Black Bike Week
Encyclopedia
Black Bike Week, also called Atlantic Beach Bikefest and Black Bikers Week, is an annual motorcycle rally
at Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
, held on Memorial Day
weekend. It is also sometimes called Black Fill-in-the-Blank Week, because it has evolved to attract many non-motorcycling visitors who come for music, socializing and enjoying the beach. Events include motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals. Called a "a one-of-a-kind event" and "an exhibitionist's paradise" by Jeffrey Gettleman
, Black Bike Week is "all about riding, styling and profiling," in the words of Mayor Irene Armstrong of Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
.
It is the largest African American
motorcycle rally in the US. Attendance has been variously reported as 350,000, 375,000, and as high as 400,000. It is considered the third or fourth largest motorcycle rally in the United States. Around 10–15 percent of motorcyclists in the US are women, while at major African American motorcycle rallies, such as Black Bike Week or the National Bikers Roundup, women make up close to half of participants.
From 1940 until 2008, Myrtle Beach had also hosted a predominantly white
motorcycle rally, called Harley-Davidson
Week, also called the spring Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealer's Association (CHDDA) Rally. The two rallies have run back-to-back in the past, and some have charged city government and local businesses with racial discrimination because of different treatment towards the black rally, citing different traffic rules and levels of policing. In 2002 Black Bike week had 375,000 attendees, versus 200,000 for Harley-Davidson Week of the same year. The city of Myrtle Beach has used new ordinances to push the 2009 and 2010 motorcycle events, both black and white, out of the city, where they have been welcomed by other municipalities and businesses, and bikers still came in spite of the official efforts to discourage them. After the 2010 motorcycle events the South Carolina Supreme Court
overturned the Myrtle Beach city ordinance requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets
, and 4 other ordinances.
"Black Bike Week" can also refer to a side event to the motorcycle rally Daytona Beach Bike Week
at Daytona Beach, Florida
that happens two months earlier, in March. Like the South Carolina event, the Daytona rally also has its origins in racial segregation, when blacks created their own parallel event after being excluded from the main white festival.
, some riding Harley-Davidsons, but also riding many Japanese Hondas, Kawasakis, Suzukis, and Yamahas, which, along with race, distinguished them as riders from the white event's participants who preferred the Harley-Davidsons. During the segregation era
Atlantic Beach was the only beach in the South
where blacks were permitted.
The Black Bike Week rally, originally called the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day BikeFest, was founded in Atlantic Beach by the Flaming Knight Riders motorcycle club in 1980. The first rally drew about 100 participants. Though one reason the Flaming Knight Riders worked with the City of Atlantic Beach to create the event was to make money for the town, it was not actually franchised by Atlantic Beach, and the city did not benefit financially; instead, bikers would, over the years, congregate more and more in Myrtle Beach rather than Atlantic Beach. In 1982 the Flaming Knight Riders was renamed the Carolina Knight Riders motorcycle club.
By the 1990s the event had grown to include the entire greater Myrtle Beach, or Grand Strand
, area. In 2002, Atlantic Beach hired a public relations firm "to make the rest of the country aware of Atlantic Beach, its uniqueness as a predominantly black beach town and its potential as a vacation spot." This was part of a larger effort to promote the motorcycle rally by the Bike Week Task Force, a group of business owners and public officials from around the Grand Strand area.
The white rally dates to May 1940, when a group of Harley-Davidson dealers created The Piedmont Harley-Davidson Dealers Association which became The Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association when South Carolina dealers joined. The group's first event was a ride to Ocean Drive in Myrtle Beach, and included a drag race
and dirt track race
and other festivities. In subsequent years the rally was held in Cherry Grove
, Jacksonville
and Wilmington, North Carolina
before returning to Myrtle Beach. The 2009 event was at New Bern, North Carolina
, and the 2010 rally is planned for the same location, two weeks before Memorial Day weekend.
