perpetrated by police officers against Black citizens, and now even against protesters demanding justice in our own city. The murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police was not a new or isolated incident. We must recognize that these acts of violence occur in the context of a culture of systemic racism, white supremacy and unchecked police brutality dating back centuries in our country.
We also must recognize that the sport of cycling, sanctioned bike racing in particular, has been complicit if not direct and willing participants in these systems of oppression. When I say “the sport of cycling,” I am explicitly referring to our sport’s governing bodies (UCI, USAC, NYSBRA, etc.); industry businesses; event promoters; and individual cyclists, clubs and teams, including CRCA. We all have failed in varying degrees to live up to our “policies of diversity, equity and inclusion” that we so readily prop up to pay lip service when convenient.
It’s worth stating the obvious: no racism or acts of hatred perpetrated against or by any CRCA member will be tolerated. The CRCA Board will take immediate action on reports of any such incidents in accordance with CRCA’s policies and bylaws, up to and including expulsion from the Club and Club events and reports to SafeSport.
Further, it is not acceptable that in one of the most diverse and progressive communities in the country, I can count on one hand the number of Black women in CRCA. We can no longer passively accept that our CRCA Club races lack the Black and Brown faces that we see at other bike races in the city. We need to do better.
We can no longer be satisfied with the status quo. Each one of us within this community must define and commit to concrete plans of action to do the work of anti-racism right now. Each of us needs to throw away preconceived notions of how things have been done and should be done, and start over.
With bike racing cancelled indefinitely for us here in NYC, this is an opportunity for us to put our time and energy into learning from those who have already been doing the work, and to put ideas into action so that we can all come back to a better and truly inclusive community.
As CRCA President, I pledge to work with the Board, our members, and the community, to do the following:
Seek to support local programs engaged in introducing/developing cycling or bike racing in Black and Brown communities.
Pursue sponsor partners specifically looking to support programs designed to grow Black and Brown ridership.
Work with local and regional non-CRCA clubs and organizations to do more proactive outreach to grow Black and Brown representation among our membership, and lower the barriers of entry in our membership model even further.
Call on all CRCA Subteams to look at their rosters and reflect on their recruitment and development practices to determine what they can do to grow Black and Brown ridership.
Provide Spanish language translation to the primary membership/informational pages on our website.
Be open to receiving feedback and suggestions on how we as a Club can do better.
Continue to speak out against racism, violence, injustice and oppression whenever and wherever we see it.
If any members, organizations or businesses would like to get involved or can help make connections, I invite you to please reach out.
No lives matter until Black lives matter. Dismantling systems of white supremacy requires action by each of us and in every facet of our lives, including within our beloved sport of bike racing. I hope that together, we can do the work to build the community that we have been saying we want to see.
Sincerely,
Lucia Deng
CRCA President
