Racial inequality and disparities is prevalent in many aspects of life. It is a harsh reality that can make housing, employment, medical care, and many other necessities difficult for some individuals to obtain. Unfortunately, racial disparities can be seen even in traffic violations or stops. Many police officers, city/state officials, school administrators, physicians, etc. like to hold a stereotypical view of individuals who have a different skin tone than them.
For decades, Black individuals have had to face being disproportionately targeted as they attempt to complete simple daily tasks. For example, certain stores will have employees follow them around as they shop, they can be questioned or stopped for walking down some streets, or they can be pulled over for simply driving while Black.
Across the sands of times, parents have had to teach their young certain rules to follow when out in public. Such as look both ways before crossing a street, don’t talk to strangers, check your Halloween candy before eating it, etc.
The Talk and Police Interactions
For Black and Brown communities, these talks are more extensive. For them they have to explain racial issues and hatred to their children. More to the point, they have to educate their youth how best to deal with the police. When their children are younger, they are told things like don’t raise your voice, keep their hands visible, say yes sir no ma’am if they have to converse with authority. As their children grow, so does “The Talk.”
Black individuals even have their own guidelines they must follow if they are ever pulled over by the police. Moreover, they are told things like turn down their music (or listen to gospel as it’s less threatening), keep their wallet on the dashboard, only keep registration and insurance in the glove box, don’t make sudden movements, or don’t go searching for things so the police won’t think they are looking for a weapon.
Standing Up Against Racial Profiling by Police and Other
In 1999, an Illinois state senator from the South Side of Chicago (Barack Obama), sponsored groundbreaking legislation to combat racial profiling by police. Obama joined forces with Rickey Hendon and other Black senators to introduce the bill. Additionally, the legislation required police officers to log the ethnicity of all those they pull over.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Obama proved to be a different kind of legislator — one who wasn’t placing blame or pointing fingers — that the bill finally met everyone’s approval. In 2003, the bill passed unanimously and random stops of Black motorists decreased. However, this decrease only happened because now their actions were going to be reviewed on a regular basis.
Progress Stops Short
The Illinois Traffic Stop Statistical Study Act was supposed to put a stop to widespread police practice of stopping people “Driving While Black.” However, that didn’t end the practice as it was supposed to, only deterred the police momentarily. Today, the statistics of traffics traffic stops involving Black drivers continues to rise, unabated.
In fact, study’s have shown that law enforcement agencies aren’t complying with the law. Sadly, the state appears unable to reverse the tide.
In 2022, Chicago police officers stopped Black drivers more than four times that of white motorists. Outside of Chicago showed a significant disproportionate racial divide as well. In Illinois, Black motorists make up 9.5% of the state’s adult population. However, 21.5% of all traffic stops outside of Chicago were of Black individuals.
“It is disheartening to see that even today, residents in Black communities are targeted for traffic stops four times more than others, with my neighborhood of Austin seeing some of the highest rates of profiling in the state.” Mayor Brandon Johnson admitted to WBEZ in a written statement.
IDPT Claims
The Illinois Department of Transportation claims the program they monitor doesn’t “prove that there is racial profiling but may be taken as the basis for further inquiry.” However, many people feel it does implicate it a bit.
By Sheena Robertson
Sources:
WBEZ: Illinois traffic stops of Black drivers reach record highs
WebMD: Black Families and ‘The Talk’
NBC Chicago: Barack Obama and Racial Profiling
PPIC: Racial Disparities in Traffic Stops
University of South Carolina: Racial disparities revealed in massive traffic stop dataset
NPR: PBS Documentary, ‘Driving While Black,’ Examines Long Road Of Racism
Chicago Sun-Times: PBS Documentary, ‘Driving While Black,’ Examines Long Road Of Racism
Inset Image Courtesy of NCinDC‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Featured Image by Duncan Moore Courtesy of UNEP‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
