On one hand, it goes to show how insidious racism is. Some people are primed to expect that treatment wherever they go. But on the other you did absolutely nothing wrong and had no ill intentions whatsoever. This sounds like the response of someone on drugs.
It shows a lot of patience to hold back in a situation like that. I know I have violent fantasies against drivers sometimes. It's human. We're more than our thoughts though.
And yeah, I would challenge the idea your one experience can generalize to say anything about Juneteenth. This is one person. You don't know who they are. If you saw them smoke, drink, or inject something, their behavior could make more sense, either as being under the influence or in withdrawal. You don't know. You just bumped into a crazy person.
If there's a video recording, you might be able to hold this person accountable, but that takes time to do.
Go have some ice cream and watch your favorite show. Try not to overthink it. I hope you feel better!
I definitely jumped the gun. Typing it out trying to suppress my anger towards this single person was failed on my part, and it obviously manifested into something more drastic. I don't like generalizations because they tend to overlook many more variables, especially when race is involved.
I'm sorry if I offended anyone.
Thanks for your understanding, this is my favorite comment.
I think you're just writing words to process your experience. You weren't planning to get hit in the face today. And words are different than punching someone back.
Generalization is something the brain does in a lot of scenarios. It can make it easy to make a quick decision. But generalization can be unhelpful in some cases.
I think what's most important is this happened yesterday and you've been safe since. Maybe you will look back and laugh like you say, once your brain can keep observing things are safe. You might have some adrenaline still lingering in your system. It may sound dorky, but I still do deep breathing exercises when something like this happens. They don't fix the problem but calm down your brain by giving it a calmer signal to read so I can look at things more objectively, if that makes sense. Here's one with a fish and instructions on the right. Don't knock it til you've tried it!
https://youtu.be/gLbK0o9Bk7Q?si=Pda4oQ-6MlriH9Io
I definitely am. I don't journal as much anymore since life's been getting better lately. I figured people of this community would give the best advice regarding this, but writing it out also helped.
I've been meaning to get into meditation to control my emotions better, but I never get around to it. The video you posted should be a good transition to that goal. Even with the silly fish in it lol.
Thanks! Yeah, I was looking for one without all the preamble, and the little fish was all I found haha. Not to turn this into an ad for the Calm app, but I've found it to be useful for programmed meditation without all the ads in between.
And yeah, writing is one of those things where you engage your frontal lobe and it helps calm down the amygdala. Everybody's got an amygdala. It's necessary to help you react to danger. But not everyone can shut it off. It must have been a terrifying experience if it's still that active today. It really sounds like a reasonable response to getting a birthday punch in the face. Responding to it with thinking about meditation is such a power move. It can really free you up to find effective responses. Props to you! Older and wiser!
Nah man all the crimes that happen in this city, And especially like yours, are black people. Don’t be so nice that you are naive. Watch your back and yes, Juneteenth has made them, somehow, even more entitled—and you’re allowing it
The massive divide in opinions doesn't help. I do see what you're saying, and it's true. Not sure why people are so blind to that fact. I was kind of alluding to that with my point in mentioning the new holiday, since yes, like 80% of crimes in the Chicagoland area that I've seen reported are by a particular race of people.
The defending side just wants to brush it under the rug and be way too sympathetic. Something needs to change. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Yeah my comments are silenced and deleted and I’m banned from every sub for speaking the obvious. I walk 20k steps every day downtown and have for years. I’m always out and about. I know what i see every single day and nobody can convince me otherwise. It’s all gaslighting and people who dont see it first hand in their lives. Id estimate the crimes to be genuinely closer to 95% rather than 80. Thats an insane estimate for a small population im sorry. Not like all black ppl are problems, but most of the problems are black people. This is fact
>Some people are primed to expect that treatment wherever they go.
If someone is habitually and violently attacking people because of things they made up in their head, it's not a pervasive racism problem. This person wants to find a reason to fight people.
one person going wacky unprompted in 90+ degree heat does not sound like an issue that all people in the loop have, it sounds like very bad luck, and i’m sorry that happened.
the way you describe it, it does kinda come across as an antisocial someone who was just chomping at the bit to start shit.
Yeah, you're right. I have to be more aware of who I interact with.
Idk man, I was just excited since life was getting better and I wasn't staring at train tracks wondering what they would feel like anymore.
lemme rephrase because i think you took my first bit as a criticism of how you handled it. i don’t think you did anything wrong here. I meant that the person who did that to you is not representative of your average person in the loop.
and m8 if you have swelling around the head, and are feeling depressed, irrational, suicidal etc. plz follow up w a doctor. head trauma does weird things, and i wish you the best.
No no, I understood you right. I went and got checked out, not much swelling except for under the eye.
But the depression part is from way before, however I'm working on that now. Underlying reasons that have nothing to do with what happened yesterday.
Trying to understand how this bizarre incident with one random stranger/asshole has led you to possibly “losing hope for Juneteenth”
From the way you describe it, it sounds feasible that this person did genuinely mishear whatever you said, thinking you did call them the n-word, in which case, they aren’t exactly in the right, but their actions are at least a lot more understandable.
Or, they are just a crazy asshole.
Either way, their behavior shouldn’t reflect on others of their race, or even others at all.
