Exploring Black and White Accounts of 21st-Century Racial Profiling: Riding and Driving While Black

Abstract

Data from 60 qualitative interviews reveal the presence of racial tensions in 21st-century United States. Black participants expressed experiencing racial prejudice while operating automobiles. White passengers also reported witnessing instances of driving while Black (DWB) while riding with Black drivers. Specifically, White participants reported instances of profiling, where they witnessed Black drivers pulled over by police officers, although no traffic violation occurred. Two themes emerged for Black participants: (a) fear that they would be pulled over, and (b) motivation to “survive” the law enforcement encounter. Participants’ experiences insinuate a continued racial tension between Black citizens and White law enforcement officers. While the United States has made valuable strides, we still have prejudices to overcome.

Keywords::

• Black
• Culture
• Race/Ethnic
• Racial Profiling
• White

Racial profiling happens in numerous ways and impacts people of color in the 21st century (Schreer, Smith, & Thomas, 2009; Warren & Farrell, 2009). Race as a highly visible feature has been the focal point of numerous profiling arguments. Defined as “equating race with crime and using it in lieu of probable cause” (Schreer et al., 2009, p. 1432), skin color represents likelihood of committing a crime (Harris, 2002, 2006). The prevalence of profiling automobile operators (Satzewich & Shaffir, 2009; Tator & Henry, 2006) illustrates that the United States has not evolved into a “post-racial” society (Allen, 2011). Indeed, minority drivers are regularly pulled over because of their skin color (Satzewich & Shaffir, 2009). Arizona permits racial profiling through house bill SB 1070, where skin color is used to determine citizenship and officers canask for identification (Associated Press, 2012, para. 7). Despite the Fourth Amendment prohibition of unwarranted stop and detainment by authorities, legal loopholes permit police to utilize traffic stops for investigation (Harris, 1999, 2002; Harris, Henderson, & Williams, 2005).

This discussion creates space for dialogue regarding racial profiling experienced by many people of color (Gabbidon, 2003; Hopson, 2011; Sierra, Heiser, Williams, & Taute, 2010; Williams, Henderson, & Harris, 2001). We position this analysis historically and are interested “discourses-in-practice,” or the ways in which power is performed in “social life, in real times and places,” such as while operating a motor vehicle (Holstein & Gubrium, 2011, p. 344). Lived experiences with riding and/or driving while Black illustrate “discourses-in-practice” and highlight the “lived patterns of action, which historically, (presently), and institutionally ‘discipline’ and ‘govern'” their everyday life on the road (p. 344). In this respect, prejudice is ongoing and (re)emerges in the present (Holstein & Gubrium, 2011; Hopson, 2011).

This article examines the following, stopping, detaining, and even harassment of Blacks or African Americans based on their racial identity (Allen, 2011; Harris et al., 2005; Satzewich & Shaffir, 2009), otherwise known as driving while Black (DWB). While past research depicts only Black participants’ views about DWB, this study presents Black and White voices on the topic. White participants identified instances of DWB as 21st-century forms of prejudice affecting Black “community members” (Heuman, 2004). Black people are not fabricating stories—in many circumstances, profiling experiences with DWB are factual, “routine, and regular” (Satzewich & Shaffir, 2009, p. 200). DWB occurs when law enforcement officers shadow and stop Blacks and/or African Americans while operating a motor vehicle (Hopson, 2001, 2011; Lundman, 2010; Withrow, 2006). DWB targets individuals because they have Black skin not because they violated traffic laws ( Dixon, 2006; Dixon & Linz, 2000; Tanovich, 2006). DWB reflects a 21st-century abuse of power by those possessing a legitimate form of authority. Such abuse violates trust in law enforcement officials who promise to protect and to serve. Instead of protecting, DWB racially “discriminates, subjugates, and oppresses” (Hylton, 2010, p. 338).

We position DWB as an abusive, 21st-century form of prejudice and/or racial profiling. Prejudice is defined as a personal thought process (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012) and involves having a preference for or against specific individuals or particular cultural group members (Allen, 2011; Orbe & Harris, 2008). Embedded within prejudice is the tendency to accept or reject cultural values, ideas, and groups because of one's individual, personal thoughts. Here, racial profiling indicates a preference for or against individuals belonging to specific racial groups. The following phrases exemplify prejudice: I do not like (or I only like) tall people, short people, democrats, republicans, people who do not use proper English, Latino(a) people, Black people, White people, rednecks, rich people, gay people, fat people, Asian people, old people, poor people, Hispanics, Mexicans, immigrants, slow people, or people who suck at driving. These examples of prejudice illustrate the “lingering effects of [mental and physical] enslavement” today (Allen, 2011; Asante, 2003, p. 8).

