Today I saw white privilege in action --Update

[mnhtnbb]

Update Tuesday morning.

As far as I can tell, the black man who was handcuffed by the police--one officer doing the handcuffing and a second officer standing behind him watching--was not arrested. A local Raleigh TV station keeps a blog of arrest record/mug shots by date and county in the immediate viewing area. I just finished checking the arrests for Wake County yesterday and the man I saw being handcuffed at the location is not listed in the arrests yesterday.

https://www.wral.com/wake-county-nc-arrest-photos/8981628/

If you move your cursor over the mug shot, it brings up the arresting record information, including the address where the arrest occurred.

It looked to me like a routine traffic stop with a lot of police power. Driving while black? Mistaken identity?


______________________________________________________________________________

Background: I'm a 68 yo white female. Retired. Have lived all over the country since I was born in NY, grew up in NJ, moved to CA as a teen, and migrated east from L.A. in the late 80's through Missouri and Nebraska because my husband and I didn't want to raise kids in Los Angeles. Ended up in North Carolina in 2000.

So, I've been around. I've seen things

Today I was driving from downtown Raleigh, where I live, to Cameron Village--about 10 minutes away on surface streets--to run some errands. The woman in front of me and I pulled up to a stoplight. There are multiple signs indicating NO RIGHT TURN ON RED posted at the intersection. A police car pulls up in the left lane beside us. I could see it coming...and she did it! The white woman in front of me turned right--on the red light--in spite of the multiple signs stating not to do so. I thought, how fun, the cop is going to put on his lights, pull in front of me, and go after her. The thought of it made me chuckle, because I see so many people violating rules of the road that I loved the idea this woman was going to get caught.

Wrong. The cop did NOTHING. WTF? Blatant violation of the posted signs and he did NOTHING! There is no way he didn't see it. She was white. Did that have something to do with it?

Later this afternoon Snowy and I were out for our 4 pm walk. I saw two police cars--lights flashing--with a car pulled over. I didn't see the police pull the car over so have no idea why it was pulled over. Traffic violation? BOLO on the car? Running warrants after a traffic stop? Have no idea. But there were two cops on the stop.

But guess what? They got a black man out of the car and handcuffed him. No resistance. He was cooperative. There were plenty of people around to whip out cell phones had it gotten difficult.

But it made me think about the white woman who earlier in the day--not four blocks away--who violated a traffic sign RIGHT NEXT TO A POLICE CAR and NOTHING happened to her. She just went on her merry way. No Sandra Bland treatment for her.

[msongs]

1. you know nothing about the second stop and reach a conclusion? nt

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

2. I think she made a valid comparison without reaching a conclusion.

[mnhtnbb]

4. I saw a white woman suffer no consequences

from failing to comply with multiple signs posted NO RIGHT TURN ON RED despite a police car being right fu*king next to her when she turned right on the red light.

Sandra Bland was stopped for failing to use a turn signal. She was arrested because she was viewed as "threatening".

I have no idea why the black man I saw getting out of his vehicle today was handcuffed. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe he didn't.

But the white woman I saw violate the NO TURN ON RED sign definitely deserved to be stopped and issued a citation.

[LiberalArkie]

13. Cop may have been heading back to station to go off-duty.... They see nothing at that time of their

day.

[Ferrets are Cool]

21. And that makes it right?

[customerserviceguy]

24. Of course not

but a lot of cops are just plain lazy when it comes to enforcing laws that don't bring in a serious amount of fine revenue. I saw it all the time when I lived in NY and worked in NJ.

[spin]

32. Of course that doesn't make it right. However ...

that is simple reality.

Cops like to get home on time just like civilians.

I have also noticed as retirement approaches some cops lose much of the fire in their belly to serve and protect. I remember being at a pistol range one time where a short timer cop just about to retire had stopped by to talk to the range master. He got a call on his radio about an alarm going off at a store but continued his conversation for another ten minutes before he left to respond.

I have a lot of admiration for those who are willing to do police work but I realize they are also human.