Custom motorcycle builders, parts suppliers and motorcycle dealers provide a focal point for activities during Bikefest, displaying their wares and using motorcycle stunt shows or other entertainment to attract crowds. Motorcycle clubs coming together and networking is a large part of the activity as well, described by some participants as, "an event to be recognized" where, "clubs came out to rep their colors," and, "mostly just to have fun." Past efforts to centrally organize Bikefest events have failed, with the activity remaining mostly spontaneous. Cruising
and street parties flourish while people dance in the streets, hug, kiss, and hop on the back of strangers' bikes. Vendors sold food, t-shirts, mix CDs, and offered wheelie rides on customized motorcycles. Live entertainment includes nightly gospel and other music, and daily motorcycle stunt shows.
Attendance at the 2010 Bikefest events held in Atlantic Beach appeared to be up over 2009, with greater variety in entertainment, merchandise and services offered. Atlantic Beach Town Manager William Booker said there are more families with children, and that, "We have a lot more going on in terms of vendors this year, including more people who are selling parts and upgrades for bikes, which is something we're really working to get more of. People are literally getting their bikes worked on today, which hasn't happened a lot in the past."
, sued the city of Myrtle Beach and some businesses there for discrimination. The city was accused of abusing traffic law enforcement and of excessive force by the police to harass black bikers. Many businesses closed their doors or cut back their hours during Black Bike Week, and 28 of them, including Red Lobster
and Denny's
were named in the suit. A Baltimore, Maryland police detective who is also a motorcyclist told The New York Times
, "I've seen it myself. When the white bikers come to Myrtle Beach, the town rolls out the red carpet. When the black riders come, they roll it right up." City officials said that the much younger crowd, and nearly double attendance, of Black Bike Week justified the difference in the city's response to the two events.
The pattern of black social and party events growing ever larger in stature and then having the "cops come down hard core", particularly in the Southern United States
has occurred before with Freaknik
in Atlanta, Georgia
, spring break in Biloxi, Mississippi
, and various festivals in New Orleans, Louisiana
, and Virginia Beach, Virginia
. Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride said in 2003 that the Black Bike Week crowds are "bigger and rowdier," although that year the white Harley rally saw eight motorcycle traffic deaths, while the black rally had only three killed in accidents.
In 2006, the NAACP claimed success in concluding every federal discrimination lawsuit they had filed in Myrtle Beach for complaints during bike week events from 1999–2003, against the City of Myrtle Beach, and restaurants that included Damon's Oceanfront and Barefoot Landing, J. Edward's Great Ribs, and Greg Norman's Australian Grill, as well as the Yachtsman Resort Hotel. In a settlement with the city, the police department was required to use the same traffic pattern on the city's main boulevard for Black Bike Week as they did for Harley Bike Week.
From 2005 through 2008 the NAACP carried out "Operation Bike Week Justice" in which a complaint hotline was operated, and teams monitored police treatment of African Americans, and the reaction of local businesses, as well as monitoring traffic patterns. There were two undisclosed settlements with businesses and the NAACP in 2008. Friendly's Ice Cream Corporation
and Myrtle Beach Friends Boulevard LLC was sued in 2008 by the NAACP for closing their indoor area and only offering inferior outdoor service during Black Bike Weeks from 2000–2005.
The Yachtsman Resort Hotel had required Black Bike Week guests to sign a thirty-four rule guest contract, prepay for their hotel bill and show photo ID. The NAACP won a US$ 1.2 million settlement, and in addition to the monetary payment, the hotel agreed to future discounts and a mandate for policy changes including yearly anti-discrimination training for employees.
For the 2010 bike rally, the NAACP continued to monitor police and local businesses for discrimination.
The Myrtle Beach budget to fight lawsuits was $350,000 in 2004, increased from $250,000 to $275,000 in previous years because the city knew it would be defending itself against the NAACP lawsuit.
In anticipation of the 2010 Harley Bike Week rally, a local Harley-Davidson
dealership has said events would still take place for their bike week event, but on a reduced schedule of only 5 days, May 11 to 16, while the web site Myrtle Beach Bike Week, LLC says a full-length rally of May 7–16 will take place. Both sources say there will be no vendors inside the city limits of Myrtle Beach during the Harley Bike Week, and they both encourage attendees to boycott
the city and patronize those communities and businesses outside the city which do support Harley Bike Week.