Media serves as part of a hegemonic institution perpetuating a polarizing presentation of perpetrators. Dixon and Linz (2000) noted that Blacks are overwhelmingly represented as perpetrators of crimes in television news, whereas Whites are typically underrepresented as perpetrators (Dixon, 2006; Entman & Rojecki, 2000). Fictional and non-fictional media production content establishes what Hebl, Tickle, and Heatherton (2000) described as stigmatized and non-stigmatized individuals. Stigmatized individuals (traditionally marginalized and/or co-cultural group members) have negative connotative ideologies ascribed to their existence and social position, while non-stigmatized individuals (dominant group members) are less likely to embody such pejorative associations. Unfortunately, all too often, the media portray Black individuals as dangerous, violent, aggressive, and likely to steal from you, sexually assault you, or sell you drugs; Blacks, as depicted on the media, are unable to be trusted (Boylorn, 2008; Brown, 2008, 2011; Collins, 2000, 2004; Dixon, 2006; Entman & Rojecki, 2000). Essentially, Blacks’ bodies are criminalized through television representations and then penalized personally in daily life through encounters with DWB and other forms of societal, institutional, or social prejudice.

The communication of distrust and suspicion through skin-color-based traffic stops informs Black community members that, regardless of their character, their skin continues to stigmatize. For some Black individuals, this may involve DWB. With this in mind, the following research questions are proposed:

RQ1: How do Black or African American automobile operators experience racial tensions in 21st-century United States?

RQ2: How does DWB influence drivers’ and passengers’ experiences when encountering law enforcement?

Methodological Framework

Sixty communicators who self-identified as either (a) Black or African American (N = 31) or (b) White or Caucasian (N = 29) and (c) who were 18 years or older were interviewed about 21st-century Black and White communication in the United States. Participants ranged from 18 to 75 years of age and were from 20 different states. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling to identify and include participants in a comfortable manner (Keyton, 2014; Lindlof & Taylor, 2002). Qualitative interviews were employed to gather data in person or through Skype or Facetime. The semi-structured interview schedule was pilot-tested, and changes to question wording were made (Maxwell, 2005; Silverman, 1993). Interviews lasted approximately 25 to 75 min and were audio-recorded for accuracy. Data were fully transcribed and re-examined to maintain accuracy (Maxwell, 2005).

Owen's (1984) and Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis procedures were employed for data analysis. First, data were examined for recurrence, repetition, and forcefulness (similar meanings, repeated key words, and emphasis; Owen, 1984). Braun and Clarke's (2006) guidelines were utilized while coding: “(1) familiarize yourself with the data; (2) generate initial codes; (3) search for themes; (4) define and name themes; and (5) produce the report” (p. 87). Member checks and respondent validation served as qualitative forms of proof to clarify information and to ensure that data reflected participants’ perspectives (Golafshani, 2003; Lindlof & Taylor, 2002; Maxwell, 2005).

Data and Analysis

The prevalence of DWB narratives illustrates the existence of racial prejudice in 21st-century United States. Both Black and White participants explained the existence of racial tensions by discussing their experiences while operating or riding in a motor vehicle. Experiences with DWB emerged naturally during two interview moments. The first author asked participants if they ever witnessed or experienced something they felt was race related. In response, from 60 total participants, nearly 20 of the 31 Black participants and 9 of the 29 White participants shared about having experiences with DWB. Participants’ easy recall of such moments demonstrates a considerable impact on their perceptions of racial tensions and prejudice. Black and White participants shared several DWB experiences representing three major themes. For Black participants, two major themes emerged: (a) Getting pulled over: Making sure I can drive away; and (b) Fear of being pulled over: The ghost of slavery. For White participants, (a) Driving while Black when White was a major theme. Each of these three themes are presented, defined, and analyzed as follows.

Getting Pulled Over: “Making Sure I Can Drive Away”

Black participants’ concerns while operating automobiles centered around preparing for being pulled over, what to do when one is pulled over, and the fear of being pulled over. This theme emerged naturally when participants were asked to share experiences with 21st-century racism. Getting pulled over provides the context for racial tensions when stopped by law enforcement officials, while making sure I can drive away highlights a desire to survive the experience successfully. Out of the Black participants who explained that they feared police officers, eight identified with the need to survive the experience or drive away from it. They equally worried about the consequences of being stopped by White police officers for a traffic violation. As follows, we reflect on Black participants’ thoughts about getting pulled over and surviving the experience. The best quotations and descriptions of this particular theme are provided here.

