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♪ Oh, I've been weary
and getting tired, oh Lord ♪

Narrator: On April 28, 2017,
a North Carolina Division

of the Sons of Confederate
Veterans unveiled

a massive confederate
flag along I-95 in
Cumberland County.

This highway is a
well traveled corridor

bringing people south
towards beach communities

from North Carolina to Florida.

People of all color
travel this highway

on their way to
vacations and a break

from their working lives.

This flag is a symbol of
Southern pride for some

and a symbol of
hate for others.

♪ It's dark now
and I'm on my way ♪

Narrator:
I know this highway well,

I've traveled it
many times on my way

to Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina to attend two

motorcycle festivals
surrounding Memorial
Day weekend.

These festivals are
known as White Bike Week

and Black Bike Week, although
anyone that's been there,

knows it's not that simple.

But my parents traveled it
before me in a previous era,

in a time of segregation.

When they went to Atlantic
beach, "The Black Pearl",

the only beach that blacks
could enjoy the sun and sand.

There was another prominent
sign along I-95 that

my parents would've passed.

I've often wondered
how seeing that sign
made them feel.

Were they scared?

Did they laugh at it?

Or did they drive by in
silence trying to ignore

the quiet hatred
directed towards them?

In 2008, you could be
forgiven for hoping that

the post-racial
era was beginning,

that maybe this country
would finally begin

to unify under the idea that
all people are created equal,

230 years after our
founders wrote it down.

♪ Surely Jesus love,

♪ Well, you got me now

♪ Look down, Lord,
look down ♪

[fast rhythmic music]

Narrator: But if you've
attended Black Bike Week,
you knew better.

And now this is 2017,
this is the South,

and racism ain't
going nowhere.

[exciting deep music]

Haley: Our law enforcement
was stellar.

We had more than enough people, 273 we sent from the state.

Narrator: In 2014, three people
were shot and killed

over Memorial Day weekend in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

REPORTER: Five people were
shot and three were

pronounced dead last night.

Now, Ocean Boulevard
was shut down

earlier for investigation.

Captain David Knights
confirmed a couple hours later

that there was a shooting
at Bermuda Sands Hotel

on First Avenue, which is
where I am live right now.

And from what we know, three
victims were found shot

to death at this hotel,
and another victim

was taken to a
local hospital and--

Narrator:
These shootings took place on

the Atlantic Beach
Memorial Day Bike Festival,

otherwise known as
Black Bike Week.

While subsequent
investigations determined that

the crime, its perpetrators,
and its victims

had little to do with
the bike festival,

city leaders and officials
quickly denounced

the festival as being to
blame, calling for it to stop.

It is time for that bike
fest to come to an end

and that is the way
that I am going to talk

to the elected officials
of Atlantic Beach.

And I think it's time that
everybody in Horry County

come together and say no more.

Narrator: For the small
community of Atlantic Beach,

where the festival originated,

this was just another
blow to its self esteem.

Already impoverished
by the economic forces

of desegregation and
financially ignored by

the festival it created,

Atlantic Beach
continues to decline.

Haley: The state can
make sure that we

let the people of Atlantic
Beach know we will help them

in every way to strengthen
their community.

But we are not going to promote
any events going forward

that do any harm to the
citizens of South Carolina,

and that's exactly
what happened.

So, it is now time for us
to ask the elected officials

of Atlantic Beach
to come forward,

let's come up with a
game plan that works well

for that community.

But let's make sure that
what is happening in

Atlantic Beach is
truly a reflection

of South Carolina as a whole.

[deep country music]

Hucks: A white person performs
in
a certain way as a young man,

it's considered
indiscretions of youth.

You let the same black
man get on a motorcycle,

do the same things and it's
considered thuggish behavior.

If you look at the acts, a
lot of them are much the same.

If you look at the
perception of the acts,

it's very, very, very different.

What's happening in Myrtle
Beach every year is racist.

Narrator: But the forces
surrounding Atlantic Beach,

Myrtle Beach,
Black Bike Week and

the Harley Davidson
Bike Festival that

immediately comes the week
before, runs much deeper.

They're rooted in the
South's larger history of

racial tension and
discrimination.

[yelling]

Narrator: There was a time when it wasn't always this way,

a time when Atlantic Beach was known as "The Black Pearl",

a time when black people
from all over the South,

including my parents, came
here to relax, have fun,

and enjoy the ocean.

This was a time of segregation.

People used to come, my parents
and everybody used to come

and that was the
hub of nightlife or

the life of this beach,

the heart of this beach
is right over there.

Sketer: Atlantic Beach was founded in 1934 by a gentleman,

George Tyson.

He took it upon himself to
purchase this 94.6 acres

of property here in order
for people of color

so we could have a
place to come enjoy

this great big ocean.

Atlantic Beach was a
destination for
people of color,

regardless where you came from.

[jazz music]

The entertainers,
they could entertain in all

the Ocean Forest Hotel,

back during that time were
like the Hilton or

the Waldorf Astoria was back
during that era of time.

And they could play there
but they had to sleep

and eat in Atlantic Beach.

My mom and dad was
in the restaurant and

motel business there and
I met people way back

during the '50s, like
Lloyd Price, James Brown,

Marvin Gaye, and
Tammi Terrell and

a lot of the entertainers
that came here to entertain

at the white clubs there.