I personally would never want to be a cop in today’s world. One if my grandsons is thinking about joining the force and I am trying to discourage him.

[Doodley]

30. Maybe the cop had something more important to do. You don't get to say

how a cop prioritizes his work.

[zanana1]

42. We don't get to say how a cop prioritizes his work?

So they can get away with things like this because it's their own business and we have no right to complain about it?

[pazzyanne]

50. Who pays their paycheck?

Last time I checked it was us, the US taxpayer.

[Fla Dem]

5. She clearly said she had no idea what caused the 2nd stop.

I believe it was just the confluence of events that in a 1 day span she observed a white women commit a blatant offense in front of a police officer and no action was taken. Later, she observes a Black man detained in handcuffs by 2 cops. It just got her to ponder.

[mnhtnbb]

51. Thank you.

I updated the thread, too, today to indicate that apparently he was not arrested (according to a log that is kept by one of the TV stations locally showing mug shots and information from arrests made in the county).

I never stated that the officers were arresting the black man--as some people have made that assumption is their comments-- I just described that as I was walking by with my dog, I saw the police ask him to get out of the car and then he was handcuffed.

[stevesinpa]

56. do you not know how to think critically?

she did not reach a conclusion, she simply asked a question. a valid question in today's United States

[bearsfootball516]

3. You have no idea what happened at the second stop.

I'm a white male and I've been pulled over for traffic violations on multiple occasions. The woman in your story made a turn she wasn't supposed to and didn't get pulled over. Maybe the officer was having a good day and decided to let it slide. Who knows. Then you see a black man being arrested and admit that you have absolutely no knowledge of the traffic stop prior to him being handcuffed.

I get the point you're trying to make, but this is a poor example because you're assuming the reason she wasn't pulled over was because she was white, and the reason he was arrested was because he was black when we don't actually know if any of those reasons are valid.

[Fla Dem]

8. She clearly stated that,

“I didn't see the police pull the car over so have no idea why it was pulled over.”

[Cartoonist]

6. Not worth it

I was at a safety class when a cop explained why some people get a pass. He was debunking the notion that cops have a quota of tickets to give out, so they set up speed traps and the like. He said they witness so many traffic violations, that there is no need for a quota. There aren't enough hours in the day to write up everyone.

[tymorial]

7. It's not just White Privilege but the fact that she is a white woman

Last edited Tue Jun 11, 2019, 09:07 AM - Edit history (1)

White women are much much less likely to receive a ticket when pulled over for a traffic violation.

Sorry about the confusion. I missed the less.

[wasupaloopa]

9. Who are the ones pulled over for traffic violations who do not get tickets?

[Mr.Bill]

11. It was mostly when I was younger and driving hot rod cars

but I have been pulled over at least 50 times. Sometimes drunk, which I am not proud of, and I have a grand total of three minor moving violations in 50 years of driving. Most recent was ten years ago.

Did I mention I look like Opie Taylor?

[wasupaloopa]

16. Can you get insurance

[Mr.Bill]

20. Of course.

Why would I not be able to get insurance when my last ticket was ten years ago for 65 mph in a 55 zone?

[Blue_true]

28. I have been pulled over about three times and didn't get a ticket.

Two of the violations were minor, but in one I was clocked 15 mph over the speed limit.

[wasupaloopa]

31. I was on my way to LAX on the Ventura Frwy to pick up

my girl friend in the early 80’s.

I was speeding and a female Highway Patrol officer pulled me over.

She asked where I was going in such a hurry.

When I told her she said “stay out of the left lane you stick out like a sore thumb.”

She did not ticket me.

[cwydro]

36. Did you mean to say they are NOT more likely to get a ticket?

Because I would think men of any color are more likely to get a ticket.

That being said, I’m a white woman who even got a ticket on a road for rolling a stop sign where there was NO other way to turn but left - no traffic threat from the other direction.

It’s been years since I’ve gotten a ticket now, but when I was younger I got both tickets and the occasional warning.

My father, also white, was a terrible speeder, and he got more tickets than I can remember. In the south.

