I have written things out of anger before on my blog, and this post is no exception. However, just like before, it’s not a seething or hate-filled anger but a passion-filled one. The type of anger I wish more people would feel.
After hearing about yet another incident where an angry white police officer pulled over someone of color, I watched this video that was making the rounds. Much of what I saw angered me, and although seeing someone not be arrested, but accused of resisting arrest may seem laughable, the events that took place make me sad.
I don’t care what attitude the lady in the video had, she simply did not deserve the type of behavior displayed almost immediately by this police officer. And she certainly didn’t deserve the type of treatment she received for doing what, in my opinion, should be our right as an American citizen. At the very least she did nothing wrong but let out her frustration at being pulled over for moving out of the way of a tailgating vehicle, without first signaling.
Write her a ticket and tell her to have a good day, but for the love of God, don’t antagonize an already frustrated person, and provoke a situation that will undoubtedly make the news.
Now I do believe there are a lot of people out there who, like me, don’t care what someone’s skin color is. But I will say that very few of my white friends have ever been pulled over for not using their turn signal or anything really, and the ones that have been pulled over for some small violation never experienced anything close to what this person did. As a matter of fact, both my wife and daughter have been pulled over for speeding a few times, and I know they were both let go with just a warning at least once each. Maybe they smiled and didn’t react like this lady did, but then again, neither of them has ever experienced what people of color often do in this country.
Again, there are people of all colors out there who don’t care about the color of someone else’s skin. I’ve met plenty of them and they all seemed like very nice people. I also believe most of our police officers don’t care what race someone is and do a fine job at protecting and serving everyone.
I wish almost every incident we see like the one in this video didn’t always involve an angry cop, a person of color, and sadly, sometimes death.