Why does the Dominant club control who wears back patches?
Written By Chuck (Witnesstoo), Bikers For Christ, Elder.

Many  are apparently impressed with how "bad" they are ... there are people like that all over the world. They tend to gravitate together and form groups, gangs ... whatever you want to label them. They can present a real problem in a society such as ours where intervention by law enforcement is an "after the fact" event. Every little batch of a dozen or so "bad bikers" would literally make it hell for "mom & pop" on their Goldwing to go ridin' ... or any citizen and his gal passing through would be at risk in any area "ruled" by such a collection of "bad asses". There is really nothing of an effective preventive nature that the cops can do about such things ... you can not arrest someone for what they "might" do, only for what they have already done. Like it or not, it really does not matter, because it does not change the reality ... the thing that makes it safe for "Mom & Pop", or the young citizen and his gal, to go essentially anywhere they please is the dominate club arrangement. Dominate clubs have a vested interest in ensuring undue attention is not focused upon the biker world ... and they do not have "restrictions" on waiting until after the felony has been committed by some group of bozos to take action.

This arrangement works ... and it neither wants nor needs your approval ... it just "is".

Second:

Bikers are not the most favored group in this world ... again just reality ... you can not believe that, but it will not affect the reality. The groups that have faced the brunt of the negative aspects of that reality over the years are those at the end of the spectrum that includes people whose "life" is the biker lifestyle, not the weekend rubbie.

The bottom line is that there is a whole subculture of our society that has paid the price, and continues to pay the price for the "lifestyle" that some want to live and that some want to emulate. It is their world and it is no different than any other subculture that has ever existed in history ... to deny that, no matter how much one might not like it, is simply foolish. It is the equivalent of stepping willingly into a tribal culture in Africa and intentionally violating taboos held by the tribe just because you don't believe in the same things they do. It is the equivalent of putting on a Rebel Flag and intentionally walking down the street in Compton or Watts ... it may be legal, the Rebel Flag may be something we think is honorable beyond mention, but to intentionally fly that flag in the domain of those who see it as a sign of oppression is foolishness on the same order as wearing a black power T-shirt at a KKK meeting.

Finally, I have met some truly "bad" individuals in my lifetime ... and they seldom feel the need to advertise how "bad" they are ... just my observation that those who "think" they are "bad" eventually encounter someone with a bigger fist, bigger knife, or bigger gun ...

John Q. Public does not care what bikers do within their own realm and for the most part can't tell the difference between an outlaw club and a Christian riding association ... they all have a patch and are on two wheels and they don't give a hoot what the patch says.

MC members whose world is the biker culture end up answering for the behavior of all ... I'll give some examples from my own experience ...

A local club, an old time MC, not an outlaw club, in an area I frequented at the time, has a biker campground ... there are a lot of events held there ... the area around it has grown up with a collection of bedroom community homes on like 3-5 acres ... the county road into the place goes past several such home sites ... there are signs as soon as you turn onto the county road asking bikers to keep the speed and noise down to a reasonable level ... I attended three or four secular biker events at that location one year, and there was no complaints from the neighbors. Then I attended a local Christian Biker function at the campground. Two or three "new" members "new" to "being biker types" (yes there are wannabees all over) were so proud of their loud pipes that they just had to show them off ... ended up with the County Deputy showing up that night.

The locals did not give one hoot "who" caused this problem, it was simply bikers with a patch. It caused undue oversight for the local MC and everyone else that put on or attended an event there for several months afterward. It caused great damage to relationships made by that local MC with the locals and with the local LEOs.

For the other example, I'll change all the names involved ---

There was this local brand specific club ... the Airfoil Ridin' Fools (hopefully there ain't no such group <BG>) ... well the ARF boys have on all their weekend riding "biker atire" and go to a local tourist area, where they get a little loaded and start insulting tourists on the street ... then they ended up causing a ruckus at a local bar.

Well the local business folks, local citizens, and the tourist don't know ARF from a 1% club ... but the locals do know there is a bunch of local 1% folks they don't particularly like anyway ... so they point fingers at the 1%rs. The local cops know it was not the 1%rs, but they know the people involved are really a bunch of rubs and such from a nearby town, that will just cause them grief if they try to press anything from a legal angle ... and the city council is demanding the cops "do something", so they have the perfect solution: make the local citizens and the city council happy by rousting a few 1%rs ... and by promising the 1%rs that it will happen anytime and every time the LEOs get any heat about patch wearing "biker gangs", they sort of set the stage to make sure the 1%rs are responsible for policing anyone in the area wearing a patch unless the local 1%rs want to answer for the actions of others.

These are real events, similar things happen all over the US and the world. That is the reality, anyone with a patch can cause any local group with any kind of patch to be a target for their actions, and the cops in general will target those who give them the most buck for a bang (no I did not mean bang for a buck ... this is about money ... you can get federal funds for helping "round up" 1%rs that are classified as "gangs" by the federal powers that be, there ain't no money in rounding up a bunch of obnoxious ARF or wanna-bes).