officer Archives - The Race Card Project

Police harassed undercover cop wearing hoodie.

March 1, 2022March 1, 2022 cop, Ferguson Card, harass, Heorge Zimmerman, hoodie, officer, police, racial profiling, Trayvone Martin, undercover cop, USA

V.
USA

I’d rather not share my name right now due to the sensitive nature of the incident. While working undercover, I decided to duck into a burger joint to get a bite. It was cold and drizzly outside. I was wearing a hoodie. I am Latino. It was about midnight. I admit that I looked rough in a rough neighborhood, but I wasn’t breaking any laws. As I was ordering, a large white cop approached me and told me to take off my hood. I asked him why and he said “because I said so”. I didn’t think he was serious and I tried to ignore him until he demanded that I take off my hood. I told him no. He grabbed my arm and attempted an arm lock on me to facilitate hand cuffing. He said that he would arrest me. I gave in. I was hungry, after all. I told him ok, and I took off my hoodie. He won. He went back and sat down with a colleague of his.

After I ordered, I walked over to him and sat down with him and the other cop. I gave him a piece of my mind as I tossed my badge on the table in front of him. They said that I should have told them I was a cop and they wouldn’t have treated me like that. I said “so you wouldn’t have violated my civil rights if you knew I was a cop?” They were speechless.

“You’re the reason people hate cops” I said to them.

The only reason I was arrested.

July 3, 2021July 3, 2021 afro, arrested, boyfriend, Detroit, driver's license, license, M59, MI, Mignon Lott, officer, police, pulled over, USA, Wayne State

Mignon Lott,
Wayne State,
Detroit, MI.

My boyfriend and I were out on M59 heading to an event that he was catering when I was flicked. I pulled over. The officer walked up to the car and asked did I know why he pulled me over. I said no. He said because I didn’t have my lights on, but it was dusk, the sun was just barely going down, I didn’t say that to him. He asked do they work and I turned them on for him. He asked for my license and I informed him that I had lost it earlier that day but I recited my license number and gave him my work badge, insurance and registration (which also lists my drivers license number). He went to his car, ran my info ( or so he said, but he wasn’t really gone long) and came back to the car and instructed me to get out of the car. He handcuffed me and said my license wasn’t valid. I told him that the cuffs were too tight and they hurts and he yanked my arms up to tighten the cuffs. He handled me roughly the whole way to the squad car and shoved me in. As I sat up I noticed him and his partner searching my car. They actually found my license for me. They drove me to the station and once there a woman began to process me in. She asked me what happened and I told her why they stated they pulled me over. She said the sun hasn’t set yet. I looked at her as if to say, “I know.” She looked me in the eye and said, “ok, we’ll get you on your way.” She finished what she was doing with my information, got up and walked over to the desk commander, after 10 minutes and $150, I was walking out calling my sisters to pick me up to go get my car. They had taken my boyfriend to his catering event and gave him the keys to my car and allowed him to park the car in a parking lot.

I believe they pulled me over because they saw me with my afro puff and immediately profiled me. My boyfriend (who later became my husband of 10 years) was very fair. I later found out that they told him not to “mess with my kind.” It was a very menacing ordeal and kept me away from that area for a very long time. I didn’t even want to go out towards that area. I’m glad that I didn’t loose my temper or resist from the pain that the handcuffs were causing to my wrists because it could have ended the same way that Sandra Bland’s case ended. I just continued to cooperate and not be combative. But I feel like I would’ve have been well within my rights to fight it because they had no reason to treat me the way they did. It was embarrassing and I really felt like it was my fault because I was the one that had lost my ID, so I never told anyone, until recently.

My Dad’s a cop, Am I Racist?

