Congressman alleges racial profiling

Decades after Martin Luther King graced the United States with his presence and helped lead the civil rights movement, racism is still alive and well in America. Racial tension is as high as ever despite the fact that we’ve seen segregation take a back seat to integration and the concept of “melting pot” overwhelm white supremacy. It doesn’t mean the U.S. is perfect, it doesn’t mean that people are no longer ignorant to the plights of other people. In the news, today, is a story about a black congressman who believes he has been arrested due to racial profiling.

U.S. Congressman arrested for DWB - “Driving while black.”

Two white police officers pulled over the Democratic congressman early Monday morning, according to spokeswoman Tumia Romero. “He thinks he was pulled over because of his race,” Romero said Thursday. “He was not speeding, had a valid driver’s license, wasn’t swerving, but was pulled over anyway.” She said Davis had been working on his radio show until around midnight Sunday. He was driving home three of his guests — all African-Americans — when Chicago police officers pulled his vehicle over around 1 a.m. Monday. The only reason the congressman can see for being stopped was that there were “four black men in the car,” Romero said. Davis said he was issued a $75 ticket for “driving left of center.” He is scheduled to appear in traffic court December 28.

If true, it’s a really sad statement on American progress in the area of justice and civil rights. There is no doubt that under President Bush and Republican control, the United States has regressed to its more racist roots. Affirmative action has been constantly under attack for the “displacement” of white Americans with higher qualifications than targeted minorities. Try finding minorities successfully integrated into large law firms. You’d be lucky to find a law firm that has hired and retained more than a couple of blacks and browns combined. Beyond the “severe problem” of affirmative action, blacks have also filled the jails and make up a disproportionate amount of society’s poor.

The problem of minorities filling up the jails and having a higher propensity to commit crimes is a problem we can’t overlook any longer. I raise this issue in relation to racial profiling, because both are deeply connected. Essentially, what has happened is we’ve ignored education, social class upward mobility, integration and racial issues in America. The result is a weakened African American class, a growing lower class and nasty racial tensions that go public and hurt America’s image at home and abroad.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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