But they had to eat and
live in Atlantic Beach.

And it was a blessing
for me and my family

because my mom and dad, and
anybody that had a business

in Atlantic Beach,
and what we would do,

or what they would do,
you had to stay open,

keep your place open until
the white places closed

because the entertainers, when
they got finished playing,

they came back to
Atlantic Beach to eat and

they had the hotel rooms here.

[jazz music]

Evans: They were good enough
to play the music

but they weren't good
enough to lay in those beds,

so they had to come
down here and stay.

And that's why my father
built this building because

they would always tell him, say,

"Hey, you know, we don't
wanna play for them.

"If we can't stay with them,
we don't wanna play for them.

"So, you build us a
place to play here,

"we'll play here and
we'll stay here."

So, my father built that place,

and sure enough, it took
off, that's what it was.

Probably any big
name entertainer that
came through here

played at Evans Colosseum
in Atlantic Beach

because that's
actually what it was.

I've always felt a special
kinship to this place,

something draws me
here every year.

I don't know, is it
because my parents met here

back in the '50s.

People say, "Hey, my parents
could've made me down here,

"I could've been conceived
in one of these hotels."

But I love this place and
it doesn't look like much

right now but back in the
day, this was the spot.

This is the heart of
this beach right here

and this community.

[jazz music]

Sketer: It was so sacred to
us, as a people of color.

This is our Black Pearl,
and that's what I think.

That had a lot of meaning to
it other than just a word,

Black Pearl.

[jazz music]

Sketer: I came back to the area
in 1968 and it was booming.

It boomed all the way
good, '68, '69, '72,

even up into the early '80s.

Evans: I remember
growing up as a child,

that this was the only
place you could come

or were welcomed if you
were African American

and you visited
the grand strand.

Clark: It was barricaded on
both sides to create

a separate town from
North Myrtle Beach

and other cities here
on the Grand Strand.

You were here in Atlantic Beach,
if you were African American,

you weren't allowed
anywhere else.

They had the signs posted,
whites only, no blacks allowed.

And you would think that
goes way back but actually,

I finished high
school here in '75 and

blacks and whites didn't
even start going to school

together until '72.

[jazz music]

Sketer: Integration was
good in a lot of areas,

but it took a toll on us.

When people found out they
could go other places,

they left.

The other businesses
that weren't as well-kept

and weren't as
well-equipped.

You can't blame people
for getting what they can

for the money worth there.

[jazz music]

Narrator: Today, people
of all color can enjoy

the same beach, the same
sand, and the same water.

Two generations removed
from segregation almost

brings back a nostalgic
notion of our

racially divided history.

The sense that then is
somehow better than now.

There's no more cable to
separate the white beach

from the black beach.

The physical divisions
are gone, but somehow,

standing on the
edge of the ocean in

the middle of the
Atlantic Beach section

of the Grand Strand, you
can still see the ghost

of our segregated past.

[deep rhythmic music]

[engine revving]

Cox:
The club was founded in 1980.

That's how it originally started, was from three people,

George Livingston, Joe
Hemingway, and Socks.

No Socks is what they
called him, but we ended up

just taking the No off
and just saying Socks.

They got the other bikers
throughout the community

that had a little
club of their own,

they just got together and
rode around 20 miles,

30 miles on a Sunday,
going from place to place,

making a circle like
Atlantic Beach, Myrtle Beach,

Conway, Loris,
Longs, and back here.

And so, all of them got
together and talked.

So, they formed up a club and

they called it the
Carolina Knight Riders.

And then we started having
events on Atlantic Beach.

And when we stared having
our Memorial Day events

on Atlantic Beach, each year
just started growing larger

and larger.

We started inviting all
these other motorcycle clubs

to come to Atlantic Beach
and celebrate

Memorial Day weekend with us here in Atlantic Beach.

[deep rhythmic music]

During the '70s when
there was a transition from

segregation, a lot of our
business started to go

to the communities that they
weren't welcomed in at one time.

So, we saw a decline
in business from that.

So, that's why we put
together the bike fest

and came up with the bike
fest to get something started,

to get people back
to this community.

[deep rhythmic music]

Cox: There was so many
people that you couldn't,

we never knew actual
count of how many it was.

But it just grew so big.

I had one of the
original letters that I got

from different
motorcycle clubs

that said,
"We're gonna come this year."

I think we had something
like about 47 different

motorcycle groups
coming here.

I don't know what you've heard,

but that's how it got started
and that's why it got started.

[exciting fun music]

Rhodes: See, Harley actually
started in North Myrtle Beach

back in the '50s.

And they would come
from North Myrtle Beach,

and actually, the
police would lead them,

and they would come down
through Myrtle Beach

and go out to 501
to the racetrack.

We didn't get an influx
of the Harleys here

until that generation changed,

and that was when you got
into the yuppie generation

type thing and it
became the chic thing,

to own a Harley.

And that's how Harley grew.

[exciting fun music]

Rhodes: The Harley is an older
group of people that come

to Myrtle Beach and
the surrounding area,

the early 30s to 70.

So, that's a big difference.

There's a friend of mine who
has a hotel said that

he has a group of Harley people
that come down every year.