April 1, 2021April 6, 2021 AL, am I a racist, america, cop, George Floyd, I'm white, label, officer, Opelika, police, political party, William McCullough

William McCullough,
Opelika, AL

Especially now in today’s world police get labeled with racists. Why is this? I believe that it’s because of the actions of a few. There are very many racist police in America and they do act upon their so-called beliefs. But because of their actions, all police get labeled as racist. This doesn’t sit right to me. Some people will argue with me on that point but I will argue back. They will say ‘Well the officer who killed George Floyd was white and it was because of his race’. To that, I would say okay and agree with their point. It’s sad this is what makes national news in America. You don’t see the good that has been done or that’s happening every single day. There is definitely oppressing happening among all races but most among the African American community especially in America. It’s still going on today and has as long as anyone can remember. I don’t care what political party your claim or agree with you have to see what’s going on. There is always something to be done whether you are going to stand up and do something about it. It is hard to ignore, especially living in the south. You may not see the harshest parts of racism but there are still small parts in which you see every day. So that brings me back to the point, does that make me racist? I’ll actually make it easier, I’m white am I Racist?

I am white, I am privileged.

September 18, 2017 airport, Carly Mayer, hear, officer, OR, police, Portland, privilege, skin color, wealthy

Carly Mayer,
Portland, OR.

Often I hear white people say that they are not privileged because they aren’t wealthy, or because they aren’t straight, etc. But white people have a privilege that most of us are unaware of. We don’t get pulled aside at airports or pulled over by police officers or verbally assaulted solely due to our skin color. I am white and I am privileged.

White doesn’t make me a racist.

October 20, 2016October 20, 2016 Dee Oh, divisiveness, exclude, officer, police, Racist, skin color, stereotype, TX, white

Dee Oh,
TX.

Why isn’t it racist for other people to say that because I’m white, I’m a racist? I am attacked solely because of my skin color from black people. Only from black people. Why isn’t that racist? I add to a conversation that statistically, more blacks are killed by other blacks than by any other race. Because of that, why am I called a racist? Statistically, more whites are killed by police officers than blacks, but if I point that out, why am I called a racist? I’m really sick and tired of the divisiveness in this country. It doesn’t matter what I do or say, it seems like there will always be people out there who label me, just because of my skin color. That is racist!! You don’t like it? Neither do I. So stop doing it to people who look different than you. How about we stop looking at the outside and look at the inside? Are you kind? Are you generous? Are you thoughtful? Are you loving? Be my friend. Are you hateful? Are you antagonistic? Are you divisive? Are you exclusionary? We can’t be friends.

“What are YOU doing here?”

August 2, 2013 American, arrested, Fort Worth, Glenn Dixon, officer, police, racism, TX, wrong color

Glenn Dixon
Ft. Worth, TX

Those were the words that opened my eyes to the state of racism in America. At the time, I was sitting in the back seat of a police car next to another guy, both of us in handcuffs. The question came from a Fort Worth police officer who was curious, and possibly bored, and definitely racist. I wasn’t really sure of his motivation at first, so I explained my circumstances. I had been pulled over for expired license plate tags and taken into custody when my name came up as having an arrest warrant issued out of Williamson County for a hot check.

His response was “Oh, I was wondering, because you’re the wrong color!”

In case you haven’t figured it out, I was the only white guy in the car. The officers who arrested me had taken me to a nearby police van, a command center for this evening’s operations. They were doing a ‘sweep’ through Como, a traditionally African-American neighborhood. I guess they wanted to consolidate trips to the downtown jail. I was surprised by both the officer’s blatant racism and disregard for the other person in the car.

I have no idea how many people were arrested that night in Como. All I know is that I ate the worst pimiento cheese sandwich of my entire life in a holding cell that night, and that before sunrise I was out on bail.

Passed over, wrong color. I’m white.

May 25, 2013May 25, 2013 1990's, Army, DC, officer, passed over, Steve Townsend, under-represented, Washington, white, wrong color

Steve Townsend
Washington, DC

In the 1990s, the US Army was under pressure to normalize promotion rates, especially in “under-represented” branches. I was in the Infantry, which had significantly fewer minorities, especially in leadership positions. When a prime position opened, I was the most senior and best qualified for the position. However, the commander approached me and state that he was going to put a junior officer, who was a minority (and who had no previous experience) in the position because he had to show that there was upward mobility for minorities and encourage other qualified minority candidates to choose Infantry when they entered the Army. I understood this (it was true, we had too few minority leaders), but it was still difficult to swallow.

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