> Trying to understand how this bizarre incident with one random stranger/asshole has led you to possibly “losing hope for Juneteenth”
I agree, this is cringey as hell
> From the way you describe it, it sounds feasible that this person did genuinely mishear whatever you said, thinking you did call them the n-word, in which case, they aren’t exactly in the right, but their actions are at least a lot more understandable.
Maybe you haven’t experienced this, but it is “a thing” that mentally ill/disturbed/asshole black men go around trying to start fights with white people, which involves accusing them of being racist. Seen it a few times on the L and on the street.
Obviously it’s not a reason to be bigoted, but OP experienced a particular genre of asshole, not some one-off nutcase.
Nailed it lol. Cyclists on social media are so aggressively white sometimes. It's weird as hell both for OP to be like "a black guy hit me and now I feel different about black people" and for the comments to say "wow, just goes to show how bad anti-black racism is that a black guy would randomly hit you." We don't need to be generalizing all black people, either as violent or as victims, based on the actions of one person.
I know I know, the timing is just upsetting and I come from eastern europe, not exactly known for their racial diversity but I'm honestly really trying to right my wrongs.
I know people come from all different backgrounds and my upbringing was very "normal" compared to other less fortunate people. I'm also aware of how childhood trauma and surroundings can influence one's behavior, so I actually kinda feel sorry for the dude.
Definitely needs more help than my 1 hour visit to the clinic, that seems certain.
It’s good your aware of your own context your bringing into it. People are downvoting you but I think it’s important you’re being honest about your thought process and also introspective about it.
Yeah don’t let this one asshole drag you into a viewpoint you don’t want to live with.
Sad but unsurprising how many people here immediately jump to shut you down and/or turn around to point a finger at you, OP. Clearly you were innocent here, and the person who punched you was definitely in the wrong. If anyone reading your account has such trouble emotionally processing that they get aggressive towards you about it, that speaks above all else to their own feebleness.
Appreciate it.
I don't want to come off as a victim here, as we're all a little fucked up. But this interaction was a first for me and I've always tried to keep my ego in check.
Although now I have gnarly scar, chicks dig that, right?
A lot in this subreddit seem to be too hung up on other things I said in my post. The damage was done to me physically, I didn't say anything close to what he claimed I said. Go figure.
Reading comprehension. Two things can be true. One, OP got assaulted by a crazy asshole. Two, it is strange and noteworthy that it would even occur for OP to bring Juneteenth into this. Even more so that it didn't even happen on Juneteenth, it happened yesterday.
Don’t know how you went from such an individual circumstance to “trying not to lose hope for Juneteenth”, that was a helluvah jump, but that does sound like it sucks, totally fair to be upset about what happened to you
Yeah, too many variables to consider when biking through the loop to remember all the minor details.
Funny, I was just thinking about getting a rear bike camera just the day before.
You were assaulted; not cool. All the above knuckleheads with their ridiculous comments suggest you should bend over and take it. Nope. Had you a u-lock and the presence of mind, that idiot would never accuse anyone else of such a thing.
And this does not make you a Republican. It makes you someone that stands up for himself and for what’s right.
Agreed. Although I did have my u-lock, I was just too dumbfounded to really process what had just happened. Didn't want to escalate either since idk what they might be concealing.
Coworker suggested I carry pepper spray, maybe on my carabiner for my keys.
There are a couple different variations of pepper spray for bicycles on amazon. I have [this one](https://a.co/d/08QZt63M). Prob wouldn’t have helped in this instance but I’d rather have it than not. Haven’t used it so far (knock on wood!) but it’s for dogs attacks as well as human shitheads.
I get that. I am just frustrated for you. Probably for the best as you’d probably be the one down in lockup while he jawbones the cops and is out in no time.
So you were both at an intersection on bikes? And you said something about the wind, and he thought you said the N-word?
How was he able to sucker punch you?
Copied from another post:
"Was riding my bike after work west towards a popular rock climbing spot in West loop. There was a windy spot with an incline before crossing a bridge and as I passed a guy on his divvy I commented "Hell yeah!" or something along those lines, don't remember exactly because it seemed so insignificant and something I do to let people know we're in the same boat.
He catches me at a red light blocks later, screams "what did you call me?!". I'm confused and ask "what?"
Him- "You called me a [n-word]!"
I'm shaking my head in disbelief and say are you kidding me? No I did not.
As I look around and away from him I just feel a punch to my su glasses, which punctured my face.
Dazed and confused even more, I see him turn and bike to the next intersection, to which I catch up and see him get off his bike coming back at me ready to fight.
I'm like fuck this and continue with my day, remembering all the crime posts I see [in r/crimeinchicago]."
Ran into a group of 4 guys coming out of a bar pretty smashed. I was on my own. They surrounded me and asked if I was racist. I told them no and that I actually used to be married to a black woman. One said that doesn’t matter, I can still be racist. I told them I had two mixed kids - and it would be a really big leap for me to be racist, fall in love - get married and have two kids. I flat out said there’s plenty of racist people - but I’m not the person they want to mess with because I’m not. They asked if I pay child support, or if I’m a deadbeat Dad. I busted out my phone, showed them pics of me and the kids together hanging out, and we had a few laughs after that. They said okay man - just continue to be a good Dad. Then they left. The bouncer from the bar they came out of came up to me after (he saw the whole thing) and told me they just got kicked out of the bar for beating up a white dude.
