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MirrorAshes

(1,262 posts)

62. I've been thinking about my interactions with cops over the years

Sun Jul 10, 2016, 10:32 AM

Jul 2016

And honestly, I've gotten away with some shit. I'm good at talking to police, but I know the color of my skin has benefitted me on several occasions.

I've never driven drunk, but there was one night a few years ago that was a bit borderline, I got pulled over and talked my way out of any trouble with ease. It was a pleasant interaction. It probably shouldn't have been.

Then I think back further, to when I was a teenager. I was driving a car full of potheads and my car probably reeked of it. A friend of mine was carrying at least an ounce of it. The cop brought me out of the car, and searched me personally, though I had nothing on me. He left everyone else alone. He gave me a little lecture about making good decisions in life and sent us on our way. I can't help but think if we had been black, we have all gone to jail that night.

Another night of stupidity found a friend and I trespassing on someone's farm, picking psychedelic mushrooms. From the darkness, flashes of blue lights appeared on the road. Then flashlights approaching us in the field, when we were trying to hide. We gave ourselves up and made up a story about looking for a lost dog, even though our IDs put us living 20 miles away. They clearly didn't believe us, but they sent us home with no charges anyway. If we'd been black, we might have been shot.

I did some stupid stuff as a teenager and made it out scott free every single time. White privilege is very, very real.

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In the auto parts store yesterday...white privilege [View all] MineralMan Jul 2016 OP

Thanks,great post. Wellstone ruled Jul 2016 #1

Thanks. It made me think. MineralMan Jul 2016 #2

But thinking is hard SCantiGOP Jul 2016 #3

Sad to say,think so many don't take the time Wellstone ruled Jul 2016 #6

More white privilige. yallerdawg Jul 2016 #4

That is just to sad. sheshe2 Jul 2016 #24

It occurrs to me. hollowdweller Jul 2016 #5

It also deprives many of their right to vote to change things. nt tblue37 Jul 2016 #11

Yah, well. I was a daily toker back in the MineralMan Jul 2016 #12

Pre Raygun mandatory sentences Go Vols Jul 2016 #54

Driving while Black Scarsdale Jul 2016 #57

And, I would suggest another difference ... 1StrongBlackMan Jul 2016 #65

Yes. Exactly. MineralMan Jul 2016 #66

Well I'm all for legalization, amnesty for all those rotting in prisons now on pot convictions, and PatrickforO Jul 2016 #19

Excellent response. geardaddy Jul 2016 #49

Rape Scarsdale Jul 2016 #59

Good post. I disagree with one statement... elias7 Jul 2016 #64

Why not just pull alongside a vehicle SCVDem Jul 2016 #7

Just like the good 'ol "you were weaving" excuse. 7962 Jul 2016 #9

It'll be fixed asap? Igel Jul 2016 #42

Karma SheriffBob Jul 2016 #8

It's never a good time to have burned out tail lights. Nye Bevan Jul 2016 #10

That's true, of course. But, brake lights do burn out. MineralMan Jul 2016 #14

Taillights and jogging in a white surburb progree Jul 2016 #29

There would be 911 calls if a black person was jogging in your neighborhood? oberliner Jul 2016 #31

In this neighborhood where an elderly Indian man was walking csziggy Jul 2016 #34

wrong, the man was injured because he kept pulling away from the officers, and he frankieallen Jul 2016 #38

Wrong - they asked him where he lived, he was trying to take them there csziggy Jul 2016 #46

ok, to begin with..... frankieallen Jul 2016 #67

You live in Madison, Alabama? oberliner Jul 2016 #41

No, I live outside Tallahassee, Florida csziggy Jul 2016 #47

It only takes one person to make a 911 call(s) progree Jul 2016 #45

Yeah but I would fix my taillight to avoid the hassle and expense MH1 Jul 2016 #15

‘The Tail Light Was Not Out’ Diamond Reynolds Makes Startling Statement csziggy Jul 2016 #48

There is a report that he matched the description of a suspect in a robbery case mythology Jul 2016 #60

Yes - he resembled the suspect because he had a "wide set nose" csziggy Jul 2016 #63

And yet, when white privilege is brought up in a white crowd, PatrickforO Jul 2016 #13

That's very true. It took me some years to figure it out, too, and MineralMan Jul 2016 #16

It's encouraging to know, that even though I don't understand it now, in several years I might. egduj Jul 2016 #36

:-) frankieallen Jul 2016 #39

I think what makes it tough is that "white privilege" is really about MH1 Jul 2016 #17

Yeah. We don't notice things that aren't happening to us. MineralMan Jul 2016 #18

I know, when you tell a white person who is looking for a job and struggling to pay medical bills Nye Bevan Jul 2016 #28

The social justice vernacular isn't friendly Nevernose Jul 2016 #33

k&r uponit7771 Jul 2016 #20

Republicans have abandoned the saying, "An injury to one is an injury to all".... Spitfire of ATJ Jul 2016 #21

I never noticed that they ever said that, really. MineralMan Jul 2016 #23

They really believe all they need is the white male vote. Spitfire of ATJ Jul 2016 #26

Thanks MM. Scruffy1 Jul 2016 #22

No. Thank you! MineralMan Jul 2016 #25

Yeah, we do. HassleCat Jul 2016 #27

Don't matter if the light works. The Jungle 1 Jul 2016 #30

K & R most enthusiastically. Thanks for posting. Surya Gayatri Jul 2016 #32

+1 million geardaddy Jul 2016 #50

I've been thinking about this for a while LoverOfLiberty Jul 2016 #35

Yeah ... it's kind of like thinking about the "good old days" ... Jopin Klobe Jul 2016 #37

Great post brother malaise Jul 2016 #40

Thanks for posting, White people need to hear these stories loyalsister Jul 2016 #43

Hope. Yavin4 Jul 2016 #44

I learned about white privilege in 1958, when we were stationed in Cherry Point, NC, mountain grammy Jul 2016 #51

That is white privilege wallyworld2 Jul 2016 #52

Thanks for sharing. Ash_F Jul 2016 #53

We, as black people in America, can never afford the luxury... MrScorpio Jul 2016 #55

Thank you for posting that expansion of how to check one's privilege. MineralMan Jul 2016 #61

The FBI issued a warning The Wizard Jul 2016 #56

Is this about the Minn shooting? Elmergantry Jul 2016 #58

I've been thinking about my interactions with cops over the years MirrorAshes Jul 2016 #62