The Myrtle Beach Convention Center has ceased attempting to find a replacement for the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, which has moved to Hard Rock Park
. The reason for moving The Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association event to New Bern in 2009 was that Myrtle Beach, "passed all these silly laws, they said we ruined their May, so we talked about it and decided to oblige them," said Gene Lummus, former president of the association.
Another proposed rally, a Harley Owners Group
convention, would take place May 18–22, 2010, at North Myrtle Beach
, about 15 miles (24.1 km) up the coast from Myrtle Beach.
overturned a Myrtle Beach city ordinance requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets
, on the grounds that the state law, requiring helmets only for riders under age 21, cannot be preempted by a city ordinance. The court ruled unanimously that in addition to the priority of state law, the local ordinance created undue confusion for motorists, and that the city itself had invalidated their helmet ordinance and some other ordinances also passed to suppress motorcycle rallies, in a subsequent amendment. The ruling took effect immediately, requiring that pending citations be dismissed, the records of those cited under the ordinance be expunged, and all fines collected be returned.
The state Supreme Court had heard arguments on February 3, 2010 in a lawsuit by two groups of plaintiffs seeking to overturn the ordinance. One group of plaintiffs was made up of 49 motorcyclists who had been cited for not wearing helmets in Myrtle Beach. The second plaintiff was the organization Business Owners Organized to Save Tourism (BOOST) along with South Carolina
State Representative Thad Viers
. BOOST's mission includes ending "the practice of ‘selective tourism,’ whereby government entities and/or organizations welcome some individual and group tourists but discourage others." Viers, a Republican
representing Myrtle Beach, said, "There's certain things cities can do, and making up their own traffic laws is not one of them. I believe the law and the constitution are on our side."
During the hearing in February, Justice Don Beatty said to Mike Battle, Myrtle Beach's lawyer, that, "I realize the issue is narrow here, but don’t pretend like we don’t know what’s going on. We read. We all know why the city," passed the ordinances, questioning whether the intent of the law was not to promote safety but rather to curtail motorcycle rallies. Justice Costa Pleicones told Viers that the city's interest in regulating noise, lewd behavior and nuisances was legitimate.
In defense of the ordinance, the city's court filings argued six key points, among them that their helmet law was constitutional and did not contradict the state traffic code. Myrtle Beach's attorney Mike Battle also argued that because the state law was silent on whether adults must wear helmets, only addressing riders under 21, that cities had the freedom to make their own laws with respect to those over 21. Battle also argued that the benefits of the helmet law were greater than the inconvenience.
The ruling prompted speculation that motorcyclists would return to Myrtle Beach in greater numbers. Some motorcycle rally participants immediately booked rooms for the next year, while others vowed never to return to Myrtle Beach, instead favoring businesses outside the city limits.
Motorcycle rally
A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts. Rallies can be large or small, and one-time or recurring. Some rallies are ride-in events, whereas some like the Iron Butt Rally involve days of riding and an actual gathering only at the end of the ride.-North America:Notable annual...
at Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
Atlantic Beach is a small Seaside town in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. Most of the land around the town is annexed into the city of North Myrtle Beach.-Geography:Atlantic Beach is located at ....
, held on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend. It is also sometimes called Black Fill-in-the-Blank Week, because it has evolved to attract many non-motorcycling visitors who come for music, socializing and enjoying the beach. Events include motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals. Called a "a one-of-a-kind event" and "an exhibitionist's paradise" by Jeffrey Gettleman
Jeffrey Gettleman
Jeffrey A. Gettleman is an American journalist who has been the East Africa bureau chief for The New York Times, based in Nairobi, Kenya, since 2006.-Early Life:...
, Black Bike Week is "all about riding, styling and profiling," in the words of Mayor Irene Armstrong of Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
Atlantic Beach is a small Seaside town in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. Most of the land around the town is annexed into the city of North Myrtle Beach.-Geography:Atlantic Beach is located at ....