They would get up in the
mornings, ride to eat breakfast,

ride around some
during the day,

get back late in the afternoon.

Go get dinner, and then
sit around the pool

and drink beer the
rest of the night.

They're starting
to age out a lot,

and so it's gonna be interesting
to
see what happens down the road

with the youth in the Harley,

because Harleys are not cheap.

Spring break is gonna be
smaller this year than past
years.

I think this is
bigger than ever.

I think Harley
Week is coming back.

I think at this point in
time, based on the last couple

years, and I'm down
there every year,

I've seen the crowds get
bigger and bigger and bigger.

[fun exciting music]

Rhodes: And the Black Biker
Week is a young group,

I'd say early 30's
would be the oldest.

They sleep in the daytime
and play at night.

Age is the big difference.

[fun exciting music]

We're here to get drunk, fuck
women, and stay out of jail.

Hucks: Myrtle Beach should've
been something better,

it should've been
something more honest.

The secrets of our past
get carried into our

current situation and so much
of our life becomes an iceberg.

And it's not only cultural,
but it's almost like a virus.

[deep intense music]

Asaka: There are two
events in Myrtle Beach.

For far too long, these events
have been separate and unequal.

One event is welcomed and
one event was not welcomed.

When black bikers came to
town, they were arrested

for minor infractions.

And there was a
two-to-one arrest disparity

between Harley Week
and Black Bike Week.

People were arrested
for very minor things.

Rhodes: We're not going to
arrest somebody just for

a misdemeanor-type dumb thing,
okay?

If we're gonna arrest somebody,
then they're gonna be a problem.

[deep rhythmic music]

If you wanna commit
a crime in the state of

South Carolina,
this is the weekend.

You wanna rob a
bank in Charlotte,

take your ass and rob that
bank, you will not get caught.

Every police in the
state, they're right here.

[deep intense music]

Narrator:
On Saturday night,

we were walking down
Ocean Boulevard,

the main drag in Myrtle Beach,

when we came across a
young man being arrested

for an unknown reason.

While he was clearly
agitated, he was not violent.

The question in Myrtle
Beach on Saturday night

during Bike Week is: how
many cops does it take

to arrest one black man?

[deep rhythmic music]

The nonsense is
hurting our brand

and it's hurting
our brand image.

Myrtle Beach's brand
has taken a beating

over the last three
or four years.

And the chamber
says it's working.

Guys, it ain't working.

Honestly, from
a grown-ass man,

I feel like it's necessary.

You know, I live in
a good neighborhood,

I still got an
alarm on the house.

If you out here acting a fool,

you're gonna get a
ticket or go to jail.

That's all you, you put
yourself in that predicament.

I'm not gonna lie,
back in my day,

I've been to jail
in Myrtle Beach,

but guess what? I was
doing stupid shit.

As people who are
carrying patches and colors

to be responsible, to
take care of yourself

and not say the bad
people were mean to me.

Protect yourselves.

Make sure your
paperwork is in order,

make sure your
motorcycle's in order.

Don't give them an
excuse to harass you.

Man: The 700 police
that are put down

for Atlantic Bike Week,

that is a pretty big allocation of resources for the state.

Well, I have SLED
here during that week,

had like 20 agents from them,

I also had Highway Patrol
here during that week also.

It will probably be 118
officers here in Atlantic Beach

throughout that time.

Narrator:
Generally during the year,

how many officers
are in this force?

Just me and two
other officers.

I think that law enforcement
presence needs to be there,

just like it is
during Harley Week.

And it's an upgraded
law enforcement presence

for Harley Week, but I don't
know that you necessarily

need that many officers.

At least I haven't seen
anything that suggests

that many officers
are necessary.

Hopkins: But we gotta just
preach it to the right choir.

You know what I'm saying?
We gotta take our votes,

we gotta look in further than
just the presidential election

and look into our
local elections.

See who we putting in position
that's gonna be controlling

these certain
decisions that's made.

And get into figuring
out how we can go deeper

than the police department.

We can't win fighting
the police department,

and we don't need to fight
the police department

because on the flip
hand, we need them.

Daytona was almost
lost in 1998 when

the government became
very heavy handed.

But they stopped.

They have not stopped at
the Memorial Beach Rally.

I just really enjoy
the atmosphere in Daytona

much more than Myrtle Beach
in that wherever you are

in Daytona, it's welcome.

You're welcome as a biker,
you're not looked upon

or frowned upon and it
gives you the opportunity

to ride a lot more.

If the police officers
are looking at you,

they're telling you, "Nice bike.

"Wow, can't believe a
woman is riding that bike."

But in Myrtle Beach, it's
more of, "Let me make sure

"your bike is registered,
let me make sure you have

"the proper insurance,
let me make sure you can

"even afford to ride the bike."

There's a lot of these cops
that's out here policing us,

really not from
our neck of the woods.

They don't understand
our culture, you know,

they're quick on the trigger.

So, we're gonna have to
get our own community

to come together to be able
to make things happen.

Narrator: What's the worst thing
you've ever seen out here?

Too many police.
[laughing]

Really, too many police.

[fun lighthearted music]

Narrator: Traffic flow, public
safety, crime deterrence.

These are the phrases we
hear over and over again

as an excuse for the tenfold
increase in police presence

during Bike Week.

