Driving While Black

As I watch the US explode over race issues and the stupidity and prejudice of some people overwhelming the media, I am reminded of a story from a former supervisor.She is a black woman - highly educated, professionally regarded and a high-ranking manager. We are both friends and colleagues and no topic is off-limits with us from grandchildren to Afghanistan to race relations.  But this is her story and I ask only that you reflect on the simplicity of it and the implications it holds for our nation.  There is a difference in treatment and it impacts all of us. Don't think it just happens over there - wherever "there" is.

She was chuckling about trying to get car repairs done when working 50 hour weeks, coordinating church and youth activities with her husband and learning how to be a new grandmother and help to her daughter and son-in-law. She had to actually schedule an appointment to get her headlight lamp fixed as her free time is limited. Before that could occur, however, she was driving down a main highway on her way home from work - in full daylight.   She was thoughtfully stopped by a police officer, who noticed her front headlight was out, even though lights were not called for in daylight.  He approached her on the "passenger" side of the car motioning her to roll down her window with his right hand on his holster.  Really? She was professionally dressed, fully cooperative and hardly a threat to the police officer.  A simple story with no lasting repercussions, no fine, no jail, except to her sense of self and safety.

You have to ask yourself - is this how a police officer ever approached you on a simple traffic stop?