After having my driver's license for a little over two and a half years, I recently had my first experience getting pulled over by the police. Before you go assuming I was speeding, texting, or any other common reasons for getting pulled over, let me just tell you that I wasn't doing any of those things.
I was visiting a friend in a town about 20 minutes away from my own. He had invited me over for dinner and the two of us decided to get ice cream afterwards. As we walked towards my car, which was parked on the street in front of the house, a police car drove by. I didn't think anything of it - police cars drive around a lot, why should this one be a problem? We got in the car and headed off in search of ice cream. As I got to the end of the street and put my blinker on to turn right I couldn't help but notice that the police car was right behind me. I was a little nervous but knew that I hadn't done anything illegal. The car continued to stay right behind me, I was growing increasingly more nervous, until there was a wide enough area that I could pull over. Sure enough, as soon as there was a parking lot on the side of the road, the car turned its flashing lights on and I pulled my car into the lot. In the moments that it took for the cop to come to my window, I took out my license and registration and ran through the drive in my head. I hadn't been speeding, wasn't on my phone, my headlights were on, I used turn signals, and I obeyed traffic lights and stop signs. What had I done wrong?
The cop got to the window and, without so much as a hello, asked in a rather accusatory tone if I knew the people whose house I was at. Luckily my friend was in the car with me and was able to tell the officer that it was his house. Had he not been there I would have had to hope the officer believed I was at a friend's house and not just saying that. She proceeded to tell us that there have been some break-ins in the area over the past couple weeks and she got suspicious when she scanned the plates on my car and saw that I was from another town. So, in essence, I got pulled over for living 20 minutes away.
There was a thought that kept crossing my mind over the next few hours, one I'm a little embarrassed to admit I had. After everything in the news or lives of people I know regarding the police over the past couple of years, I can't help but wonder if the entire meeting between myself and the police officer went as smoothly as it did because I am a white girl. Her tone was a bit hostile but she didn't ask any questions other than if I knew the owner of the house, she didn't ask me to get out of the car or hold me up any longer than a couple minutes. This, of course, is not to say that any of those things would have happened had I not been a white girl. I truly hope they wouldn't have because skin color and gender should not matter in the eyes of law enforcement. The fact that they do is a sad testament to the prejudice that continues to run in our country. It is shameful and unfortunate that I was relieved to be a white girl when I had an encounter with a police officer. I grew up believing that if you followed the rules, you wouldn't get in trouble. I followed all the rules and still almost got in trouble.
This is not to say that I now hold a vendetta against the police. I have great respect for them and trust that the vast majority are truly great people. But even great people can be blinded by stereotypes and make decisions that instill fear in the minds of thousands. Only when we all finally learn to let go of any stereotypes can we see people as they really are and form our opinions accordingly.