"We're just trying to keep
the streets safe," they say.

But is this really
what they're doing?

According to John Rhodes,
the Mayor of Myrtle Beach,

the attendance for
Harley week was:

We would probably
have a couple thousand

to 3,000 bikers.

Narrator: Mayor Rhodes was
talking about a time after

the city had cracked down
on noise and helmet laws.

So, we asked him about
Harley Fest at its peak

a few years back.

Woman: What were the
numbers before then,

before all this?

Oh, 20 to 30,000.

Woman:
Okay, that's what I thought.

Yes.

Narrator: So, according to
the Mayor of Myrtle Beach,

Harley Fest attracts 30,000
bikers on a good year.

What about the attendance
for Atlantic Beach Bike Week?

Woman:
What about Black Bike Week?

What kind of numbers are
you expecting for that?

300-plus thousand.

Narrator: Out of the
best year for both festivals,

you can expect 10 times as
many visitors

to the greater Myrtle
Beach area during the
Atlantic Beach

Memorial Day Bike
Fest, Black Bike Week,

as you would during Harley
Fest the week before.

You would think that there
are 10 times as many police

during Bike Week as
Harley Fest,

and 10 times as many people.

You would actually get
10 times as many arrests,

10 times as many
traffic tickets,

and at least 10 times
as many accidents.

According to police
records in 2014,

the year the shootings that
prompted Governor Haley

to call for an end to
that Bike Festival,

there were 53 arrests
made during Harley Fest.

You would assume there
would be around 530 arrests

during Bike Week, but police
statistics show that during

that period in 2014,

How about traffic tickets
in 2014 during Harley Week?

And bike week?

Traffic accidents.

In fact, going back
as far as 2006,

the numbers for crime,
arrests, traffic tickets,

and accidents are
remarkably consistent,

and nowhere near 10 times as
much
from one weekend to the next.

Could it be that the people
that come to Bike Week

are actually more law abiding
and less prone to trouble

than everyone wants
to make it seem?

And looking at these numbers,

what would be the cause
for anyone to think

that Bike Week is less safe
or more prone to crime?

And what could possibly be
the excuse for the governor

to call for it to
come to an end?

[deep intense music]

Well, one thing about
South Carolina that we know,

it's one of the few colonies
where the African American

enslaved population exceeded
the white, slave-owning,

and enprivileged populations.

So, South Carolina, historically, was always a very

antagonistic colony because
the black population

exceeded the white.

When freedom came following
the 13th Amendment

and the Civil War, there
was a deliberate attempt

to not only control black
people in South Carolina,

but to reduce their numbers.

And we find that that
controlling
was even more intense

in South Carolina because
of the numerical majority

that black people held over white folk for some time there.

Hucks: These battles that
we fought over the years,

both righteously and unjustly,

these are spiritual battles.

All of these battles
have been spiritual.

Is Myrtle Beach racist?

Absolutely. It's holding
onto an era that's passed.

The whole systems are set up,

the institutions are set up
to protect a few people.

[yelling]

South Carolina is always
and probably will always be

a pivotal state.

As we know, the Confederate
flag was just removed

and it took the murder
of nine Africans

in order for them to
finally take that flag down.

You see, so we see that
strong, white supremist

and racist mindset within
that particular state.

White power.

Asaka: They took down
that Confederate flag,

but the Confederate mind
state is still embedded

in the minds of a lot
of these police officers

and government officials.

The battle that we're
looking at, black versus white,

black week, white week, it
will implode upon itself

just like slavery did.

And 150 years from now,

our children's children's
children will be amazed

that we're having
this conversation.

Just like we're amazed at
the conversations that people

justified for slavery
150, 200 years ago.

[deep intense music]

Rhodes: You're worried about
that 23-mile loop, aren't you?

Woman:
A little bit.

I don't see why.

Why would you not want safety?

[deep rhythmic music]

Officer: Now, the traffic
pattern
was created to keep

traffic moving along
Ocean Boulevard,

both pedestrian and
vehicular traffic.

If you turn down 29th Avenue
and you go to Ocean Boulevard,

you're in this
traffic pattern now.

You know, one of the
main problems that we have

with this traffic pattern
is it doesn't serve its

purpose of facilitating
flow of traffic.

They say that it was
designed to address the crime

problem of violence that
occurred a few years ago,

but there's no rational
relationship between

a traffic pattern and the
prevention of violent crime.

They don't impose this
traffic pattern when

there's violence any
other time of the year.

It's a part of a long pattern
of discrimination against

African Americans that
come to that city.

Officer: Traffic along Ocean
Boulevard
is one-way only southbound.

There is no getting off
of that Ocean Boulevard.

You know, they got
these road blocks,

they segregate us
into one little area

and they have us
in traffic all day long,

you know,
just getting searched.

They don't try to hide
the fact that they don't

want Black Bike Week
happening in Myrtle Beach.

So, the traffic
loop is bullshit.

I came Harley Week, when all
the white people were here,

and it was a totally
different experience.

We could go down either
side of the highway.

Ocean Boulevard
all weekend long,

for 24 hours, everyday,
starting Friday morning

until Monday,
will be operating

in a southbound
direction only.

[deep dark music]

But we think that the
city has gone backwards

with this traffic pattern.