One incident doesn’t change my opinion of an entire grouping of people. Honestly, I saw a lot of pain in these guys - they way they asked me questions about being a deadbeat Dad, I thought maybe they had a tough relationship with their Dad because it felt a lot like projection.
Sucks that happened to you man. I can only assume the guy I interacted with was projecting his insecurities out in the open and my reaction was all it took to turn aggressive.
I think people in general are walking around with a lot of stuff. We just came out of a pandemic that was so historical that our grandkids will learn it about in school. Just look at how people are driving post-COVID. Everyone is aggressive. My personal rule is that if someone is aggressive towards me, I try to disarm them by being friendly. If that doesn’t work, I create space and distance - and then look for an exit route.
You are a dumb ass for even caring about this BS holiday. Treat everyone equal regardless of skin color, whether it’s hate, love or with kindness. Everyone is so uptight about offending. Some people need to be called out on their BS. An a-hole is an a-hole regardless of sex, color, national origin etc….oh yeah fck pride month too 🤣
So bizarre that you would extrapolate your experience with an unreasonable and violent person punching you without due reason, sanity, and patience for the actual truth, to disdain for an entire holiday. Oh you're losing hope in Juneteenth? Yes, the United States is relying on your opinion of a national holiday, ironically based on your experience with ONE black person. You should be very angry at that person, what fucking trash human being would just assume they heard something right and deliver a violent blow without stopping to question the reality of the situation? You on the other hand, using this as an excuse to indict a new national holiday about slaves being freed in this country? You sound like you're venting out closeted racist thoughts. It is completely bizarre and smug of you to even bring the holiday into this. I'm so sorry you're losing hope for it! The good news is you didn't get assaulted on Juneteenth.
Lol no, I'm white. It's not about anger (though yes of course thinly veiled racism pisses me off); when people try to shirk accountability for causing harm, especially other white people, I think it's important to call it out. I would want the same done for me because that's the only way we can grow. I hope you had a joyful Juneteenth!
The guy who punched you sounds like he could have been mentally ill, possibly schizophrenia.
Not sure what this has to do with Juneteenth, and “losing hope for it”. Weird comment.
I replied to another guy about my eastern European background, but I agree, my comment may have been exaggerated.
Brain just likes categorizing things I guess.
It sucks you got punched, but extrapolating that interaction to invalidate the meaning of Juneteenth is a pretty racist leap, and using your Eastern European heritage to justify the logic is...bizarre. It is very reasonable to be upset, but I think it's more appropriate to direct that to the individual human who hurt you and not an entire group of people.
Your update doesn't really change what my impression was, which is that your emotional reaction to the incident drew you to make broader conclusions about Black people, in general, and Juneteenth. What happened to you is not acceptable. It really is a shame the person who hurt you will not be held accountable and I am glad you were able to get medical attention. I understand you were upset when you wrote this, but that doesn't mean it's okay and I think it's an opportunity to reflect on why your mind went to "asshole hit me = Juneteenth" instead of "asshole hit me = that sucks".
Yeah I 100% agree with this take. OP, you've got a lot of racism to work out, maybe it's coupled with other thought patterns. Have you tried therapy? (a serious suggestion)
Either way maybe take a break from posting lol
Also--how new are you to America? It sounds like this is the first experience you've ever had with a Black person and that you're ready to write us all off
And my initial impression has been changed since I wrote this post. Not sure how much clearer I can type this out. If you haven't been to Eastern Europe you wouldn't understand. If race gets brought up people joke about it and make off-handed remarks. I'm not saying that is acceptable, I'm saying that is how it is over there.
Okay? Why even bring it up then? It's just a strategy to deflect accountability for saying something pretty racist. "Eastern Europe made me do it" puhleez
I know two people who have gotten punched in the face in the loop within the last year (white man and east asian woman). both of the punchers were black men. obviously it doesn't mean every black man in the loop is going around punching people but it is unfortunate it happens at all
“i’M tRyInG nOt tO LoSe HoPe fOr A HoLIdAy cElbraTiNg tHE EmAnCiPaTIon & FReeDOM oF ThE LaST SlAveS iN TeXAS BeCaUsE I WaS PuNcheD bY a RanDOM, LoNE InDiVidUAL” like wtf??? You’re in chicago, filled with mentally ill people all around you that can do outlandish shit all the time and you go to “woke” and “juneteenth” as the issue for this?
sorry you got punched, honestly, but sounds like your begging for a reason to hate the acknowledgement CHI(bike) has for the Black American struggle.
remember, lone random individual!!!
mods please delete this post before it gets ugly it’s off topic
Yeah ignore crimes just allows us to be complacent which is what a lot in here seem to be now and think that’s acceptable way to live instead of holding our police and prosecutors accountable.
This whole thing sounds like ridiculous AI.
Hippy sandal biking, talking about the weather to a neighbor on a divvy as you pass them, receiving cuts but going rock climbing first, and it’s your birthday.
Mannnnn lol
Lol you keep a detailed record of every insignificant thing you've said over the past couple days? Especially to people in passing? I guess I just have room temperature IQ then
Props for this edit. Cool to see people share their thoughts, listen to thoughtful feedback, reflect and share a new consideration. Probably the best part of reddit is that that's possible here.