.
It is the largest African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
motorcycle rally in the US. Attendance has been variously reported as 350,000, 375,000, and as high as 400,000. It is considered the third or fourth largest motorcycle rally in the United States. Around 10–15 percent of motorcyclists in the US are women, while at major African American motorcycle rallies, such as Black Bike Week or the National Bikers Roundup, women make up close to half of participants.
From 1940 until 2008, Myrtle Beach had also hosted a predominantly white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
motorcycle rally, called Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
Week, also called the spring Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealer's Association (CHDDA) Rally. The two rallies have run back-to-back in the past, and some have charged city government and local businesses with racial discrimination because of different treatment towards the black rally, citing different traffic rules and levels of policing. In 2002 Black Bike week had 375,000 attendees, versus 200,000 for Harley-Davidson Week of the same year. The city of Myrtle Beach has used new ordinances to push the 2009 and 2010 motorcycle events, both black and white, out of the city, where they have been welcomed by other municipalities and businesses, and bikers still came in spite of the official efforts to discourage them. After the 2010 motorcycle events the South Carolina Supreme Court
South Carolina Supreme Court
The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.-Selection of Justices:...
overturned the Myrtle Beach city ordinance requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets
Motorcycle helmet
A motorcycle helmet is a type of protective headgear used by motorcycle riders. The primary goal of a motorcycle helmet is motorcycle safety - to protect the rider's head during impact, thus preventing or reducing head injury or saving the rider's life...
, and 4 other ordinances.
"Black Bike Week" can also refer to a side event to the motorcycle rally Daytona Beach Bike Week
Daytona Beach Bike Week
Daytona Beach Bike Week, also called Daytona Bike Week, is a motorcycle event and rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. Approximately 500,000 people make their way to the rally area for the 10-day event. The festivities include motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals...
at Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
that happens two months earlier, in March. Like the South Carolina event, the Daytona rally also has its origins in racial segregation, when blacks created their own parallel event after being excluded from the main white festival.
Origin
During the 1960s and 1970s, many black motorcyclists visited Atlantic Beach, South CarolinaAtlantic Beach, South Carolina
Atlantic Beach is a small Seaside town in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. Most of the land around the town is annexed into the city of North Myrtle Beach.-Geography:Atlantic Beach is located at ....
, some riding Harley-Davidsons, but also riding many Japanese Hondas, Kawasakis, Suzukis, and Yamahas, which, along with race, distinguished them as riders from the white event's participants who preferred the Harley-Davidsons. During the segregation era
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
Atlantic Beach was the only beach in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
where blacks were permitted.
The Black Bike Week rally, originally called the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day BikeFest, was founded in Atlantic Beach by the Flaming Knight Riders motorcycle club in 1980. The first rally drew about 100 participants. Though one reason the Flaming Knight Riders worked with the City of Atlantic Beach to create the event was to make money for the town, it was not actually franchised by Atlantic Beach, and the city did not benefit financially; instead, bikers would, over the years, congregate more and more in Myrtle Beach rather than Atlantic Beach. In 1982 the Flaming Knight Riders was renamed the Carolina Knight Riders motorcycle club.
By the 1990s the event had grown to include the entire greater Myrtle Beach, or Grand Strand
Grand Strand
The Grand Strand refers to a large stretch of beaches on the East Coast of the United States extending from Little River to Georgetown in the U.S. State of South Carolina. It consists of 60+ miles along an essentially uninterrupted arc of beach land, beginning around the Little River and...
, area. In 2002, Atlantic Beach hired a public relations firm "to make the rest of the country aware of Atlantic Beach, its uniqueness as a predominantly black beach town and its potential as a vacation spot." This was part of a larger effort to promote the motorcycle rally by the Bike Week Task Force, a group of business owners and public officials from around the Grand Strand area.