It's kind of unorthodox
to change

the entire traffic
pattern for an event.

I'm not aware of any other
event that they do that for

throughout the year.

I know that that
particular traffic pattern

has also been a point of
contention in the federal courts

and it's been challenged
a couple times.

And it's been strucken down and

it's been altered over
the years and tweaked.

We want to continue to
police the same way and

be consistent, Memorial
weekend, the way we do at

Sun Fun Weekend,
Country Music Fest,

every other weekend throughout.

[intense rhythmic music]

It's like prison, you
know what I'm saying.

You know what it is, man.

You try to keep the
damn animals in here,

know what I'm saying.

They're like animals, they
can treat us like animals.

JayBossTV:
2017 now totally changed, man.

It's like everything
is just blocked.

You can't even move around.

We're still gonna
come every year.

The 23-mile loop's
not stopping anybody.

Everybody's still showing up,
we're still coming out here,

following the rules
just like they ask,

it's not doing nothing but
making a big congestion

and everybody that's
doing vacation,

that's not even
doing the Bike Week,

is getting mad, they
can't get to their houses

or their hotels on time.

That may be a motivation
behind this traffic pattern,

to make the event so
unpleasant that people

no longer wanna come.

I remember last year, I got
caught in that traffic loop

and I'm like, "I'm not
coming down here no more."

It's more of a like,
like a maze, like a trap.

You gotta run them through all
these different roadblocks.

If you get to 29th Avenue
and you turn east and

travel to Ocean Boulevard,

you are in this traffic pattern.

Ocean Boulevard, the traffic
will make a right hand turn,

travel down Ocean Boulevard
to Kings Highway.

The only option that you
have is once you get up here

to 501 and 31, that's
where you can get out

of the traffic pattern.

Along 31, you're safe.

You wanna stay with the
traffic loop traffic,

stay in the right hand lane.

If they go around
the loop, they can't.

So, the 23-mile loop is
not fair to anyone that is

a patron of Black Bike Week,

it is not fair to anyone that
is coming to Myrtle Beach

just to hang out on
Memorial weekend.

[deep rhythmic music]

For years, the businesses
would have "Welcome Biker"

signs during Harley Week, the
predominantly white event.

They would welcome these
bikers, they would treat them

with courtesy and respect,

but then the following week
during Black Bike Week,

they would close their
doors to African Americans,

refusing to serve
African Americans.

As some bikers
came for both weeks,

they saw the difference
and the disparities in

how people were being treated,
so they started calling the
NAACP.

Some people filed lawsuits
against hotels and businesses,

and the NAACP got involved and
we actually ended up

winning some of those lawsuits.

Asaka: This is the climate
that we're talking about.

And then when they would
actually serve African
Americans,

they would subject
African Americans

to second-class treatment
by raising their prices,

by limiting the menu, or
even closing the interior

of restaurants and forcing
African Americans to eat
outside.

Reminiscent of the
days of Jim Crow.

That's the type of treatment
that African Americans

have endured there.

Some of the things
that the restaurant chain

does to prepare for
Black Bike Week is,

for instance, plastic
silverware on top

of the regular silverware.

Another thing they did
was take the Ziosks

off the table, the
computerized handheld devices

that are usually left at tables.

And in this particular weekend,
they would remove them.

And then continue past Memorial
Day, that following week,

just to say that it
wasn't just that weekend.

A lot of the things that they
did weren't surprising to me

because, growing up here,
I've seen a lot of different

things that are quite similar,
especially during this week.

We just people.

When you're out on that
bike, you're a biker.

Imagine explaining to
your kids how is this fair.

It's not fair but I can't
tell them to do something.

I can't tell them to be
upset, it is what it is.

[deep rhythmic music]

Foxy: I've been to the
Harley Davidson Rally,

and really enjoy going.

It's much more freedom to ride,

they don't have the
inconvenience of the loop,

the businesses are more open.

Although trying
to sleep at night,

they was spinning the wheels--

Until 5:00 in the morning.

When you get a crowd
and you get tourists,

and you get money in a city,
you're gonna get crime.

It's just the fact that if
you're gonna do one bike week

that way, do all
bike weeks that way.

So, we've received a lot
of complaints about people

being arrested for
minor offenses,

such as revving their
engine on their motorcycles.

We've received complaints
about people having their

motorcycles confiscated
without justification.

So, what we have is a
situation where they are

aggressively
enforcing the law and

a situation where people
are being arrested

for very minor
violations of law.

And it's just creating
an environment that's
really hostile,

an environment where
people are discouraged

from coming back
to Myrtle Beach.

To make Ocean
Boulevard a two-lane,

a two-way road, the way it is
every other week of the year,

is not only fair, but to me,
it makes good business sense.

It's so silly that they
would put so much stress

into getting rid of a
group of people who are

the number one
consumers in America,

when all Myrtle Beach is
geared around selling things.

Man: Black Bike Week
was our best fucking

money making week, bro.

Too bad the fucking mayor
fucked it all up.

[deep tense music]

We are not particularly
motivated to create anything

that benefits us collectively.

See, the neglect is
for the collective,

not for the individual.

So, the average African
American looks out for

their own best interest.

So, the brothers and sisters
who come down to Myrtle Beach

to party, they're looking out
for their own best interest.

