Rat Race Cycles is looking for a new mechanic

Genuine question (slightly off topic) - what does ‘lived experience’ mean? I’ve looked it up but still have never quite found a definition that makes sense to me - isn’t experience just knowledge gained from observing / living through facts and events? What does the ‘lived’ bit add? Isn’t all experience lived?!

To the original poster - no beef with what you’re seeking to achieve, seems like a goal that is certainly coming from a good place.

To be fair it wasn't the best wording.
If it had said "Ideally we're looking for a straight, white male" you guys would have been all over it! 😂

It might be better to say something like "We'd love to receive more applications from female and non-binary candidates, or those who are less represented in this line of work, but we treat everyone as equals so all applicants are welcome".

Just my opinion. 😘

we treat everyone as equals so all applicants are welcome

thats all you need to say really isnt it?

It certainly covers all bases. 😁

Two pages and no ones asked what the hourly rate is just so they can then tear the op apart for ripping people off?
This place has gone to the dogs ;)
@user119690 - get in the bin.

"wokist" ... lol

I was taking bets with myself on how long it'll take for that chestnut to come out.

Mate, maybe look in the mirror and think about the problem inherent in your comment/ thought process. The problem is you assuming that just because a community is diverse / non-white/ religious/ is of African backgrounds will therefore automatically be entirely bigoted or prejudiced against trans on non-binary people. Your generalisation to an entire community is a bit gross, it flattens & dimisses the complexity and diversity of beliefs and opinions in a diverse community. How that's not offensive?

Oh and to your earlier comment, there's no such thing as reverse or anti-white racism. Sure, anti-white (and inter ethnicity) prejudice can & does exist. But that's not the same as racism

Don't forget @iC too, they can also fuck off to the sun.

I assume that lefty, wokist bike shops that hate those poor under-represented white men will be extremist enough pay the london living wage.

Dunno where my comment went or if I didn't post it?

Basically lived experience kinda means impacted by. So for example, I'm white, while I've witnessed racism in action and have made efforts to combat it - inherently I still come from an understanding that structural racism on the by and large benefits me. I can't offer the experience to my POC friends of being able to speak to me knowing I know how it feels to be impacted by it. Inherently my socialisation as a white person has informed my experience, I'm sure I still hold lots of unconscious biases I am yet to uncover, we all do!

Likewise, as a trans person, I can speak to other trans people and they can know that I come from a place where I've had transphobia enacted upon me or I am affected by the rhetoric.

I'm inherently way less likely to hold unconscious biases because I've gone through my daily life noticing these things. It's not a failure of education or efforts to make change for people to notice these things, it comes part in parcel of being able to use your privilege for good.

So say for example, my previous workplace was very trans supportive and most of the team had been making efforts to educate themselves on trans issues and had witnessed transphobia. But it took me coming in as a trans person to go yo! If there's no bins in the men's toilets, it can be harder for trans men to use them. Wasn't a failure on other staff, was just a thing of my lived experience enabled me to bring up these issues as staff to improve the experience of our trans customers.

Really it's recognising that people who live through things have an inherent understanding, whereas people who don't have lived experience may be very aware and proactive, but as our learning comes from others experiences or media, there's points where we may unconsciously not pick up on things, may unconsciously exhibit behaviour which may effect marginalised people.

Pedant alert Isn’t racism defined as discrimination of a person or group based on the colour of their skin? end pedant alert

Not condoning anything user whatever or iC have said, but curious as to what the definition should be?

Thanks for taking the time on that one - super helpful way of explaining!

We’re one of the few Living Wage bike shops in London, and on top of this team members get trade discounts, time and space to work on their own bikes and any other help we can offer. We’re generally closed on Bank Holidays and between Christmas and New Year, and everyone gets four weeks’ holiday on top of these days.

Based for an independent IMO!

Thank you B) honestly took some time of me worming around (working for a union) to figure out the right way to explain that one, for a long time my brain was just "uuuuuhhhh idk hits different when it's you!"

Pedant alert Isn’t racism defined as discrimination of a person or
group based on the colour of their skin? end pedant alert

Yo so basically, the way we understand racism in literal terms can be quite confusing. But really, the way we commonly understand racism is informed by our history and societal and cultural structures which impact people.

