Sometimes I miss the little details about keeping my car in good shape. I once drove for 2 months on an expired inspection sticker.
I have had a cracked windshield, a partially broken license plate, and a missing tail light. I don’t want to think about the number of times I’ve forgotten my license at home.
I haven’t worried about any of this, though. You know why?
Because I’m a white woman.
Philando Castile didn’t have the same immunity that I have.
The Huffington Post reported on Castile’s driving record. It shows that he suffered the indignity of driving while Black for his entire adult life. Up until the moment when he was inexplicably shot to death by a police officer, the young man was stopped an incredible 52 times for minor violations.
The records show that Castile was stopped for speeding, for having a cracked windshield and for driving without proof of insurance. Almost half of the charges were simply dismissed.
These records are the absolute definition of racial profiling.
When he was stopped on the day of his death, Philando Castile was driving down a street that is famous among Black residents because of the number of traffic stops. The street, Lapenteur Avenue, runs through a white town between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Black people who travel it routinely warn each other to slow down and be careful because so many of them are pulled over for minor infractions.
NAACP chapter president Jeffrey Martin said:
“Things hanging from the rearview mirror, a crack in your windshield that doesn’t obscure your view, a faulty turn signal. There are so many traffic laws on the books that if you cited everyone for all of them, you would write a thousand more tickets a day.”
What makes this tragic situation even more frightening for residents is that police are not really stopping Black drivers for the stated reasons. There is a more sinister point to the traffic stops.
Records show that Philando Castile was not pulled over for a “faulty taillight” as was originally reported. Instead a recording of the police scanner showed that he was pulled over because he resembled a recent robbery suspect.
They had similar noses.
Let that sink in.
A Black man was pulled over more than 50 times in 14 years. He was shot to death in front of his girlfriend and her child because he was reaching for his license and registration. Now we find out that he was profiled and targeted because of the shape of his nose.
I will never, ever in my entire life have to fear the police because of the shape of my big white nose.
This is not the country I want to be living in.
Watch this MSNBC video interview with Castile’s girlfriend for more background:
Featured Image Via MSNBC YouTube Video.
