From police security at events attended mostly by African American skaters, to the rules at many rinks that ban certain elements integral to the skating subculture, such as customized skates, United Skates makes it clear from the start that the outside community has taken a hostile stance toward the African American skating subculture. It was especially striking to see the lengths to which cities were willing to go in order to eliminate a subculture they did not fully understand – most commonly, cities would refuse to renew the lease of the skating rink and then rezone it as a commercial or residential building in order to prevent it from ever becoming a rink again.

In our commercialized, online world, the few community spaces that remain are increasingly devalued. For many, and particularly for those with power, the potential for profit is more important than the reality of the community fostered in those spaces. Marginalized communities and subcultures are most impacted by this trend because those in power are not generally those with a deep understanding of these communities. Therefore, protests against the removal of these community spaces generally fall on deaf ears, as many decision makers never understood their value in the first place.

It was frustrating and heartbreaking to watch the demise of so many roller rinks at the hands of people who did not understand them in the least. While the ending of United Skates gave me a glimmer of hope, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am concerned for the future of these rinks. Hopefully, as the movie suggests, the community will persist in spite of these challenges; otherwise, something valuable is at risk of being lost.