"if you don't know anyone whose been stopped for driving while black, you have no black friends."

[CreekDog]

"it's that simple." --Joe Scarborough (just now)

racism towards black people is so prevalent that it's making Joe Scarborough wax poetic.

[JI7]

1. i think one has to be a racist to deny it happens

one may not understand it but how can they deny it ?

[cali]

2. I've been with someone who's been stopped while black

on more than one occasion. Pretty scary stuff.

[Ilsa]

3. Talked about it at work with

An African American coworker. He used to get stopped a couple of times a month because he was driving a Volvo in a nice part of town. He was also wearing a suit, but they didn't see or note that.

[malaise]

4. It's that simple

My brother was stopped several times

[Kahuna]

8. Right. It's a way of life for black men. nt

[JustAnotherGen]

5. Well

It's true. The black little girl someone sat next to in the second grade before their parents moved out to the burbs to nip that in the bud . . . Does NOT qualify.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Scar always talks out of both sides of his mouth

He waxes something, but it's not poetic.

With him, it's always Cover Your Ass. So, for example, now he can say, "I was as critical of George W. Bush as anyone."

[Kahuna]

7. And for the average black man..not just once but as a matter of routine. nt

[Uben]

9. I've been stopped for driving while black, and I'm white!

I was pulled over for no reason other than I drove a big black cadillac with tinted windows. The trooper was definitely profiling. He asked what I did for a living to afford to drive that kind of car. HE used his device that measures the darkness of the tinted windows to see if they were legal. They were, they came that way when the car was new. He was just trying to justify stopping me. He said they were barely legal. WTF? Either they are legal or they are not. He wound up writing me a warning ticket for driving 2 mph over the speed limit, so I didn't argue. It was a chicken-shit stop, but anytime you walk away without a citation, it's a good thing.
This was on I-35 north of Austin, Tx, a known drug-trafficking route coming out of mexico. These troopers dream of making the "big bust" so they can put a feather in their cap. My nephew is a state trooper here in Texas, and I have heard a million stories about how they "legally" abuse our rights. They are trained to do it!

[TalkingDog]

11. Same here.

I was driving a Saturn at a point when those cars were being marketed heavily to black families on TV as a good "starter car".

I had a vanity plate that could have been read as a modern style, alternative spelling name.

He said I was speeding (I was going maybe 2 or 3 miles over the limit), but when I asked him how fast I was going, he couldn't tell me. He just insisted that it was over the limit.

He let me go. Mostly because he didn't have a reason to stop me in the first place.

[pamela]

12. Ha! Me, too!

I use to work at a drug treatment program in a part of town where a lot of blacks lived. I also drove a Cadillac but it was an older one that had seen better days. One night while driving home a cop pulled me over. When he got to the window, he looked at me and did a classis double-take and said, "Oh, I'm sorry." I shit you not. It was so fucking obvious. He caught himself and sputtered something and let me go, telling me to "be careful." I don't even remember what reason he gave for pulling me over or if he even gave a reason.

[etherealtruth]

10. It is that simple

The only thing I would add, is that this occurs when someone is "suspected" of being black.

I was married to a person "of color" ... he is a very dark Indian (the sub-continent) man (that does not fit the Indian stereo-type of being small with fine features). At a quick glance he looks "black". He drove (and drives) higher end "luxury cars" ... I cannot begin to tell you how many times we were pulled over (for no apparent reason) when we were married.

I do need to say the similarity (experiential) generally ends there ... once pulled over and when ID is proffered ... his treatment has not usually been that of a "black man" (ie he was not questioned about why he was in the neighborhood, or why he had such a nice car ....)

[Courtesy Flush]

13. I remember having this conversation with a black friend

He listed multiple times he's been pulled over. Seems to be a regular occurrence. He's a very responsible guy, too. College gradate, who raised his child alone after cancer took his wife. He plays by the rules.

I, on the other hand, am white and have been driving twenty years longer than he has, and had no stories to share.