Be courteous. Stay calm. Keep your hands where the police can see them. Bang bang bang. You’re dead anyway. Driving while black “is yet another entry in an ever-growing list” of deadly dangers black people face in this era when lynchings are carried out by police instead of robed Klansmen (see related story here about white supremacists infiltrating police ranks).
“Adrian Lewis … has been pulled over by officers more times than he can count. To ensure his safety, he has installed a GoPro camera facing inward in his car …. ‘When I get stopped, I start recording,’ he told CNN. ‘Once the handcuffs are on, it’s too late and you know you could be killed,’ he added. ‘And, you know, some White cops will lie about it and get away with it.'”
Lewis is a retired soldier and, now, a college professor. When he drives, he fears for his life, because he’s black. He’s not unique.
“Every time Dave Jordan is pulled over by a police officer, his chief goal is to stay alive.” He says “flashing blue lights behind you always strikes fear in your heart. It doesn’t matter that I … have no prior convictions or arrests. I’m still a Black man ….” Jordan, recalling another black man who was shot while reaching for his wallet after being asked for his driver’s license, keeps his wallet on the dashboard.
Barry Hairston of Dallas has lived in fear of cops ever since “he began driving in his teens.” He says, “Whenever I see a police car, I get a feeling of anxiety just knowing they have the power to do what they want. … I’m in my late 40s, and I still have that trauma.” CNN describes what Hairston does during encounters with police:
“[He] addresses police officers by ‘yes sir’ or ‘no sir’ … maintains eye contact with the officer and keeps his hands on the wheel …. If he needs to move his hands for whatever reason, he asks the officer for permission. … And most days, before he starts his car, he says a prayer.”
Being black isn’t the same as being white. When a black motorist is pulled over, he wonders if he’s going to die. That’s reality in 21st-century America, nearly 60 years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. We’re not there yet. Read story here.
White people are shot by cops too when pulled over. They get handcuffed, and are occasionally killed while being arrested or in custody. Maybe these white people are merely white trash. It would seem their stories are not newsworthy. Or only if it is a black officer? Would that sell newspapers? Or get hits on the net?
All officer-involved shootings make news. Studies show black drivers are more likely to be pulled over, and also more likely to be shot, by police.
“Inside 100 million police traffic stops: New evidence of racial bias.”
“Stanford researchers found that black and Latino drivers were stopped more often than white drivers, based on less evidence of wrongdoing.”
“The project has found significant racial disparities in policing. These disparities can occur for many reasons: differences in driving behavior, to name one. But, in some cases, we find evidence that bias also plays a role.”
https://openpolicing.stanford.edu/findings/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/inside-100-million-police-traffic-stops-new-evidence-racial-bias-n980556