feelgood thread about a woman bicyclist vs a car

[sam]

She wins!

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20061027_1.htm

[sunnysmiles]

had this not been an actual incident...

The whole incident occurred in under 10 minutes and drew quite a few spectators. After the foreigner left, the spectators commented: "The Chinese really need to be educated this way!" Dear brother and sister readers, what do you think?

My reaction would be UGH...

The thing is there are several things happening here: 1) that this shit probably happens all the time and it's usually the Chinese that respond to it 2) that when the Chinese respond to it that no one notices 3) that this has never happened before and it was the first time it ever happened and it was just a coincidence that it was a white woman to do this.

I am betting that 1 and 2 are more credible. This shit probably happens all the time, but if it was a poor/elderly/obviously lower-class chinese woman doing the samething no one would 1) report it 2) the car drivers would not listen 3) the comment above would not show up 4) Seriously, this wouldn't be worthy of mention and no one would bother documenting it.

So, at the end of the day - you might think this is a 'good victory' for cyclists and I would just shrug and say "hurrah for another enlightened white person showing the rest of us how to be brave".

Sorry, I'm not feeling particularly chipper about this, the comments on that link didn't help either.

edited to add I'm sure the woman who did this was probably doing it out of her own goodwill and didn't expect any of the attention she got, therefore I applaud her bravery. I am however, commenting on the way the media perpetuates white imperialism. So please - do not misconstrue my pissioffness.

[sam]

I am betting that 1 and 2 are more credible. This shit probably happens all the time, but if it was a poor/elderly/obviously lower-class chinese woman doing the samething no one would 1) report it 2) the car drivers would not listen 3) the comment above would not show up 4) Seriously, this wouldn't be worthy of mention and no one would bother documenting it.

I'm of the mind that it's because the incident was well documented we [interneters] are hearing about it.

[sunnysmiles]

No disrespect to you sam, at ALL, please don't take this otherwise:

I'm of the mind that it's because the incident was well documented we [interneters] are hearing about it

Yes, of course - but I am expressing my concern over the nature of the remarks on that link. Especially:
"The Chinese really need to be educated this way!"

I don't need another example of white supremacism, I get enough of it from all the self-loathing 'pakis' that I know already. In fact, 'civility/ignorance' is an unavoidable discussion that I can't escape from at ANY and EVERY social interaction I have with my 'own'. Just like convincing pro-porn feminists how internalized their stance on porn is - convincing a fellow south asian that their countries aren't filled with ignorant, moronic, uncouth masses is even more of a challenge because globalization is coupled with a heavy technocratic vision in which "TECHNOLOGY = CIVILITY", and of course in this paradigm if you are a poor-ass nation - you ain't ever gonna get no technology.

Sorry - still feeling the burn, not meant to be of any ill will towards you personally, moreso at the comments on that link coupled with my first hand interactions with my primarily (nearly exclusively) south asian friends.

PS - and you know I can't refrain from shooting my mouth off if something bugs the shit outta me! I would feel terribly awful if I didn't comment on this.