They're not looking long-term,
they're not visionary,

they're not saying
to themselves,

"Listen, ya'll, this started
over here in Atlantic Beach

"in the first place."

[slow solemn music]

[exciting fast music]

Cox: We don't receive any
funds as the founders.

We don't even, um,

I don't know who we would
have to go to or talk to,

or anything, but nobody has
offered anything like that.

Everything that we do out
here, we do on our own.

Carolina Knight Riders
being the founding club

of Bike Week really should
take more of the forefront

and lead more of that and
bring more of the history

back to them.

So, the people who
are coming here,

don't even understand
why they're coming here,

not even paying homage
to the people who they

should be paying homage to.

We should go down to
Atlantic Beach and hang out,

party from one patio
to the next, you know,

walk the streets,
dance, and have fun,

meet people from other
states, other places,

because there would be
busloads of people down there.

You had the ferris wheels and
everything else right there,

amusement park, you had
everything right there.

[lighthearted music]

You cannot compare Atlantic
Beach to Cracker Barrel

or Olive Garden, or
Longhorn Steakhouse.

It is an entity unto itself,

and we need to make that
effort to support it

so that we can have a
viable piece of our heritage

involved with Bike Week,

because there would be no Bike
Week without Atlantic Beach.

And believe me well, if
there's no Atlantic Beach,

sooner or later there
will be no Bike Week.

We just don't understand
that they're intrinsically

linked to each other.

[lighthearted music]

I would like to
see it opened up to,

or evolved, to something
that everybody can go to.

As it stands now, it
looks worse than a
third-world country

and you're not gonna
draw any type of tourism

into such a place.

Clark: History of why
Atlantic Beach was started

is hindering them from
going completely forward.

I think they have
some great ideas,

but I think, going forward, that
history of being segregated

and separate has continued
on until this day.

Every year it
dies more and more.

I honestly don't know how long
it can exist the way it is.

I've never looked at
their tax revenue,

their ins and outs, but
there is nothing going on

economically to support it.

It's done, I think
after this year it's done.

I think they should, in the 10
years I've been coming here,

you had major players in the
game that knew each other.

Like if you was from Memphis,
or this one, that one,

you know you all click-clack
at a common ground,

a location.

I ain't seen none of them dudes.

Every person I seen was
young and coming up riders

or people that was in the area.

But long distance, I ain't
really seen too much of it.

The worst could happen if
people would stop coming,

stop supporting it.

That would be the worst,
I never wanna see that.

[fun lighthearted music]

Johnson: Slavery did three
things to us that we still

suffer from today, all Africans in America suffer from this.

Number one, slavery made us
comfortable having no control,

no power or authority
over our reality.

You come into a black community,

we don't control
the politicians,

we don't control the businesses,

we don't control the churches,

we don't control the vote,
we don't control the dollar,

we control nothing.

Now, contrast that
with Chinatown,

contrast that with Little Italy,

contrast that with a
predominantly Latino community,

contrast that with a
European Jewish community. Okay?

They control all of the
systems and institutions

in their communities,
we control none of them.

And we're comfortable with it.

It's not just we don't
have the control,

we're comfortable having no
control, so that's number one.

The second thing, slavery
destroyed our commitment

to the collective.

Black people are the most
individualistic people in
America.

We wake up thinking
about nobody but

the people under our roof.

As far as what's in the
best interest

of the black community,
it is the second thought,

if it is to be a thought at all.

There's no collective
cohesion, slavery stripped it.

And the third thing that
slavery did is it took away

the guilt and shame that
people naturally feel

when their behavior works
against
the best interest of their
people.

There's a natural shame
and a guilt that comes

from people who love their
group, who love their culture,

love their community.

When I engage in any behavior
that does not benefit

this community, there's
a shame that I feel.

African Americans have
no shame whatsoever

for consistently doing
things, engaging in behaviors

that are detrimental
to the collective.

What happens to the
group is irrelevant.

I'm only concerned with
what happens to me.

♪ And ashamed that
you need a friend ♪

♪ Someone to share the load

♪ And when the sky
is a little cloudy ♪

♪ I can see the rain
falling down on you ♪

♪ I'll be a shelter in
the time of the storm ♪

♪ I'll see you through

♪ That's what I'll do

♪ I'll be a shelter in
the time of the storm ♪

♪ I'll see you through,
that's what I'll do ♪

♪ He told mama

[engines revving]

I fry everything fresh now.

[fun exciting music]

10 with the fries.

Well, there's a solution
to their problem and

then there's a Ba-A aid.

The Band-Aid is to try
to force the businesses

down in Myrtle Beach
to actually invest some

of the money that
we spend with them

back into the black community.

That's a Band-Aid strategy.

It maybe successful to some
extent, but it's not a solution.

It's not a solution because
why do we have to beg

white people to
reinvest money back

into the black community
when all we had to do

was not invest it in
them in the first place.

For me, the solution would
be for African Americans

to divest from Myrtle Beach.

Take that festival
back to Atlantic Beach

and build up Atlantic
Beach as an independent hub

for black activity,
entertainment,
so forth and so on.

That's the solution.

But let me tell you, you
haven't experienced such love,

such passion in one bag.