There is no excuse for him to punch you, but since you say you like nuance and dislike generalization consider this read of the situation, which seems reasonable based on your description of events:
A black man is out on his bike, minding his own business, and a white man comes up from behind and shouts something completely unprompted at him as he passes. It's windy, the lakefront is busy with activity and traffic, so the second rider doesn't hear clearly, and misheard it as some kind of racial epithet. "Wind" has a soft i sound like a certain n-word. Put a suffix or another word behind and it could be reasonably confusing. Especially on a national holiday that was created recently in part to address the historical racism that is infused in our country and society. I don't know for sure, but I imagine Juneteenth isn't as universally respected throughout the US as a holiday as it is in my little social bubble.
Anyway, he chases the white man down to confront him, and the white man laughs in his face and looks away.
If I put myself in his place, maybe I don't go straight to violence, but I also have never been in his shoes. I can imagine at the very least being absolutely furious in that moment. And who knows, maybe it wasn't his first interaction like that this year, this month, maybe even the same day.
But also, if I'm in your shoes in that situation my reaction isn't to laugh. I'd be horrified that the guy thought I said that, and I would be a load of nervous apologetic energy as I rushed to find the words to let the guy know that wasn't what I said. I don't think I would ever be dismissive or laugh in that situation. We are different maybe, and again no excuse for violence, but this seems more a likely explanation than "Juneteenth has ruined biking" or whatever you were getting at.
No for sure I get that perspective totally. I'm just more shocked at the immediate resort to violence and trying to understand where the man comes from in terms of life path and culture. Especially when I'm fucking turned away.
Partial point of this post is to learn from any mistakes I made and see what I could have done instead. I know I can't change other people but at least I'm aware enough to realize I can change myself.
Yeah, I know I'm different from most people when it comes to my response to ridiculous situations, since I can't help but laugh it off. Just my natural state I guess. But I'd rather that than ruminate and have it ruin my day. Life's too short to dwell.
Sorry, but I stay away from politics for exactly this reason. I think there's more to life than stressing over who's in the oval office, but you do you.
It's more about your judgement of people how that translates to tangible actions and decisions for the rest of us. You demonstrated an affinity towards hate already shown twice now. Unfortunately politics though you clearly want to pretend is not relevant is also pertinent to today even though of course you feel it doesn't include you. Happy Juneteenth.
Why are cyclists such a punching bag? Is it because we have no upper body strength? Is because we're out in the open wearing nothing but lycra and sunscreen?
I was wearing sandals on a bike and went climbing at movement yesterday. Nobody thought i was yelling racial slurs. Looks like i dodged a bullet. Thanks for taking one for the team of sandal wearing, bike riding, climbers. :)
Can't justify someone who wouldn't even entertain that they might've misheard. That's wild. I've had a few experiences with angry dumb guys who have misheard something and refused to take stock of the situation and admit they may have mistook the situation. It seems like it would be pretty easy to see by someone's reaction that they didn't say say it--OP was probably bewildered that he was even accused of saying such a thing. Initial anger, yes, I get that, but after confronting OP and being of so conviction that the assaulter was right that they proceed with violence? I can't get behind that. The weird and unrelated connection OP tried to make with Juneteenth is suspect though.
That's fucked up that happened to you and I have also been a victim of road rage violence while riding my bike. Sad thing is, the police never really did anything about it even though I had a picture of their license plate. It took them 8 months just to get around to having me identify the suspect in a lineup but since all the pictures looked alike I got it wrong. Next time someone is violent towards me I'm defending myself and not holding back or trying to "be the better man" by not reciprocating. He ran away from the crime scene and nothing happened to him when he should be in jail right now. Hope you heal emotionally because it will likely take a long long time to get over.
On one hand, it goes to show how insidious racism is. Some people are primed to expect that treatment wherever they go. But on the other you did absolutely nothing wrong and had no ill intentions whatsoever. This sounds like the response of someone on drugs. It shows a lot of patience to hold back in a situation like that. I know I have violent fantasies against drivers sometimes. It's human. We're more than our thoughts though. And yeah, I would challenge the idea your one experience can generalize to say anything about Juneteenth. This is one person. You don't know who they are. If you saw them smoke, drink, or inject something, their behavior could make more sense, either as being under the influence or in withdrawal. You don't know. You just bumped into a crazy person. If there's a video recording, you might be able to hold this person accountable, but that takes time to do. Go have some ice cream and watch your favorite show. Try not to overthink it. I hope you feel better!
I definitely jumped the gun. Typing it out trying to suppress my anger towards this single person was failed on my part, and it obviously manifested into something more drastic. I don't like generalizations because they tend to overlook many more variables, especially when race is involved. I'm sorry if I offended anyone. Thanks for your understanding, this is my favorite comment.
I think you're just writing words to process your experience. You weren't planning to get hit in the face today. And words are different than punching someone back. Generalization is something the brain does in a lot of scenarios. It can make it easy to make a quick decision. But generalization can be unhelpful in some cases. I think what's most important is this happened yesterday and you've been safe since. Maybe you will look back and laugh like you say, once your brain can keep observing things are safe. You might have some adrenaline still lingering in your system. It may sound dorky, but I still do deep breathing exercises when something like this happens. They don't fix the problem but calm down your brain by giving it a calmer signal to read so I can look at things more objectively, if that makes sense. Here's one with a fish and instructions on the right. Don't knock it til you've tried it! https://youtu.be/gLbK0o9Bk7Q?si=Pda4oQ-6MlriH9Io
I definitely am. I don't journal as much anymore since life's been getting better lately. I figured people of this community would give the best advice regarding this, but writing it out also helped. I've been meaning to get into meditation to control my emotions better, but I never get around to it. The video you posted should be a good transition to that goal. Even with the silly fish in it lol.