Ronald, a Black male in his 40s, explained that 21st-century racism is present while driving. To illustrate this, he discussed his experiences of being pulled over for traffic violations:

I have been pulled over more than I care to imagine by police officers. I've had my car searched for drugs countless times and I have never once tried or experimented with illegal substances. It has happened everywhere I've ever lived: Delaware, Northern Virginia, North Carolina. I've had my car searched for drugs. I've never owned a car that I would identify as a drug dealer's car. Yet, I have had dogs go through my car a couple of times. Depending on where they catch me, I carry myself differently. I ask questions which let the officers know that I'm not going to be the easy victim. Or so they know that I'm not going to give them a reason to overreact. I'm becoming more studious with age. Police officers scare me in a really big way … they walk around with guns and sticks. So they are already in a position of power because I don't carry a gun or a stick. Police officers are in a position to exert their power with very little repercussions or restraint in the moment. Afterwards, you know, there is a law that can review cases. But if I'm dead, that law doesn't matter. I have to make sure that I survive every police encounter. It really is about making sure that when I get pulled over by a police officer, I can drive away.

Ronald uses his personal experience with law enforcement to illustrate the power dynamic that exists between some White police officers and some Black males in different locations. He identified their carrying a gun as a powerful part of the law enforcement official-civilian relationship. Thus, not only does carrying a firearm add to the power dynamic, the location of the stop matters, too.

Finally, Ronald discussed being searched without cause. He felt that his car was not a typical prototype of a drug dealer's vehicle, yet he recounted having it searched several times. Ronald asserted that these searches occurred because he is a Black male. For Ronald, the circumstances surrounding being pulled over heighten 21st-century racial tensions and magnify the ways in which he worried about, and hoped to survive, being pulled over. In addition to hoping to survive the encounter with lawenforcement officials, some Black participants also described their fears of being pulledover.

Fear of Being Pulled Over: “The Ghost of Slavery”

Almost all Black participants, 28 out of 31, described their fears of White police officers and explained dreading being pulled over. Kayla, a 21 year-old Black female, described her fear of police and DWB encounters, “Every Black person I've talked to is afraid of police officers. I'm afraid of the cops. I've never been pulled over by the cops, but I understand the fear …” For Kayla, police officers and the possibility of a DWB encounter evoked fear and anxiety; she was not alone. Like Kayla, Vanessa, a 21 year-old some Black female from Virginia, said:

I've never been pulled over. If I ever got pulled over by any police officer, but especially a White officer, I would keep driving with my turn signal on until I got somewhere really safe. The thought of it (DWB) scares the hell out of me. I have negative thoughts about police. I've seen lots of movies and lots of news and that's scary. Hearing about those experiences, and seeing it in the media. It's not limited to the media. There are so many stories about how there was a Black person who got pulled over who reached into their pocket and got shot to death, for reaching for something that was not a weapon … It's hard to hear those stories and then get pulled over by a police officer or have interaction with a police officer and not think about it.

Vanessa feared a racially tense communication encounter would ensue if pulled over by a White police officer. Below, Rabbijn, a 40 year-old Black male, expressed how he feared driving “in his Black skin” during his 2002 drive through southern Indiana:

When I was driving through Indiana, it was late at night, I kept saying, ‘Please God don't let anything happen to me or my car, because if something happens and I get pulled over, I'm going to be missing or hanging from a tree.’ These are the kinds of things implanted in my head. I still think like that because of the past. It's a part of history. They [Whites] didn't like us. Even when we had Martin Luther King in the 60s, they were like, the n-word won't go away. We're going to block you from going to class. We're going to block you from going into restaurants, you can't sit on the bus, and violence happened. And we still see it on television. We have TV film footage. And so, I've got to be cautious. It was 2002 and what goes through my mind? I'm going to be missing if I get pulled over. It is terrible. It's the ghost of slavery.

Rabbijn described fearing DWB encounters, specifically the possibility of being brutally beaten and disappearing thereafter. For these specific Black participants, fear of police officers and DWB encounters transforms driving into a racially tense communicative experience. Black participants were not alone in noticing or experiencing DWB. Several White participants also shared experiences of DWB as a form of racism or racial profiling that occurred while driving as passengers with Black friends.

Driving While Black, When White

This theme illustrates White participants’ perceptions that Black drivers are pulled over, not for breaking traffic laws but because they are targeted by police through racial profiling. Below, participants share experiences of being in the car with a Black friend while DWB occurred. Whites described these occasions as evidence of 21st-century racial prejudice. Matt, a 20 year-old White male from West Virginia, commented on his DWB experience:

I think there is definitely a few things that make life a little bit more difficult if you're not White. Like, driving, this actually happened in my hometown. I've seen Black people get pulled over for absolutely nothing. I've been sitting in the car with them, driving, when it's like my friend gets pulled over. I asked him, ‘Man, what were you doing?’ And he was like, ‘I have no idea, man, just don't talk.’ I didn't see anything that he did wrong. I mean, if I would have been doing the same thing, I don't think that I would have gotten pulled over.