So say for example, a POC could say something to me which is shitty towards me based on the fact I am white. Fundamentally, this doesn't come loaded with the understanding that they'd been benefitting from their identity as a POC this entire time, and are looking to uphold that. I go about my day to day life benefitting from being white, a POC doesn't.

Take for example, I don't know, the police system, I do something racist, I know our policing structure inherently will treat me better than any POC. In a reverse situation, the policing system will still be more likely to side with me as a """victim""" of """reverse racism""".

But that's just one example, it's not just policing systems which uphold this, it's everywhere from your white-dominated workplace getting away with never noticing the way they're treating their white staff to your local cycling group where someone might say something racist out-of-hand and not realise they're doing so. We're socialised to view some things as common place and others with no historical backing, but POC have to sit by this everyday.

The way we be anti-racist, isn't about giving everyone the same opportunities and uplifting them. It's about striving to make society an equal state across the board. So like this job, we're going in with the awareness that any candidate whos a white cisgender man is more likely to be accepted into other workplaces, whereas a POC or woman or trans person is inherently got a lesser pool of opportunities.

Anyways 〰︎ I'm not that articulate w explaining this stuff but this article is v good - https://gal-dem.com/reverse-racism-not-exist/

So that's a popular (and i guess basic legal) definition, which is what continues to cause the misguided "that's racist against white people" cos it describes racial prejudice (Which can exist for all racial groups and ethnicities) and that definition (because it's a largely a legal, linguistic one) was largely decided on by white people.

Racism is tied to power, who holds (and historicall held) power and who got to define race and racialise (and conquer) certain groups, as well as design and set in place structures and systems that disadvantage those racialised groups. IIRC it was Reni Eddo-Lodge put forward the equation of Racism = Prejudice + Power.

So racism is the attitudes, culture, designations, structures and systems that historically people in power (white people) put in place benefit themselves and exclude and disadvantage non white people.

I'd strongly recommend reading 'Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race' by Reni Eddo-Lodge. It's a really accessible, brisk read on this topic and i learned a lot from it.

also this is useful:

https://gal-dem.com/reverse-racism-not-exist/

Interesting, thanks. As you say very cultural/societal dependant and context is a huge part of that. All for allyship to support those by not just not doing something, but actively taking action to counter it, so that makes sense.

Very much off topic now for a job ad 😂

Anyways 〰︎ I'm not that articulate w explaining this stuff but this article is v good

Ha! i felt the and posted the same link 🥹😅😂

We’re one of the few Living Wage bike shops in London, and on top of this team members get trade discounts, time and space to work on their own bikes and any other help we can offe

Big props for this and sorry the post got derailed a bit. Will spread the word about the job.

When you finish editing and re-editing fuck off

no he's not, he's a straight white man.

As a brown dude, i find this kinda racist tbh.

Just because you choose not to recognise something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist you thick piece of shit.

Ok, you got told to stop, but you continue to be a disrespectful prick. "i don't recognize xyz" "are terms i do allow" Who the fuck are you? jesus the sheer arrogance, you don't get to dictate this shit.

you may not understand new terms, but they are terms that the people in question are asking you to respect. But you won't cos you're an arsehole.

Those your wrong headed bigotry won't accept that it's possible to be biggoted against are not fucking words or concepts. They are human beings. You're a disrespecting and dehumanising fellow human beings. You're a fucking bigotted prick regardless of what you think of yourself.

Please @Velocio / mods get this dickhead out of here

That doesn't protect you against being told to fuck off.

@Pierre you probably want to close this thread and try again. This thread has derailed.

The advert you want is probably:

Rat Race Cycles is looking for a mechanic with workshop and customer service experience - full details are at https://ratracecycles.com/jobs/

Requirements: Experience as a bike mechanic, experience handling customers.

Ideally you are competent, calm, kind, and great with customers.

We invite candidates from all backgrounds and experiences, if you're not from one of the over-represented groups in this industry then we especially welcome your application. Rat Race Cycles is based in Peckham which is a vibrant and diverse area and we would love to have our customers reflected by our staff.

If you're looking, if you know someone who's thinking of moving on from where they are, or even someone who might be tempted to join us, please do put them in touch.

And the thing you're looking for is "positive action", you can never discriminate based on any of the protected characteristics... but if all things are equal, then you can select the person who is from an under-represented group by characteristic.