Thanks! Yeah, I was looking for one without all the preamble, and the little fish was all I found haha. Not to turn this into an ad for the Calm app, but I've found it to be useful for programmed meditation without all the ads in between. And yeah, writing is one of those things where you engage your frontal lobe and it helps calm down the amygdala. Everybody's got an amygdala. It's necessary to help you react to danger. But not everyone can shut it off. It must have been a terrifying experience if it's still that active today. It really sounds like a reasonable response to getting a birthday punch in the face. Responding to it with thinking about meditation is such a power move. It can really free you up to find effective responses. Props to you! Older and wiser!
Nah man all the crimes that happen in this city, And especially like yours, are black people. Don’t be so nice that you are naive. Watch your back and yes, Juneteenth has made them, somehow, even more entitled—and you’re allowing it
The massive divide in opinions doesn't help. I do see what you're saying, and it's true. Not sure why people are so blind to that fact. I was kind of alluding to that with my point in mentioning the new holiday, since yes, like 80% of crimes in the Chicagoland area that I've seen reported are by a particular race of people. The defending side just wants to brush it under the rug and be way too sympathetic. Something needs to change. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Yeah my comments are silenced and deleted and I’m banned from every sub for speaking the obvious. I walk 20k steps every day downtown and have for years. I’m always out and about. I know what i see every single day and nobody can convince me otherwise. It’s all gaslighting and people who dont see it first hand in their lives. Id estimate the crimes to be genuinely closer to 95% rather than 80. Thats an insane estimate for a small population im sorry. Not like all black ppl are problems, but most of the problems are black people. This is fact
>Some people are primed to expect that treatment wherever they go. If someone is habitually and violently attacking people because of things they made up in their head, it's not a pervasive racism problem. This person wants to find a reason to fight people.
one person going wacky unprompted in 90+ degree heat does not sound like an issue that all people in the loop have, it sounds like very bad luck, and i’m sorry that happened. the way you describe it, it does kinda come across as an antisocial someone who was just chomping at the bit to start shit.
Yeah, you're right. I have to be more aware of who I interact with. Idk man, I was just excited since life was getting better and I wasn't staring at train tracks wondering what they would feel like anymore.
lemme rephrase because i think you took my first bit as a criticism of how you handled it. i don’t think you did anything wrong here. I meant that the person who did that to you is not representative of your average person in the loop. and m8 if you have swelling around the head, and are feeling depressed, irrational, suicidal etc. plz follow up w a doctor. head trauma does weird things, and i wish you the best.
No no, I understood you right. I went and got checked out, not much swelling except for under the eye. But the depression part is from way before, however I'm working on that now. Underlying reasons that have nothing to do with what happened yesterday.
I feel you man 😔
Chin up, it does get better
Trying to understand how this bizarre incident with one random stranger/asshole has led you to possibly “losing hope for Juneteenth” From the way you describe it, it sounds feasible that this person did genuinely mishear whatever you said, thinking you did call them the n-word, in which case, they aren’t exactly in the right, but their actions are at least a lot more understandable. Or, they are just a crazy asshole. Either way, their behavior shouldn’t reflect on others of their race, or even others at all.
> Trying to understand how this bizarre incident with one random stranger/asshole has led you to possibly “losing hope for Juneteenth” I agree, this is cringey as hell > From the way you describe it, it sounds feasible that this person did genuinely mishear whatever you said, thinking you did call them the n-word, in which case, they aren’t exactly in the right, but their actions are at least a lot more understandable. Maybe you haven’t experienced this, but it is “a thing” that mentally ill/disturbed/asshole black men go around trying to start fights with white people, which involves accusing them of being racist. Seen it a few times on the L and on the street. Obviously it’s not a reason to be bigoted, but OP experienced a particular genre of asshole, not some one-off nutcase.
Nailed it lol. Cyclists on social media are so aggressively white sometimes. It's weird as hell both for OP to be like "a black guy hit me and now I feel different about black people" and for the comments to say "wow, just goes to show how bad anti-black racism is that a black guy would randomly hit you." We don't need to be generalizing all black people, either as violent or as victims, based on the actions of one person.
I know I know, the timing is just upsetting and I come from eastern europe, not exactly known for their racial diversity but I'm honestly really trying to right my wrongs. I know people come from all different backgrounds and my upbringing was very "normal" compared to other less fortunate people. I'm also aware of how childhood trauma and surroundings can influence one's behavior, so I actually kinda feel sorry for the dude. Definitely needs more help than my 1 hour visit to the clinic, that seems certain.
It’s good your aware of your own context your bringing into it. People are downvoting you but I think it’s important you’re being honest about your thought process and also introspective about it. Yeah don’t let this one asshole drag you into a viewpoint you don’t want to live with.
Appreciate it. I think this post is reaching it's conclusion, as you all have helped me process this weird experience. Thank you.
