In today’s society racial profiling is not as bad as it used to be in the 19th and 20th century. When looking at the whole issue of “Driving While Black” it becomes apparent that it has become difficult for an average black male to be on the road without being labeled. Everything that seems to be done the wrong way is always blamed on young African males until it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that they are not involved. Being black is the influence on how far policemen can go into making investigations and inquiries.
According to authors Charles Epp and Steven Maynard- Moody, the key influence on who is supposed to be stopped in traffic stops is the way in which a person drives but a lot of emphasis is put on who you are and being black makes a person a culprit (8). At investigatory stops, a black man who is twenty five years or less has 28% likelihood to be stopped and frisked than a white man of the same age because their likelihood is 12.5%. This therefore means that there is racial profiling even on the roads.
Kelvin R. Davis a professor of African American studies on his part gives an example of what happens in Cincinnati. He says that the Cincinnati Police had the tendency of stopping and searching young black men and that they confiscated their money and most of the dollars that were seized never reached the police station. In his argument, it is true that young black men were receiving unfair treatment simply because they were segregated against because of their skin color (17).
Zachery Williams, an Associate professor of African American History, gives another perspective to this issue because according to him black men are at the risk by driving their vehicles. According to him, Black men have the highest probability of being stopped and harassed by the police (98). This goes beyond driving and encompasses walking while black, running while black, standing while black, sitting while black, bicycling while being black or just being black (98). According to him, blacks have been discriminated against in all aspects of life and not just when driving.
However, Tania Das Gupta, a Professor of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies argues that race has no influence on the decision making process when it comes to committing crime on our highways. Racial discrimination has been one thing that has dogged America for a very long time and people still hold on to what was there before (260). Some people always choose to hide behind their races because of the ills that have been there. Behind that mask are a whole lot of people who for sure commit crimes and when caught, tend to take on race as a defense mechanism.
It is not that our society is blind to racial discrimination but then the accusations leveled against police officers are sometimes untrue. Paul Higgins and Mitch Mackinem believe that anecdotes exist about being stopped because of race but then there is no research that conclusively shows that this kind of racial profiling exists. What is there is mere speculation and hearsay (151).
Bruce Carruth and Stephen Valle on the other hand did a research on whether it is true that back drivers are discriminated against. Their findings indicate that alcoholism was rampant among blacks but this does not mean that they will always drive while drunk. According to them, as a matter of public policy, no racial group should be branded and that everyone else should be subjected to the same exercises at the police stopovers (119)
Works Cited
Carruth, Bruce & Valle, Stephen. Drunk Driving in America: Strategies and Approaches to Treatment. New York: Routledge. 2013.
Davis, Kelvin, R. Driving while Black: Cover-up. Cincinnati: Interstate International Publishing. 2001
Epp, Charles & Maynard- Moody, Steven. “Driving While Black.” Web, January/February 2014. Retrieved on 1st March 2014. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/january_february_2014/ten_miles_squar /driving_while_black048283.php?page=all#
Gupta, Das, Tania. Race and Racialization. Essential Readings. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press. 2007
Higgings, Paul, & Mackinem, Mitch. Thinking About Deviance: A Realistic Perspective. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. 2008
Williams, Zachery. Africana Cultures and policy Studies. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2009
