Harley-Davidson’s brand has a racism problem
Harley-Davidson’s fans don’t want to hear about its racism problem
Recently I published a piece on Harley-Davidson’s announced intent to introduce several electric motorcycles and other two wheelers by 2022. The thesis I advanced was that Harley-Davidson had a brand problem which made current fans unlikely to accept electric vehicles and millennials unlikely to embrace Harley-Davidson, electric or no. I made what I thought was the uncontroversial point that Harley-Davidson had a white nationalism problem and that the brand had been complicit in creating the issue.
Harley-Davidson fans were not amused.
To begin with, does Harley-Davidson have a racism issue?
Yes, they do.
A 2011 US Anti-Defamation League report makes clear that white supremacist groups are explicitly linking their brands to Harley-Davidson’s.
Now, however, bikers and white supremacists are commingling with increasing frequency in a number of different ways. All five of the major white supremacist…