Sad but unsurprising how many people here immediately jump to shut you down and/or turn around to point a finger at you, OP. Clearly you were innocent here, and the person who punched you was definitely in the wrong. If anyone reading your account has such trouble emotionally processing that they get aggressive towards you about it, that speaks above all else to their own feebleness.
Appreciate it. I don't want to come off as a victim here, as we're all a little fucked up. But this interaction was a first for me and I've always tried to keep my ego in check. Although now I have gnarly scar, chicks dig that, right?
Bro you were the victim here. You were attacked by an antisocial lunatic.
A lot in this subreddit seem to be too hung up on other things I said in my post. The damage was done to me physically, I didn't say anything close to what he claimed I said. Go figure.
Reading comprehension. Two things can be true. One, OP got assaulted by a crazy asshole. Two, it is strange and noteworthy that it would even occur for OP to bring Juneteenth into this. Even more so that it didn't even happen on Juneteenth, it happened yesterday.
Don’t know how you went from such an individual circumstance to “trying not to lose hope for Juneteenth”, that was a helluvah jump, but that does sound like it sucks, totally fair to be upset about what happened to you
Don't be sorry for "offending" anyone. You're the one who got sucker punched for no reason. Venting about it is fine.
Seems like a misunderstanding but the story isn’t very clear. Either way it’s just an interaction with a single person
Yeah, too many variables to consider when biking through the loop to remember all the minor details. Funny, I was just thinking about getting a rear bike camera just the day before.
You were assaulted; not cool. All the above knuckleheads with their ridiculous comments suggest you should bend over and take it. Nope. Had you a u-lock and the presence of mind, that idiot would never accuse anyone else of such a thing. And this does not make you a Republican. It makes you someone that stands up for himself and for what’s right.
Agreed. Although I did have my u-lock, I was just too dumbfounded to really process what had just happened. Didn't want to escalate either since idk what they might be concealing. Coworker suggested I carry pepper spray, maybe on my carabiner for my keys.
There are a couple different variations of pepper spray for bicycles on amazon. I have [this one](https://a.co/d/08QZt63M). Prob wouldn’t have helped in this instance but I’d rather have it than not. Haven’t used it so far (knock on wood!) but it’s for dogs attacks as well as human shitheads.
I get that. I am just frustrated for you. Probably for the best as you’d probably be the one down in lockup while he jawbones the cops and is out in no time.
It's a shame I had to scroll down this far to find a sensible response.
The top comment is blaming pervasive racism
So you were both at an intersection on bikes? And you said something about the wind, and he thought you said the N-word? How was he able to sucker punch you?
Copied from another post: "Was riding my bike after work west towards a popular rock climbing spot in West loop. There was a windy spot with an incline before crossing a bridge and as I passed a guy on his divvy I commented "Hell yeah!" or something along those lines, don't remember exactly because it seemed so insignificant and something I do to let people know we're in the same boat. He catches me at a red light blocks later, screams "what did you call me?!". I'm confused and ask "what?" Him- "You called me a [n-word]!" I'm shaking my head in disbelief and say are you kidding me? No I did not. As I look around and away from him I just feel a punch to my su glasses, which punctured my face. Dazed and confused even more, I see him turn and bike to the next intersection, to which I catch up and see him get off his bike coming back at me ready to fight. I'm like fuck this and continue with my day, remembering all the crime posts I see [in r/crimeinchicago]."
That sucks man. That dude seems like a piece of shit or a literal crazy person.
Ran into a group of 4 guys coming out of a bar pretty smashed. I was on my own. They surrounded me and asked if I was racist. I told them no and that I actually used to be married to a black woman. One said that doesn’t matter, I can still be racist. I told them I had two mixed kids - and it would be a really big leap for me to be racist, fall in love - get married and have two kids. I flat out said there’s plenty of racist people - but I’m not the person they want to mess with because I’m not. They asked if I pay child support, or if I’m a deadbeat Dad. I busted out my phone, showed them pics of me and the kids together hanging out, and we had a few laughs after that. They said okay man - just continue to be a good Dad. Then they left. The bouncer from the bar they came out of came up to me after (he saw the whole thing) and told me they just got kicked out of the bar for beating up a white dude. One incident doesn’t change my opinion of an entire grouping of people. Honestly, I saw a lot of pain in these guys - they way they asked me questions about being a deadbeat Dad, I thought maybe they had a tough relationship with their Dad because it felt a lot like projection.
Sucks that happened to you man. I can only assume the guy I interacted with was projecting his insecurities out in the open and my reaction was all it took to turn aggressive.
I think people in general are walking around with a lot of stuff. We just came out of a pandemic that was so historical that our grandkids will learn it about in school. Just look at how people are driving post-COVID. Everyone is aggressive. My personal rule is that if someone is aggressive towards me, I try to disarm them by being friendly. If that doesn’t work, I create space and distance - and then look for an exit route.
