raqcial profiling
... minor traffic violations and which motorists or pedestrians to search for contraband. Does this sound fair to you? Consider the real life experience of racial profiling experienced by two special people in my life- my parents. In the fall of 1999, my parents were traveling on the highway coming from visiting my aunt that lives in Michigan. As they traveled along, my parents noticed the state police car parked on the side of the highway. My father observed the state police pulled up on the side of them then trailed them from behind for quite some distance. The police officer then pulled them over and told my father to hand over his license, step out of the vehicle and spread his hands on his car. My father did exactly what the officer told him. During this time, my parents were very nervous because they did not know what was going to happen next. After some time, the officer gave my father his license back then asked my parents did they have guns or drugs in the car. Offended, my mother replied, “Hell no!” Then the officer asked if he could search the vehicle because he felt they fit the description of typical drug dealers since they were driving a black SUV with a rental car logo sticker, there was a car air freshener dangling from their rearview mirror, and they had cellphones. My mother replied again, “No you can not search our vehicle. Are you crazy? For your information, we are working people who bought this vehicle from a car rental facility, we happen to love the smell of the air freshener you see in our vehicle, and we can afford cellphones.” My parents then asked the officer could he come up with a legitimate reason for stopping them since they had no drugs, guns and did not exceed the speed limit. The officer could not give them a reason and let them go. My mother obtained the name of the officer’s supervisor. Once they arrived home, my mother called the officer’s supervisor and let him know how they were treated. After that, an investigation was launched, my parents hired a lawyer who dealt with “driving while black” cases, and a few months later received a settlement out of court. What I learned from the case of my parents, is that racial profiling had been a real ordeal for them and is a growing problem. Scores of African-Americans, including prominent athle...