If I was to try to enumerate the number of times I've changed lanes without signaling, I'd run out of fingers and toes. In heavy traffic, I always signal, but on a lightly-traveled highway, it's easy to become lax.
The incidence of over-stressed, poorly trained, and sometimes bigoted cops --- hopefully, still a minority of all sworn officers --- brutalizing and sometimes even killing people of color is becoming as American as apple pie. Self-anointed vigilantes have occasionally contributed to the carnage with their own toxic brand of hatred. Remember George Zimmerman, the wannabe-cop who gunned down Trayvon Martin? Also not to be forgotten: Michael Dunn, the 47-year-old bigot who shot into a car full of black teenagers, killing one because he decided that their radio was too loud. There have been others by the score in recent years.
As a straight-looking white guy with some mileage on my anatomical odometer, I have no idea what it would feel like to be profiled day after day. But I can try to imagine. On more than one occasion, nonwhite friends and co-workers --- mild-mannered individuals --- have expressed to me the irritation they've sometimes felt in the wake of traffic stops without meaningful cause. Also worth mentioning are the retailers who select customers of a darker hue for the eagle-eye treatment, white pedestrians who tighten the grip on their handbags, laptops, etc., when approached by someone a few shades darker.
According to her family, Sandra Bland often voiced her concern regarding issues of social justice. When Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia curbed her white Hyundai, on a fateful July day last summer, she didn't hesitate to express her sentiments. She was cited for failure to signal for a lane change. As a dash-cam video in the squad car indicates, she switched lanes specifically to allow the officer to pass her. She also stated such.
The dash-cam in the trooper's vehicle captured the first ten minutes of the traffic stop and the ensuing confrontation. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpSEemvwOn4
It's painful to watch, but this ten-minute video clip clearly demonstrates who threw the tantrum. At 2:33, Officer Encinia, sworn to uphold the law and preserve the peace, cast all sense of decorum to the winds, and morphed into a raging goon within thirty seconds. Following four minutes of manhandling --- including a threat to "light her up" with a Taser --- he told Ms. Bland that her citation was only a warning, but that "she started creating a problem." (6:25).
Back to 2:33: Officer Encinia really blew it! Ms. Bland assumed --- legitimately so --- that she was being charged with a moving violation. All he needed to say, at that moment, was, "It's just a warning. You're free to go. And please remember to use your signals." Instead he asked her to extinguish her cigarette without offering a reason, thereby exceeding the limits of his authority. She rightfully refused.* The officer then went ballistic, leading to Ms. Bland's arrest and incarceration. Three days later she was found dead in her cell.
County officials claim that she committed suicide. Their only evidence is a written report claiming that she had mentioned a suicide attempt during her intake interview. But there's apparently no audio. Ms. Bland's family stated that she had been very upbeat when they last communicated, having just begun a new job which she loved. So who's telling the truth? The US Department of Justice really needs to investigate.
Suppose Officer Encinia had curbed a sassy southern belle with a peaches-and-cream complexion. Would he have manhandled her and threatened to "light her up" with a Taser? Of course he would! And Donald Trump is my fairy godmother!
Events of this type, both historical and contemporary, happen all the time. Does anyone really believe that we're living in a "post-racial society"? If so, they need to burst their cocoons and step out into the real world.
* Definitely worth the read: A Talking Points Memo opinion piece by Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina law professor and former police officer. Here's the link: talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/sandra-bland-video-legal-but-not-good-policing
Update: Earlier today, a grand jury indicted Encinia for perjury, for lying about the circumstances leading to Sandra Bland's arrest. (He had claimed that he tried to de-escalate the situation. The dash-cam proved otherwise).