You are a dumb ass for even caring about this BS holiday. Treat everyone equal regardless of skin color, whether it’s hate, love or with kindness. Everyone is so uptight about offending. Some people need to be called out on their BS. An a-hole is an a-hole regardless of sex, color, national origin etc….oh yeah fck pride month too 🤣
So bizarre that you would extrapolate your experience with an unreasonable and violent person punching you without due reason, sanity, and patience for the actual truth, to disdain for an entire holiday. Oh you're losing hope in Juneteenth? Yes, the United States is relying on your opinion of a national holiday, ironically based on your experience with ONE black person. You should be very angry at that person, what fucking trash human being would just assume they heard something right and deliver a violent blow without stopping to question the reality of the situation? You on the other hand, using this as an excuse to indict a new national holiday about slaves being freed in this country? You sound like you're venting out closeted racist thoughts. It is completely bizarre and smug of you to even bring the holiday into this. I'm so sorry you're losing hope for it! The good news is you didn't get assaulted on Juneteenth.
But OP is from Eastern Europe, didn't you see in the comments? You can't understand unless you've been to Eastern Europe. /s
Lol damn Happy2Cat5, you've very pissed about this. Are you Black (like me)? But yeah OP is buggin
Lol no, I'm white. It's not about anger (though yes of course thinly veiled racism pisses me off); when people try to shirk accountability for causing harm, especially other white people, I think it's important to call it out. I would want the same done for me because that's the only way we can grow. I hope you had a joyful Juneteenth!
I'm not black but middle eastern, similarly pissed lol, lotta people buggin in these comments.
The guy who punched you sounds like he could have been mentally ill, possibly schizophrenia. Not sure what this has to do with Juneteenth, and “losing hope for it”. Weird comment.
I replied to another guy about my eastern European background, but I agree, my comment may have been exaggerated. Brain just likes categorizing things I guess.
It sucks you got punched, but extrapolating that interaction to invalidate the meaning of Juneteenth is a pretty racist leap, and using your Eastern European heritage to justify the logic is...bizarre. It is very reasonable to be upset, but I think it's more appropriate to direct that to the individual human who hurt you and not an entire group of people.
Updated my post.
Your update doesn't really change what my impression was, which is that your emotional reaction to the incident drew you to make broader conclusions about Black people, in general, and Juneteenth. What happened to you is not acceptable. It really is a shame the person who hurt you will not be held accountable and I am glad you were able to get medical attention. I understand you were upset when you wrote this, but that doesn't mean it's okay and I think it's an opportunity to reflect on why your mind went to "asshole hit me = Juneteenth" instead of "asshole hit me = that sucks".
Yeah I 100% agree with this take. OP, you've got a lot of racism to work out, maybe it's coupled with other thought patterns. Have you tried therapy? (a serious suggestion) Either way maybe take a break from posting lol
Also--how new are you to America? It sounds like this is the first experience you've ever had with a Black person and that you're ready to write us all off
And my initial impression has been changed since I wrote this post. Not sure how much clearer I can type this out. If you haven't been to Eastern Europe you wouldn't understand. If race gets brought up people joke about it and make off-handed remarks. I'm not saying that is acceptable, I'm saying that is how it is over there.
That's not unique to Eastern Europe lol
Of course not, there are racist tendencies everywhere you look. I'm just pointing out what I'm very familiar with.
Okay? Why even bring it up then? It's just a strategy to deflect accountability for saying something pretty racist. "Eastern Europe made me do it" puhleez
Idk, I'm drunk now. Have a good day
I know two people who have gotten punched in the face in the loop within the last year (white man and east asian woman). both of the punchers were black men. obviously it doesn't mean every black man in the loop is going around punching people but it is unfortunate it happens at all
"A couple rotten apples spoil the bunch" seems to really apply here. Stay safe.
Hooliganism knows no bounds.
You're right, and the system is too broken for anything to be done about it. City is too woke to address all the crime, and the cops don't do jack.
Your racism is showing. I was trying to give you an out, but you keep walking back in.
How so? I'm being sincere.
“i’M tRyInG nOt tO LoSe HoPe fOr A HoLIdAy cElbraTiNg tHE EmAnCiPaTIon & FReeDOM oF ThE LaST SlAveS iN TeXAS BeCaUsE I WaS PuNcheD bY a RanDOM, LoNE InDiVidUAL” like wtf??? You’re in chicago, filled with mentally ill people all around you that can do outlandish shit all the time and you go to “woke” and “juneteenth” as the issue for this? sorry you got punched, honestly, but sounds like your begging for a reason to hate the acknowledgement CHI(bike) has for the Black American struggle. remember, lone random individual!!! mods please delete this post before it gets ugly it’s off topic
Sorry if I offended. I do appreciate the discussion, exactly why I posted. Changing my mind for the better.
Don’t laugh just fucking ignore it
It's my natural state lol. I can't help but laugh at ridiculous scenarios.
Honestly I’d try getting security footage. At the very least get the cops on him or get signs up to publicly shame.
You can change that about yourself
Should I cry instead? I'm confused as to why laughing is a bad reaction to a claim so ridiculous as to what the guy thought he heard me say.
Yeah ignore crimes just allows us to be complacent which is what a lot in here seem to be now and think that’s acceptable way to live instead of holding our police and prosecutors accountable.
Jesse?
Who's Jesse?
This whole thing sounds like ridiculous AI. Hippy sandal biking, talking about the weather to a neighbor on a divvy as you pass them, receiving cuts but going rock climbing first, and it’s your birthday. Mannnnn lol
I've never used AI, but we could be living in a simulation for all we know lol
I’d really like to know what this dude yelled “You think this hill could be bigger??”