Find it, buy it,
taste it, and you, too,

will love Joe's
Gourmet Fish Fry.

Add me another tombo!

[fun playful music]

It's a great event and I've been
doing it for over 15 years,
actually.

I've seen
bikers with their family,

with their kids.

I've seen some of
their kids raised,

they're still
eating the fish too.

Although I can't
comment on White Beach.

Oh, boy, but Black Beach!

[laughing]

[fun exciting music]

Evans: It's Atlantic
Beach Bike Festival.

It's never been Black Bike
Week, or any of those names.

And, of course, the media
gets that and runs with it.

Of course, surrounding
cities in the Grand Strand

may say that, different
entities on social media

might say that, but the
correct name of the festival

and what we advertise is
Atlantic Beach Bike Fest.

Hucks: Sometimes we work
for the perfect deal,

and sometimes what will
be best is if we settle

for the best deal possible.

There are big developers
that would come in and

develop Atlantic Beach tomorrow.

Oceanfront property, and
then you'd have the black

community staying in
their hotels there.

But what I see going
on with city management

in Atlantic Beach will kill
the one beauty of the event,

the actual traditional
place where the event's

supposed to be, that strip.

I see a very dim future
for it.

Evans: And of course, we're not
overlooking development.

We want some
developers to come in.

We want a nice resort hotels
and some nice restaurants,

and a few things, and
we're on the right track

to getting that done.

And we do something for
Atlantic...
on [stammering] Beach,

I think we could do
something big, definitely.

We don't want to get
away from our culture

and our heritage.

Narrator: They just want to hold
onto the past and, you know,

and the history that's here,
and I understand that.

They don't want the
big skyscrapers like
you see back there.

They want smaller buildings
as an ode to the past.

A lot of time, if you
don't ask for something,

you don't get nothing.

So, that's what the
category I put that in.

First of all, this is a
world, a realistic world.

You have to let people
know at some given time

that what your wishes are.

They offered to help
us here in Atlantic Beach

but under those conditions,
under the conditions that

we do away with Bike Fest.

And until we do
away with Bike Fest,

as far as the state helping
us in any kind of way,

they're not.

Since we bring all
these people to town

and all this revenue that
other places are generating

out of our, not
our event because

people go the way they
want to, out of that event.

It could be talking
about anywhere.

I don't know if anything
would come of it or not,

I don't know.

We are a town or a
city in South Carolina,

just like any other city
or town in South Carolina.

If you wanna help us, help us,

but don't give us conditions
that you'll help us.

We will help you if.

Why can't you just help us?

Myrtle Beach should
thank Atlantic Beach

for all the revenue that
they're making for one weekend

versus what they make
throughout the whole year.

It's weird.

It's weird how we
war against factions

that we don't
understand sometimes.

There are people who
actually and truly don't want

to see other people supposedly
get ahead of them.

I have this inclusion
model that says,

I don't have a problem if
you make a million dollars

if I make money, I don't
really understand some of

the warring things that
happen when you start

talking about money.

Financially astute
African Americans will not

have a financial agenda
that is necessarily

in the best interests
of working-class

African Americans
in Atlantic Beach.

I'm not a big fan of bringing
outside black investors

unless they have a conscious
commitment to improving

the condition of their people.

Not just by what they
say but by what they do.

Show me on paper how the
black community's gonna

be better served for
having you come in here

versus someone of another color.

We need a lot of work
done, lots of work done.

And remember, unfortunately,
Atlantic Beach has to

recycle the same people
over and over again.

Unless we get some new
blood coming to town,

some new blood with new idea.

But that's gonna take some
financial accountability.

And one thing about
us as a people,

we are a very unaccountable
group of folk.

We're the only ethnic
group in America

that doesn't have any financial
accountability to the
collective.

That's what it's
gonna take to do that.

You're gonna have to build and
not just depend on other folks.

Right now everything
is made for us.

The hotels are there,
the businesses are there,

the restaurants is there,
the amenities are there.

And despite the treatment,
despite the treatment,

we will still go anyway
because we're more interested

in depending on the
structures that white folk

and others have
already created

as opposed to building our own.

It's a psychological thing.

We're the ones who are
gonna have to fix that.

Nothing is gonna
change in Myrtle Beach

until we change ourselves.

[fast exciting music]

Man: We don't understand how it
was four or five years ago.

Oh man, it was so ridiculous.

You might turn around,
there'd be a woman on her head

twerking on the top of a
truck while it's moving.

They don't understand
the skill that that take

for it to be moving and
her on her head twerking.

I kid you not, and I
still go the footage, man.

It used to be so epic
four or five years.

It's still cool
right now, but boy,

four or five years
ago, like a movie.

Hangoverone, two,
three, and four!

[fun exciting music]

Hucks: Most of us are so
caught up in the past

of some stupid small story,

or caught up in the stigma
of things that we believed

that are not true, that we
can't move into something

that is really
universally true and

will universally unite us and

will universally transform us.

[deep rhythmic music]

I don't see it
going away at all.

I've seen this event
survive ridiculous helmet laws

that superseded state law.

I've seen ridiculous traffic
patterns set up to deter us,

harsh treatment from both
property owners and police,

and over the years, that
didn't really kill the event.

It could use some tweaking.