[tymorial]

38. Oh yeah I really screwed that one up. I missed the less

Thanks for pointing it out. I will fix it

[cwydro]

46. Lol, yeah it helps to be a woman when it's a male cop, not if it's a female cop though.

Not one bit lol.

[hunter]

10. If I was black or brown I'd likely be dead for all the shit I've given cops.

My later teens and early twenties were pretty rough.

[yaesu]

14. When I was a teen coming back from a Meijers with my first 10 speed bike back in the early 70's

at night my brother, who was driving, came up on a roadblock with cop spotlights blinding us. We had shotguns pointed at our heads when we stopped. They were looking for armed robbers. We got bitched out for not stopping at their hastily set up road block fast enough. I wonder what would have happened to us if we were black?

[yaesu]

12. If you really want the down low of whats going on

get yourself a digital police scanner & listen to the car to car conversations. Its rare to find such feeds online as most scanner sites have rules against certain digital talk groups. A local radio shop put one online years ago but the local PD asked him to take it down, which he did.

[KSNY]

15. I've benefitted from it too

I was going 50 on a 35mph (empty) street in the suburbs. Got off with a warning.
Also sure that I have been hired for jobs because I was perceived as "less threatening" or a "better fit" for some places.
Happens all the time unfortunately.

Though at first I thought that you were talking about the contrast between Republican blowhards and well-spoken Democratic representatives at today's Congressional hearing.

[cwydro]

17. If he was in handcuffs, I'd bet it wasn't a minor traffic violation.

What a stretch.

[NewEnglandAutumn]

23. Not Really

There are a lot of videos of people interacting with police out there and if you set some time aside and watch them it is impossible to not see patterns of behavior i.e..
-there are a lot of idiots out there who set out to piss off cops (many are self proclaimed sovereign citizens)
-there are cops who clearly enjoy bullying people
-black people, particularly men, are handcuffed at routine stops for 'the safety of everyone' much more frequently than white people

[KentuckyWoman]

18. This is my complaint

We need a police force we can trust. We don't have that and never have in my lifetime.

I have been on the receiving end of overzealous cops. I shudder to think what would be the result if I were a black man. I have had moments in Atlanta ... in a not the greatest neighborhood when someone looked to be in trouble.... I might have called police but didn't. Why? Because I didn't want to give the police another excuse to murder unarmed black men. I always wondered if the persons got home safe.

I'm on the back half of my 70's now found having a head of white hair with a sickly husband provides far more freedom to speak out in the moment when I see things. By God if I'm going to be provided better treatment, then I'm going to make authorities who do that look at it. Don't treat me worse... treat everyone like you treat me.

[Honeycombe8]

19. That's unfair, since you don't know.

For the first car, if the road was clear when the lady made her turn, and the cops were on their way to something specific, they may have let it go. Or maybe they considered it too dangerous to turn in front of you to go after her.

As for the second, it's possible there was a warrant out for his arrest...maybe he didn't turn up in court, or had a stack of tickets he hadn't paid.

I'm a 60-something white female. I've been stopped plenty in my life...once for speeding, and I wasn't speeding (really). I got a ticket and everything. Then he says, "Tell you what I'm gonna do. I'll put down here this is a seatbelt violation, which will mean a $35 fine for you and no moving violation, and we'll let it go at that." Mind you....I wasn't speeding.

I was stopped for being a couple of days late having my registration sticker on my car. I had it. It was propped up in my windshield. I just hadn't stuck it on yet. Oh, yes...he wrote out an official "warning" on me.

If the race of the two drivers in your post was reversed, you wouldn't have done the post, would you? Maybe you're looking for this issue, even when it may not exist?

[Solomon]

43. LOL. "Maybe you're looking for this issue.."

Certainly don't have to look real hard. There are whole towns financed off the tickets they issue to black folk.

[Honeycombe8]

49. LOL.

There are whole towns financed off the tickets they issue to white folks.

