I'm so overwhelmed when it comes to this incident that I don't know where to begin. Dr. Gates has lived only hours of the many years that so many African Americans, specifically African American men, have lived. I've been a Jurist for 5.5 years and I can tell you from experience that it's very upsetting to see what happens to the poor, disenfranchised litigant.
Honesty speaking, I was appalled but not shocked when I got the email, the phone call, and the text concerning Dr. Gates. I too have been profiled and mistreated by police. As a young professional representative for the former Daimler Chrysler in PA, I was pulled over and held for twenty minutes roadside by a PA highway patrol for no apparent reason. I had recently left the Philadelphia airport and was headed to my office in Malvern up 426 when I was stopped. After checking my credentials, the trooper said have a nice day. I then said "excuse me officer, but why was I stopped?" He then said very sternly this time, "I said have a nice day", and went back to his car without addressing my question. Thirty minutes passed and I received a phone call from my new office. They were concerned that I may get stopped because they had neglected to change the tag on my new corporate vehicle and the manufacturing tag currently displayed was expired!
It's a funny thing though, the trooper never mentioned my expired tag; he was too concerned with the young Black man driving the new "decked out" Chrysler 300M with manufacturer's plates to be bothered with me actually breaking the law. My crime was "Driving While Black"; for so many of us, our crime is simply living while "black".
My second incident happened in Chester, PA. I was finishing up a tutoring session with some inner-city kids and upon dropping them off home I was stopped by policemen. I had pulled in front of the young man's home for him to get off safely, and while waiting for him to reach his front door, the officers informed me to move it. I pulled off immediately, but noticed that the officers were following me. Three blocks down, they pulled beside me, two older black cops, and asked me who was the owner of my car. I replied with "who's driving it". That was the wrong thing to say. They ordered my to the shoulder of the road and pulled next to me downed their windows and started to ask me all types of questions. Finally, the officer driving got out of the vehicle to check my license and registration. Upon reviewing my credentials, he turned to his partner and stated "oh, we got us a college boy!" He went on to comment about my Brooks Brothers suit jacket hanging in the rear of my vehicle. When the ordeal was done, I was left with a standing/stopping in the road violation and a fine of $95.00. This did not sit well with me, so I went to court.
On the court date, I appeared before a very strict "Black" judge who treated me like I was a thug and the officers could have done no wrong. I informed the judge that the stop was not valid because my initial stop was were I was stopped/standing in the road; however, the charge didn't actually happen until I was stopped for the second time. How could I be charged for an infraction that wasn't charged during the first stop initiated by the officers? Short of telling me to shut up, the judge instructed me to be quiet. He then went on to say that I had admitted to being in the road and that I was guilty. Luckily for me, I had met the Chester Police Commissioner's daughter at a party and through her, I was able to speak with the commissioner about the incident. He apologized and informed me that I was in a bad area known for drug activity, and that I fit the description: young, black, and driving a fancy car (that damn 300M). He also informed me not to worry. I digress, the judge ripped me a new one and ended by saying that if I broke any more laws it didn't matter who I knew, I would be fine and assessed appropriately. Then he found me not guilty.
I knew, based on his last comment that the Commissioner must have called him to discuss my case. But what would have happened if I didn't know Nicole, and she didn't connect me with her father? People, officers lie, officers manipulate, and officers hold back information to get their desired outcome. Not all officers are power hungry. The majority of them do a wonderful job, but the few that have their own agenda, or egos to stroke, can bring hell on earth to citizens, as in the case of our beloved Dr. Gates.
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