We’ve all seen them. Wheels so wide, often chrome, often the cleanest aspect of the car themselves, and on cars that are 100% of the time driven by African-Americans. And as prompted by Sir Charles Barkley himself, imploring young black athletes to stop wasting their money on rims, I must ask:
What historic events led to the modern disposition in African-Americans today that associate big rims with success, credibility, and status?
Also notice that in the example picture, they’re equipped onto a Ford Crown Victoria, a vehicle known mostly for being the preferred police cruiser. Furthermore, the rims are so large, they’re lifting the vehicle higher off the ground that what is typically standard. This now throws off the center of gravity that the car used to be optimally set to, likely resulting in hindered handling. The sheer diameter of the rims is so large at this point, that acceleration is retarded somewhat, as it takes longer time for one full wheel spin, let alone getting to normal driving speeds. Nevermind that all of the above is most certainly affecting the fuel economy of the car, entirely.
But who cares, it(‘s supposed to) looks dope/fly/sweet/hot/the hotness/the tits/gangsta.
So despite the illogical nature in which big rims hinder a vehicle, why are they still so popular among black guys? Typically, aftermarket wheels are often cheaper than original equipment manufactured wheels, but in the case of the types of rims that are affixed onto late-model American made boat cars, often times, they’re more expensive than the suggested retail value of the cars themselves! If they were cheaper rims, it could logically explain the fascination, but in often times, they’re not. Which is why it’s extra puzzling.
This phenomenon doesn’t differentiate by class, either. The poorest of poor black areas are often rampant with cars equipped with the fattest and biggest of rims, even if the cars themselves have pain peeling, rust spots, broken windows, bullet holes, etc. But then every single black professional athlete spends their signing bonus, or their first free agent contract’s first dollars on a car, immediately equipping them with rims anywhere from 22-32″ in diameter.
Which brings me back to the original question – what happened in history that led to this disposition? During the days of slavery, were there ever instances of African-Americans commandeering a wagon train and rolling around the paths, but then in order to help each other out, they needed to differentiate, and visually customize their stolen wagon train with wider, shiny spoke-wheels so that other blacks on the run would see their wagon train, and recognize as friendly? Or was there a greedy scrooge of a person who had a brother, and they were given 100 lbs. of metal in order to equip their cars with homemade wheels, but then the greedy degenerate older brother used 80 lbs. of it to make the biggest and most excess wheels he could to visually establish his dominance over his junior?
All I really want to know in the end, is just what is so appealing about big rims? Personally, I think they’re horrendous to look at, and most certainly not worth the money. So I’d really just like a logical, believable explanation to why it’s such a phenomenon in black culture.