It's the same as men who declare women drivers are horrible. When they drive, they can point to this car and that one, being driven by women, as "proof" of women being bad drivers. That's because that's what they NOTICE. They are disregarding all the male drivers who are doing the same things, or worse. Statistics show that women are not higher claim risks than men. When I drive, I don't automatically single out female drivers for mistakes being made, because I don't have a preconceived notion about it, so that I see things that fit my preconceived notion.

If you're looking for something, you will surely find it.

[Wolf Frankula]

22. I have been stopped for no reason.

I have been accused of attempting to break into my own house. I have been accused of stealing my own car. Does this sound like white privilege?

Wolf

[StarfishSaver]

25. Were you afraid of getting killed during any of these encounters?

[Wolf Frankula]

27. In the encounter at my house yes

The cops had their guns drawn.

Wolf

[StarfishSaver]

29. Why did they think you were breaking in to your own house?

[Wolf Frankula]

35. I don't know. Ask them

I was fumbling with a worn key, trying to get into my garage to get the mail. Ask the cops.

Wolf

[WhiskeyGrinder]

26. White privilege does not mean bad things don't happen to you.

[Maru Kitteh]

33. We have absolutely no way of knowing what the first officer was doing either

She/he could have been on their way to a non-emergency call, could have been going to meet a friend for lunch, could have been returning to a station for a meeting or at the end of shift, could have been on their way to talk at a school, might have had a full bladder and needed a pit stop, might have been called to an accident scene to divert traffic, etc., etc., so on.

And as others have said, we have no idea what was happening in the second situation either.


White privilege is grotesquely real, but apart from our imaginations, these anecdotes are wanting as evidence.

[D2020]

34. Not all police officers

Are outdoing routine traffic stops. And since you don't know what the circumstances were for the second stop I don't see the white privilege at all

[Fix The Stupid]

37. Ahh.. it's "white privilege" day on DU...so fun.

Guess there isn't enough out there to divide your party...

Keep it up... this is a hoot.

[MineralMan]

39. Well, I'm not sure you've made your case, actually.

The police often let minor things slide, like that illegal turn. That's especially true if turning to stop that driver would be dangerous in any way, like a cop in the left lane turning across traffic to ticket someone for an illegal right turn on a light.

In the second case, the only thing you know is that the driver who was arrested was a person of color. Beyond that you have no information.

So, you saw one white woman not ticketed and one black man arrested without incident. The two situations were completely unrelated and you have no further information.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

40. We all see white privilege every day of our lives.

First step is admitting that.

[USALiberal]

41. Cops ignore minor traffic violations ALL THE TIME! Bad logic! Nt

[Solomon]

44. Cops ignore minor traffic violations

committed by white people ALL THE TIME!

There. Fixed it for you.

[NewDayOranges]

52. THIS!

[fescuerescue]

45. Could be.

But every cop we see isn't on traffic patrol. Sometimes they are driving to a call. Sometimes going to court. Sometimes driving to interview a witness in a murder case or robbery.

Sometimes they don't see something. Because they are just humans with 2 eyes and 160 degree of vision. And sometimes they are racist assholes who saw a white girl violate a minor law and chooses to ignore because of racism.

So. Lets Assume the worst. Because it makes us feel better. It makes up feel superior. Because GOD forbid someone not get pulled over for turning right on red.

[cwydro]

47. You might need a hobby.

[mnhtnbb]

53. Like everyone else on DU?

[Bonx]

48. I think it's ok to assume a lot of things with the police. What a shame they are so racist.

[Captain Stern]

54. In my opinion, this is making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Sounds like you're pissed because somebody turned right on red, when they shouldn't have....and the cop didn't chase them down, and give them a ticket.

Get over it.

The woman that turned right on red didn't cause on accident. If she had gotten hit, the fact the she turned right on red when she shouldn't have, would have made her unquestionably liable for the accident.

Do you get angry when you see the police ignore somebody that is driving 60 mph where the speed limit is 55 mph? I bet not.

[fescuerescue]

55. If only we lived in a world where every single minor transgression was punished

Think how much more free we would be.