The white rally dates to May 1940, when a group of Harley-Davidson dealers created The Piedmont Harley-Davidson Dealers Association which became The Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association when South Carolina dealers joined. The group's first event was a ride to Ocean Drive in Myrtle Beach, and included a drag race
Motorcycle drag racing
Motorcycle drag racing involves two participants lining up at a dragstrip with a signaled starting line. Upon the starting signal, the riders accelerate down a quarter mile long, two lane, straight paved track where their elapsed time and terminal speed are recorded. The rider to reach the finish...
and dirt track race
Track racing
Track racing is a form of motorcycle racing where teams or individuals race opponents around an oval track. There are differing variants, with each variant racing on a different surface type....
and other festivities. In subsequent years the rally was held in Cherry Grove
Cherry Grove, Columbus County, North Carolina
Cherry Grove is an unincorporated community in southern Columbus County, North Carolina, south of Cerro Gordo, and northwest of Tabor City, on North Carolina Highway 904, at an elevation of 102 feet ....
, Jacksonville
Jacksonville, North Carolina
Jacksonville, North Carolina, is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the population stood at 70,145, which makes Jacksonville the 14th largest city in North Carolina...
and Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
before returning to Myrtle Beach. The 2009 event was at New Bern, North Carolina
New Bern, North Carolina
New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...
, and the 2010 rally is planned for the same location, two weeks before Memorial Day weekend.
Atlantic Beach Bikefest events
The town of Atlantic Beach hosted a street festival title The Atlantic Beach Bikefest, host by NDA Game Entertainment during the Memorial Day Black Bike Week weekend.Custom motorcycle builders, parts suppliers and motorcycle dealers provide a focal point for activities during Bikefest, displaying their wares and using motorcycle stunt shows or other entertainment to attract crowds. Motorcycle clubs coming together and networking is a large part of the activity as well, described by some participants as, "an event to be recognized" where, "clubs came out to rep their colors," and, "mostly just to have fun." Past efforts to centrally organize Bikefest events have failed, with the activity remaining mostly spontaneous. Cruising
Cruising (driving)
Cruising is a social activity that primarily consists of driving a car. Cruising can be an expression of the perceived freedom of possessing a driver's license. Cruising is distinguished from regular driving by the social and recreational nature of the activity, which characterized by an...
and street parties flourish while people dance in the streets, hug, kiss, and hop on the back of strangers' bikes. Vendors sold food, t-shirts, mix CDs, and offered wheelie rides on customized motorcycles. Live entertainment includes nightly gospel and other music, and daily motorcycle stunt shows.
Attendance at the 2010 Bikefest events held in Atlantic Beach appeared to be up over 2009, with greater variety in entertainment, merchandise and services offered. Atlantic Beach Town Manager William Booker said there are more families with children, and that, "We have a lot more going on in terms of vendors this year, including more people who are selling parts and upgrades for bikes, which is something we're really working to get more of. People are literally getting their bikes worked on today, which hasn't happened a lot in the past."
Charges of racial bias
In 2003 a group of black motorcyclists, and the South Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
, sued the city of Myrtle Beach and some businesses there for discrimination. The city was accused of abusing traffic law enforcement and of excessive force by the police to harass black bikers. Many businesses closed their doors or cut back their hours during Black Bike Week, and 28 of them, including Red Lobster
Red Lobster
Red Lobster is a U.S. chain of seafood restaurants. It also operates in Canada, the UAE and Japan . It is aimed at the mid-level "casual dining" segment of the market...
and Denny's
Denny's
Denny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...
were named in the suit. A Baltimore, Maryland police detective who is also a motorcyclist told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, "I've seen it myself. When the white bikers come to Myrtle Beach, the town rolls out the red carpet. When the black riders come, they roll it right up." City officials said that the much younger crowd, and nearly double attendance, of Black Bike Week justified the difference in the city's response to the two events.