Matt explained how DWB is an example of racial tension that he witnessed personally. Matt's response highlighted the dividing line between different sides of town, making the divisions between Blacks and Whites visible to White participants. Next, Monica, a 23 year-old White female from Maryland, shares an experience similar to Matt's, being pulled over while in the car with a Black driver:

I've had this with my boyfriend [he is Black]. It was in Baltimore. Like we've been pulled over when I'm going the speed limit like just so the officer can come and get into his face because he's Black. And like making sure that, I was pulled out of the car, to make sure that I was okay. Like all kinds of shit, just because you know. Because like I said, we were going the speed limit. We looked a little bit lost because we were like driving into Baltimore and I don't know where I'm going. And uh, he pulled us over and didn't even acknowledge me for the first five minutes … He didn't even acknowledge me for the first five minutes that we were interacting. He pulled me over. He came over to my, the passenger side of the car, not the driver's side. And proceeded to get into the car—like get his face into the car window and be like nose to nose with my boyfriend. And like, where are the drugs? I know that they're here. And like there were drugs in the car. It was never, it was not a situation like that at all. And he just automatically assumed that we were trafficking drugs across state lines because I had an out-of-state license plate, and an out-of-state driver's license, and because it was me and my Black boyfriend driving in the car.

Monica, a White female, witnessed and personally experienced DWB, as a police officer questioned her and her Black boyfriend, who was driving the car. In addition to DWB reflecting racial profiling, Monica explained that the situation became increasingly racially tense as the police officer, asked “… Where are the drugs …?,” assuming they were trafficking drugs across state borders. Monica noticed the police officer assumed the worst about her Black boyfriend. DWB led Monica and Matt to consider the persistence of covert racial tensions.

Discussion

Research Question 1 inquired how Black or African American automobile operators experience racial tensions in 21st-century United States. Data indicate that some Black individuals experience racial tensions while operating a motor vehicle. Not only did Black participants overwhelmingly respond by sharing experiences of DWB, they also revealed their primary objective: surviving the traffic violation. Black participants also noted changing their communicative behavior when they were pulled over in different regions. In many respects, the first research question illustrates the ways in which Black community members utilize varying strategies to mitigate racial tensions during traffic violations, whether the violation was real or fabricated. Although co-cultural theory was not involved in this analysis, participants’ actions reveal the utilization of various communicative strategies to help them achieve their overall goal: survival.

Research Question 2 explored how DWB influences drivers’ and passengers’ experiences when encountering law enforcement. Results indicate that DWB affects Black drivers and White passengers alike. Black participants explained that their fear of police officers rises during traffic stops. Black community members also indicated a general fear of being pulled over while operating a motor vehicle. The power that law enforcement officials hold during traffic stops, and the historical representations of power throughout slavery, reconstruction, Jim Crow, the U.S. civil rights movement, and beyond, all affected the mindset of Black drivers. Further, Black participants were also influenced by stories about DWB from friends and through the media. Narratives recounted by friends, loved ones, or television also created fear for Black drivers and White passengers. Fear makes DWB a racially tense communicative interaction for drivers and passengers alike.

Finally, White passengers also noticed DWB and were influenced by Black drivers’ fears. Therefore, for the White passengers, there was no doubt about it: There was no traffic violation, yet their Black friend's car was pulled over. In many respects, although unfortunately so, White participants’ voices add legitimacy to an argument some people attribute to “hyper-tense,” oversensitive Black perspectives. DWB is real in different ways because Whites experienced it; however, perhaps it is only more present. Arguably, the White recognition of DWB adds credibility from the non-stigmatized community to the voices of the stigmatized Black community. From the results of this research, further study of White perceptions of DWB could address political and social implications relating to racial profiling and seek to bring about change.

Conclusion

For some time now, it has been understood that members of the Black community have expressed experiencing racial prejudice and tension as a result of racial profiling while operating automobiles. Surprisingly, exposure for the White community has come not only through the retelling of these experiences by Blacks and media reports, but also through personal experience. White participants report instances of profiling—where they witnessed Black drivers being pulled over by police officers, although no traffic violation occurred. Participants’ experiences insinuate a continued racial tension between Black individuals and White law enforcement officers. While the United States has made valuable strides, we still have prejudices to overcome.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gina Castle Bell

Gina Castle Bell (PhD, George Mason University, 2012) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at West Chester University, 701 S High Street, Main Hall, Room 510, West Chester, PA 19382. E-mail: [email protected]

Mark C. Hopson

Mark C. Hopson (PhD, Ohio University, 2005) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at George Mason University, Robinson Hall A, Fairfax, VA. E-mail: [email protected]

Richard Craig

Richard Craig (PhD, Howard University, 2011) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at George Mason University, Robinson Hall A, Fairfax, VA 22030. E-mail: [email protected]

Nicholas W. Robinson

Nicholas W. Robinson (MA, Texas Tech University, 2014) is a Graduate Student in Communication Studies at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. E-mail: [email protected]