Anatomy Of A Traffic Stop

It's 5:45 pm...You're off work and you decide to take the parkway home for your commute because traffic is on steroids today. You don't think anything about hanging that left to get on, nor do you think too much about stopping at this 7-11 in this affluent neighborhood off of said parkway, either.

You hop out of your ride and go inside to get your Coca-Cola Slurpee, and you're back on the road.

Only, you're not back on the road...The police cruiser that clearly observed you pulling into the 7-11 parking lot, waits for you to exit, then commences to stop you right at the exit before getting back on the road home. You have no clue what you did; You didn't run any lights, you don't have anything wrong with the vehicle's lights. You're just stuck at the wheel, waiting for this officer to get out of his vehicle and initiate this stop.

For black folks though, that randomly average looking traffic stop has become one of the most fear-inducing, traumatic experiences that we, as americans, can experience during the course of our daily lives in this country. Whether you have something to hide, or you're just like this guy (Just getting off of work and starting a long commute home), the experience for MANY of us is the same; You see those flashing lights pop up out of nowhere and reflexively, worst-case scenarios start running through your brain. That fear isn't just something that materialized out of nowhere. The fear of law enforcement (or more accurately, law enforcement policies and actions dealing with people of color.) has roots as old as the history of the country itself. Some of the most horrific moments in modern american civil rights history, have come with those flashing lights, on the side of some dark road, or in broad daylight, for that matter.

Before I go any further, I'll state for the record that law enforcement officers that DO the job the right way, have one of the most dangerous professions there is in american society. In fighting crime, they take life & death level risks every day. That being said, there's a reason why this deep-seeded, unconscious fear of law enforcement tactics and polices, exists. These days, you'd be hard pressed to find any person of color who hasn't had their own experience with that random traffic stop out of the blue, or that encounter with an officer who may have seen a face somewhere that was 'out of place' from their perspective.

It's the type of experience that, unfortunately, is unique to the African-American experience in general. "Driving while black" has morphed into interactions that the rest of America who aren't people of color, tend to take for granted.

When will this sort of thing stop? The truth is that nobody really has the answer to that question just yet. Has American society come a long way in regards to quality of life for people of color? Absolutely. However, advancedment doesn't necessarily equate to empathy and understanding; It doesn't prevent the wilfully ignorant from marginalizing that trauma.

Until we see that part of the equation change, the Oscar Grants and Terrence Crutchers of the world will continue to bear the brunt on that ignorance, and the rest of us will continue to fear an institution that is supposed to serve the public trust.