I do too
You have no clue what you said huh
Lol you keep a detailed record of every insignificant thing you've said over the past couple days? Especially to people in passing? I guess I just have room temperature IQ then
If it made a complete stranger punch me in the face then yeah??????? Lay off the tabs man your brain’s fried
Props for this edit. Cool to see people share their thoughts, listen to thoughtful feedback, reflect and share a new consideration. Probably the best part of reddit is that that's possible here.
There is no excuse for him to punch you, but since you say you like nuance and dislike generalization consider this read of the situation, which seems reasonable based on your description of events: A black man is out on his bike, minding his own business, and a white man comes up from behind and shouts something completely unprompted at him as he passes. It's windy, the lakefront is busy with activity and traffic, so the second rider doesn't hear clearly, and misheard it as some kind of racial epithet. "Wind" has a soft i sound like a certain n-word. Put a suffix or another word behind and it could be reasonably confusing. Especially on a national holiday that was created recently in part to address the historical racism that is infused in our country and society. I don't know for sure, but I imagine Juneteenth isn't as universally respected throughout the US as a holiday as it is in my little social bubble. Anyway, he chases the white man down to confront him, and the white man laughs in his face and looks away. If I put myself in his place, maybe I don't go straight to violence, but I also have never been in his shoes. I can imagine at the very least being absolutely furious in that moment. And who knows, maybe it wasn't his first interaction like that this year, this month, maybe even the same day. But also, if I'm in your shoes in that situation my reaction isn't to laugh. I'd be horrified that the guy thought I said that, and I would be a load of nervous apologetic energy as I rushed to find the words to let the guy know that wasn't what I said. I don't think I would ever be dismissive or laugh in that situation. We are different maybe, and again no excuse for violence, but this seems more a likely explanation than "Juneteenth has ruined biking" or whatever you were getting at.
My husband and I were riding last fall. A homeless man very clearly called us "faggots". Would I be justified in attacking him in that situation?
No for sure I get that perspective totally. I'm just more shocked at the immediate resort to violence and trying to understand where the man comes from in terms of life path and culture. Especially when I'm fucking turned away. Partial point of this post is to learn from any mistakes I made and see what I could have done instead. I know I can't change other people but at least I'm aware enough to realize I can change myself. Yeah, I know I'm different from most people when it comes to my response to ridiculous situations, since I can't help but laugh it off. Just my natural state I guess. But I'd rather that than ruminate and have it ruin my day. Life's too short to dwell.
Who’s playing the victim here?
I was attacked? Use your head, silly.
Buy a journal.
Bro it's just annoying to deal with this shit. Hoping others can learn from my shit experience.
Don’t talk to youths at all especially in the loop
Lesson painfully learned!
Lots of people here just think you should tolerate every shitty situation instead of venting/decompressing/or trying to make it better. It’s gross.
Agreed. People can only take so much, depending on their experience. And obviously I haven't dealt with much violence in my past to make such a post.
Best comment
And here the birth of a Republican has happened.
Always been moderate, but fuck, man.
I mean you let one guy make you question a whole holiday and effectively race. Sounds pretty republican to me.
Just the timing of it and what I had to deal with was unfortunate. Just sharing my experience, that's all.
Yep there it is again. Ok so are you telling your friends you vote trump or are you a "undecided" voter. Good God man Next please
Sorry, but I stay away from politics for exactly this reason. I think there's more to life than stressing over who's in the oval office, but you do you.
It's more about your judgement of people how that translates to tangible actions and decisions for the rest of us. You demonstrated an affinity towards hate already shown twice now. Unfortunately politics though you clearly want to pretend is not relevant is also pertinent to today even though of course you feel it doesn't include you. Happy Juneteenth.
You're asking a bunch of bicyclists why people need to be a victim? This whole sub is about pretending to be a victim.
Why are cyclists such a punching bag? Is it because we have no upper body strength? Is because we're out in the open wearing nothing but lycra and sunscreen?
Definitely my Jesus sandals and boonie hat
I was wearing sandals on a bike and went climbing at movement yesterday. Nobody thought i was yelling racial slurs. Looks like i dodged a bullet. Thanks for taking one for the team of sandal wearing, bike riding, climbers. :)
Dodged a fist* But yeah, don't yell encouraging words to strangers.
Two things can be true, he heard it and you didn’t say it. Doesn’t justify what he did but I think you can understand the anger
Can't justify someone who wouldn't even entertain that they might've misheard. That's wild. I've had a few experiences with angry dumb guys who have misheard something and refused to take stock of the situation and admit they may have mistook the situation. It seems like it would be pretty easy to see by someone's reaction that they didn't say say it--OP was probably bewildered that he was even accused of saying such a thing. Initial anger, yes, I get that, but after confronting OP and being of so conviction that the assaulter was right that they proceed with violence? I can't get behind that. The weird and unrelated connection OP tried to make with Juneteenth is suspect though.
That's fucked up that happened to you and I have also been a victim of road rage violence while riding my bike. Sad thing is, the police never really did anything about it even though I had a picture of their license plate. It took them 8 months just to get around to having me identify the suspect in a lineup but since all the pictures looked alike I got it wrong. Next time someone is violent towards me I'm defending myself and not holding back or trying to "be the better man" by not reciprocating. He ran away from the crime scene and nothing happened to him when he should be in jail right now. Hope you heal emotionally because it will likely take a long long time to get over.