Professor launches anti-racism cycling website
Dr. Marlon Moncrieffe has launched a cycling site dedicated to anti-racist discussion.
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The newest member of the cycling media spends much of his day in the classroom.
Dr. Marlon Moncrieffe, a professor at the University of Brighton’s School of Education, has launched a new website site called antiracismcycling.com, and the site is dedicated to advancing conversations about inclusivity and overcoming bias in the sport. Currently, the site features a discussion about the Black experience in cycling with up-and-coming female riders Marie-Divine Kouamé Taky of France, and Brits Charlotte Cole-Hossain, Danielle Khan, and Rhianna Parris-Smith.
“It’s about finding fresh voices in cycling, and that’s what I’m trying to do with the webpage,” Dr. Moncrieffe told VeloNews. “I don’t want to bring in the obvious voices. I want to champion some younger voices from different backgrounds and give them the opportunity to showcase themselves.”
Dr. Moncrieffe has written columns for velonews.com and appeared on the VeloNews Podcast to discuss his research on the Black British experience in the sport. His most recent column examined the anti-racist gesture that Tour de France riders made before the start of the final stage — and how that message fell short.
His 2018 book, “Made in Britain: Uncovering the life-histories of Black-British Champions in Cycling” explores stories of Black British riders who were shut out of the country’s Olympic movement.
Dr. Moncrieffe said he felt compelled to launch a site dedicated to anti-racist conversation after seeing discussion around inclusivity and racism flourish in the sport throughout 2020. Dr. Moncrieffe was pleased to see the conversation reach into the mainstream world of cycling media. As someone who has studied the topic for years, however, he felt that important viewpoints and voices were often being overlooked.
“It’s not always about focusing on the gold medal or the yellow jersey — some cyclists will never be in that world,” Dr. Moncrieffe told VeloNews. “Where you can bring people’s experiences together to show congruencies over time, or where there can be similar experiences in cultural groups that you can bring together, we can make real meaning out of them. That’s what I’m interested in.”
His field of study stems from his background. Dr. Moncrieffe was an elite track sprinter for two decades.
Dr. Moncrieffe plans to update the site with a new discussion every month. His hope is that the discussions and webinars reach those who set policy and make decisions throughout the sport, to help educate them on the implicit and explicit racism that cyclists of color often face.
“People are coming to it to learn and take some ideas to feed into their policies — hopefully, those people will be reading and then discussing this at the boardroom level,” Dr. Moncrieffe said. “I want to champion the right people’s voices through this site.”