Driving While Black: Still Rolling On
Here’s one for us to file under the “I’m Not Surprised” file, a recent study released by the Bureau of Justice on Sunday revealed the African-Americans and Latinos are still more likely than whites to be searched and/or arrested during routine traffic stops.
While data showed that all racial groups were all equally likely to be pulled over, searches for minority drivers were almost triple those for white drivers, with African-Americans being searched 9.5 percent of the time, Latinos 8.8 percent, and Caucasians 3.6 percent.
African-Americans are also twice as likely to be arrested as a result of a traffic stop (4.5 percent) to Caucasians, (2.1 percent). Latinos were arrested 3.1 percent of the time.
The disparity in these statistics are similar to those released in 2002, and while the percentages in traffic offenses have dropped, the gap in police incidents has remained steady.
This is another one of those topics of discrimination that have never received a definitive solution on a national level. While some states have enacted programs to neutralize these actions, it is still a serious issue.
While lobbying and legislative action are necessary, is their room for grassroots action to rally against this type of treatment? Is there a way we can take the wheel on this matter?
Published on April 29, 2007 at 11:39 pm.
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