I mean, there's a lot of
things that could probably

make it a lot better,
you know.

Add some more activities
for, maybe, smaller kids

during the daytime,
and things like that,

and we certainly need other
events other than just

Bike Weekend.

The future of the
event is pretty unknown.

We've gotta identify
who's running this city.

Once we identify who's
running this city

and they're willing
to come to the table,

and we can make a difference and

they can make it a
win-win situation

where we're not out here
being harassed by the police.

There's only one
way to find out is

by getting to the
table with them.

What they're doing is not
right, as far as the blockade,

and they gonna take it down.

I feel like it will come down.

I think the event
is a great event.

The Harley Davidsons,
the Indians, the BMWs,

all of the major manufacturers,

I wanna see them understand
this is a national event.

This is not just a group
of people getting together

for a weekend.

And if they wanna build
their industry back,

this event has to
become a part of it.

Bike life, this is forever.

Bikes ain't gonna go nowhere,
riders ain't gonna go nowhere,

and I think this is
something that is

gonna be with us forever.

I don't think
it's going anywhere.

It's always gonna be here,
just like Harley Week.

The future is it's
definitely not going anywhere.

It's not going anywhere
because the city of

Atlantic Beach welcomes
it and supports it,

and this is where it started.

So, whether Myrtle Beach or
North Myrtle Beach supports it

or goes against it or not,

I think it's gonna
live on forever as long

as the city of Atlantic
Beach welcomes us.

Dowell: We've got a
live concert out here.

We've got the strip.

I mean, it could be a
lot to be improved, but

I won't take away from
what's already going on,

you know what I mean?

Once we can prove to
them that this is a good,

safe, and vibrant community,

I think Atlantic Beach is
gonna take off in the future

and really develop.

We all get along, we
pump a lot of money into

the community and I think
it's a good deal all around.

And if they embrace that,
it'd be a lot better.

Myrtle Beach has
the best setup,

as far as hotels,
as far as open road,

as far as ability
of restaurants,

and as far as fair prices,

to be rally-friendly.

I don't think that Myrtle
Beach can end Black Bike Week

but I think Black Bike
Weekers can really harm

Myrtle Beach's brand.

I would be more concerned
with what black bikers

would do to the name Myrtle
Beach, in trashing the name,

than I'd be concerned about
them running off Black Bikers.

Black Bikers understood
it correctly.

In the age of social media,

they have more power
than the city does.

[fun loud music]

They've been talking
boycott for years,

it never happens.

I mean, at the end of the day,
we all love to come, we enjoy
it.

Some people have stopped
coming that I know of,

but for the main part,
people still gonna come.

The best way for it to
move forward is unity.

Everybody coming together.

Keep coming, don't give up.

United we stand,
divided we fall.

We don't wanna fall.

So, we're here today to
show some support and unity

in this MC community, okay?

So, let's stop the noise and
show them love and support,

like we here today, all right?

All right, I love ya'll,
so let's go into prayer.

[deep slow music]

Narrator: Some people say we
should leave Myrtle Beach,

put our kickstands up and
head south to Daytona,

or north to Jersey.

If Myrtle Beach doesn't want
us, why spend our money here?

But what would that solve?

They want us to leave,
and so we leave.

Everyone loses.

And what about Atlantic Beach?

What will become of the
last historically segregated

beach community in the country?

Can Atlantic Beach
survive without Bike Week?

And could Bike Week ever be the same without Atlantic Beach?

[deep rhythmic music]

Hucks: They can win this war
against Black Bike Week

with the barricades and
the police state stuff,

and the spying.

But what happens to
the name Myrtle Beach

when all of that falls out?

I'm here to tell you
that it does exist here

in Myrtle Beach, all year round,

in particular, particularly,
particularly this weekend,

Memorial Day weekend.

We're all citizens
of this country,

we have the right to
go where we want to be.

We have the right to be
free from discrimination.

Myrtle Beach is going
to come to realize

when this current crop
of people who are just

wrong-headed, they're
gonna realize we can't do

this heavy-handed stuff and
maintain our brand image.

Rhodes: We don't own the event,
we don't promote the event.

We just have to
maintain the event.

Would I like to
see it shut down?

I'd like to see it smaller.

People that wanna
come to Myrtle Beach,

they have every right
to come to Myrtle Beach

and every right to
demand that the city

and the businesses treat
them fairly and equally.

This occurs during
Memorial Day weekend,

where we celebrate those
who sacrificed their lives

for freedom and democracy.

That's what we're supposed
to be celebrating.

And it's just ironic that
during that celebration

of freedom and democracy,

you have a city that
treats its citizens and

those who are visiting the
city as second-class citizens.

[slow deep music]

Imagine if Rosa
Parks said, "Well,

"they're not gonna
treat me equally, so

"I'm just gonna
put up with it", or

"I'm not gonna get on that bus."

This is our back of the bus.

This is our Howard Johnson's.

This is our Woolworths.

These are our diners.

Asaka: At some point, people
have to stand up and demand

equal rights and
equal treatment.

And that's what we're
gonna continue to do.

What my elder brothers
and your parents,

and your grandparents
did, it's your turn

because freedom has
never been free.

You have to fight for it.

[exciting fun music]

[soft rhythmic music]

[fast rhythmic music]