Iowa Daily Democrat: Assumed Guilty: “Driving while Black”

[Omaha Steve]

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#BlackLivesMatter - Photo from Wikimedia


http://iowadailydemocrat.com/news/2015/12/driving-while-black/

By Rick Smith12/29/15

A recent panel discussion at Drake University provided an insight into the differing perceptions about getting pulled over by police based on color. The forum was co-sponsored by the Des Moines Register and the NAACP and was promoted as a conversation on racial profiling. Betty Andrews, President of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP, served as moderator.

The many recent high-profile police shootings of black men have placed the spotlight on racial profiling. Getting pulled over by the police simply for “driving while black” is a reality in the black community and has led to suspicion and anger.

The diverse panel included State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad; Christopher Barnum, a professor at St. Ambrose University in Davenport and a former police officer; Benjamin Bell, Jr., senior pastor at Present Truth Ministries International in Des Moines; Rondolyn Hawkins, whose sons were stopped by Des Moines Police; and Russell Lovell, a retired Drake law professor who works with the NAACP; and Major Todd Dykstra representing the Des Moines Police.

The stark reality in white and black perceptions was evident when the moderator asked the audience for a show of hands by race on police stops. She asked the black audience members how many believed they had been stopped by police based on their color. Nearly every hand of color in the room went up.

FULL story at link.