The pattern of black social and party events growing ever larger in stature and then having the "cops come down hard core", particularly in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
has occurred before with Freaknik
Freaknik
Freaknik was an annual spring break meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, primarily of students from historically black colleges and universities. Begun in 1982 as a small picnic near the Atlanta University Center, it was initially sponsored by the DC Metro Club and was typically held during the third...
in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, spring break in Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
, and various festivals in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, and Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
. Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride said in 2003 that the Black Bike Week crowds are "bigger and rowdier," although that year the white Harley rally saw eight motorcycle traffic deaths, while the black rally had only three killed in accidents.
In 2006, the NAACP claimed success in concluding every federal discrimination lawsuit they had filed in Myrtle Beach for complaints during bike week events from 1999–2003, against the City of Myrtle Beach, and restaurants that included Damon's Oceanfront and Barefoot Landing, J. Edward's Great Ribs, and Greg Norman's Australian Grill, as well as the Yachtsman Resort Hotel. In a settlement with the city, the police department was required to use the same traffic pattern on the city's main boulevard for Black Bike Week as they did for Harley Bike Week.
From 2005 through 2008 the NAACP carried out "Operation Bike Week Justice" in which a complaint hotline was operated, and teams monitored police treatment of African Americans, and the reaction of local businesses, as well as monitoring traffic patterns. There were two undisclosed settlements with businesses and the NAACP in 2008. Friendly's Ice Cream Corporation
Friendly's
Friendly Ice Cream Corporation is the owner and operator of the Friendly's restaurant chain on the United States' East Coast. Founded in 1935 in Springfield, Massachusetts by brothers Curtis Blake and S. Prestley Blake, 20, their first shop served double-dip cones for 5 cents...
and Myrtle Beach Friends Boulevard LLC was sued in 2008 by the NAACP for closing their indoor area and only offering inferior outdoor service during Black Bike Weeks from 2000–2005.
The Yachtsman Resort Hotel had required Black Bike Week guests to sign a thirty-four rule guest contract, prepay for their hotel bill and show photo ID. The NAACP won a US$ 1.2 million settlement, and in addition to the monetary payment, the hotel agreed to future discounts and a mandate for policy changes including yearly anti-discrimination training for employees.
For the 2010 bike rally, the NAACP continued to monitor police and local businesses for discrimination.
Myrtle Beach ban
In 2008, the Myrtle Beach City Council announced it would no longer host motorcycle rallies, and approved a set of ordinances on September 23, 2008 that attempted to make Black Bike Week impossible. Fifteen laws were passed, restricting muffler noise, requiring helmets within city limits, limiting parking to two bikes per space, restricting loitering in parking lots, and more. In spite of this, Black Bike Week 2009s' attendance was only reduced slightly. Vendors, hotels, biker groups and promoters are attempting to schedule events for Black Bike Week 2010 despite the Myrtle Beach governments' ban.The Myrtle Beach budget to fight lawsuits was $350,000 in 2004, increased from $250,000 to $275,000 in previous years because the city knew it would be defending itself against the NAACP lawsuit.
In anticipation of the 2010 Harley Bike Week rally, a local Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
dealership has said events would still take place for their bike week event, but on a reduced schedule of only 5 days, May 11 to 16, while the web site Myrtle Beach Bike Week, LLC says a full-length rally of May 7–16 will take place. Both sources say there will be no vendors inside the city limits of Myrtle Beach during the Harley Bike Week, and they both encourage attendees to boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
the city and patronize those communities and businesses outside the city which do support Harley Bike Week.
The Myrtle Beach Convention Center has ceased attempting to find a replacement for the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, which has moved to Hard Rock Park
Hard Rock Park
Freestyle Music Park, formerly Hard Rock Park, was a music theme park located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina that opened on April 15, 2008, that temporarily closed on September 24, 2008 due to financial issues, reopened May 23, 2009 under the Freestyle brand, and closed yet again after its 2009...
. The reason for moving The Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association event to New Bern in 2009 was that Myrtle Beach, "passed all these silly laws, they said we ruined their May, so we talked about it and decided to oblige them," said Gene Lummus, former president of the association.
