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My Mother, Stopped for Driving While Black
When the police pulled their guns on my middle-aged mom, a white
motorist pulled up to tell them what a good job they were doing.
BY MILEN MEHARI, AUGUST 3, 2016.
ORIGINALLY IN OTHERWORDS.
(Photo: mikecphoto / Shutterstock.com)
When the police pulled their guns on my mother, I reached for my phone
and told her to be calm and do as they say.
My parents and I had just been swarmed by police cars, sirens blaring,
as we drove on I-64 through Virginia. Shock and fear consumed my
family as we came to a stop and were ordered out of the vehicle at gun
point. A third car even showed up to stop traffic.
The officers then arrested my mother without any explanation. I felt helpless.
As I questioned the police about why they stopped us, a family of
three just driving along and minding our own business, a passing white
motorist stopped his car. He gave the police officers a thumbs-up and
told them, “We support the great job you’re doing.”
I was stunned.
My parents sought asylum in the United States from Eritrea many years
ago. We work hard and obey the rules. But that’s not enough. In a sad
twist of fate, our family has stumbled into institutional injustice in
a new form.
Eventually the arresting officer accused my mother both of going too
slow and eluding his siren for 10 miles. Three police cars, guns, and
handcuffs for my middle-aged mom, apparently for going too slow on a
highway. Being too cautious seems to be yet another thing that can get
you stopped for driving while black.
Two weeks later, police in Minnesota stopped Philando Castile for an
alleged broken taillight. When Castile reached for his identification,
he carefully told the cop his every move. To avoid any wrong
assumptions, he explained that he had a license to carry a concealed
weapon, which he had in the car.
Castile was then shot several times and killed. What was his crime? Is
a broken taillight a reason to be shot? Is driving too slow a reason
to be handcuffed at gunpoint, surrounded by three cop cars?
The mistreatment of black people by police officers isn’t new, nor is
it surprising. According to the Justice Department, black people are
almost four times more likelythan whites to experience the use of
force during police encounters.
Before Castile’s slaying by the St. Anthony Police Department, he’d
been stopped by police over 50 times and acquired thousands of dollars
in fines and fees. Castile’s mother had encouraged her son to complain
about the police’s racial profiling. But like many black people,
Castile chose not to.
Why bother reporting police harassment, they reason, to the very
people who commit the assault?
During our eight-hour drive to Alleghany County Court, I remember
being so confident that the judge would be on my mother’s side. The
police had no evidence at all, and they’d plainly exposed my family to
unnecessary emotional and financial hardship. Surely, the judge would
see that.
I was wrong. Not only was my mother found guilty of both counts, they
also revoked her driver’s license. Our lawyer refused to press our
case, demurring, “I’m not in the business of suing police officers.”
We are but one of thousands of black families in America who are
targeted, profiled, fined, incarcerated, and — as we saw with Castile
— sometimes killed by unaccountable police officers and a justice
system that supports them.
The American dream can’t be a reality if the very color of our skin
makes us criminals in the eyes of the law.
Milen Mehari is a Next Leader at the Institute for Policy Studies for
the Criminalization of Race and Poverty project.
Received on Sat Aug 06 2016 - 12:12:47 EDT