Another proposed rally, a Harley Owners Group
Harley Owners Group
The Harley Owners Group is a sponsored community marketing club, operated by Harley-Davidson for enthusiasts of that brand's motorcycles. The HOG is "the grandaddy of all community-building efforts," serving to promote not just a consumer product, but a lifestyle...
convention, would take place May 18–22, 2010, at North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
North Myrtle Beach is a coastal resort city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. It was created in 1968 from four existing municipalities north of Myrtle Beach, and serves as one of the primary tourist towns along the Grand Strand...
, about 15 miles (24.1 km) up the coast from Myrtle Beach.
Helmet law struck down
On June 8, 2010 the South Carolina Supreme CourtSouth Carolina Supreme Court
The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.-Selection of Justices:...
overturned a Myrtle Beach city ordinance requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets
Motorcycle helmet
A motorcycle helmet is a type of protective headgear used by motorcycle riders. The primary goal of a motorcycle helmet is motorcycle safety - to protect the rider's head during impact, thus preventing or reducing head injury or saving the rider's life...
, on the grounds that the state law, requiring helmets only for riders under age 21, cannot be preempted by a city ordinance. The court ruled unanimously that in addition to the priority of state law, the local ordinance created undue confusion for motorists, and that the city itself had invalidated their helmet ordinance and some other ordinances also passed to suppress motorcycle rallies, in a subsequent amendment. The ruling took effect immediately, requiring that pending citations be dismissed, the records of those cited under the ordinance be expunged, and all fines collected be returned.
The state Supreme Court had heard arguments on February 3, 2010 in a lawsuit by two groups of plaintiffs seeking to overturn the ordinance. One group of plaintiffs was made up of 49 motorcyclists who had been cited for not wearing helmets in Myrtle Beach. The second plaintiff was the organization Business Owners Organized to Save Tourism (BOOST) along with South Carolina
South Carolina House of Representatives
The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the upper house being the South Carolina Senate. It consists of 124 Representatives elected to two year terms at the same time as US Congressional elections...
State Representative Thad Viers
Thad Viers
Thad T. Viers is a Republican South Carolina State Representative for District 68. He lives in Myrtle Beach.-Early life, education, and early political career:...
. BOOST's mission includes ending "the practice of ‘selective tourism,’ whereby government entities and/or organizations welcome some individual and group tourists but discourage others." Viers, a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
representing Myrtle Beach, said, "There's certain things cities can do, and making up their own traffic laws is not one of them. I believe the law and the constitution are on our side."
During the hearing in February, Justice Don Beatty said to Mike Battle, Myrtle Beach's lawyer, that, "I realize the issue is narrow here, but don’t pretend like we don’t know what’s going on. We read. We all know why the city," passed the ordinances, questioning whether the intent of the law was not to promote safety but rather to curtail motorcycle rallies. Justice Costa Pleicones told Viers that the city's interest in regulating noise, lewd behavior and nuisances was legitimate.
In defense of the ordinance, the city's court filings argued six key points, among them that their helmet law was constitutional and did not contradict the state traffic code. Myrtle Beach's attorney Mike Battle also argued that because the state law was silent on whether adults must wear helmets, only addressing riders under 21, that cities had the freedom to make their own laws with respect to those over 21. Battle also argued that the benefits of the helmet law were greater than the inconvenience.
The ruling prompted speculation that motorcyclists would return to Myrtle Beach in greater numbers. Some motorcycle rally participants immediately booked rooms for the next year, while others vowed never to return to Myrtle Beach, instead favoring businesses outside the city limits.
Noise limit faces lawsuit
Tom McGrath the lawyer who won the helmet law case, filed a lawsuit on the behalf of business owners and residents to remove the noise ordinance passed by the Myrtle Beach government in 2009.Myrtle Beach City Council relax noise ordinance
Months after Tom McGrath filed a suit on behalf of business owners and resident against the noise ordinance enacted by the city to push away motorcycle rallies, the Myrtle Beach city council has increase the noise limit. Motor vehicles were limited to a level of 89 decibels while the engine is running at idle speed, now motor vehicles may operate as high as 99 decibel which is more in align with nation standards.External links
- Operation Bike Week Justice at NAACP