Jimmie Hollis: Race, Police, Courtesy and Respect

    Not too long ago racial profiling made headlines again recently when police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. A neighbor reported seeing two men forcing their way into the Gates home.  Gates, arriving back from a trip abroad, had his driver help try to force open a broken door.  Gates' arrest came not from this, but for angrily yelling at the responding officers and suggesting racial bias.

       All this reminded me of my only three brushes with the law.

Early one July evening in 1964, in Little Rock, Arkansas, I was on my way to visit a friend when I was pulled over by the sheriff.  He was white, middle-aged, beer-bellied and very southern. I gave him all the documents he asked for including my military ID Card. If ever there was a time to worry, it was then. I was respectful and courteous to the officer. The sheriff said he stopped me for going the wrong way on a one-way street.  I explained I was a visitor and apologized for my mistake.  With that, he gave me a big grin and asked where I was going. I told him, and he pointed me in the right direction.  He told me to take it easy and watch the street signs. I didn't get a ticket.  

Years later, on a rainy October night in 1976, I was driving out of New York after returning from Germany when I was pulled over by a state trooper.  The trooper noticed my green USAF license plates, and I explained they were issued to military personnel serving in Germany. Again, I was respectful and courteous as I provided the necessary documents including my military ID. The trooper asked me to step out of the car and waved me back to his cruiser.  Once inside, he asked what unit I was in and how long I was abroad.  It turned out he had a son stationed in Germany with the Army not far from where I served. He said he stopped me for speeding, and said the speed limit became 55MPH while I was away. He welcomed me back and told me to slow down. Again, I received no ticket.

Space constraints prevent me from sharing my third stop that did not result in a ticket.

Why did I never get a ticket in any of these three stops?  Was it my military status or my civility?  After all, I was in the wrong each time. As an American of African ancestry, I would like to think it was the latter.  Despite being in the military, I could have gotten belligerent and cried racism.  Military credentials or not, I would have been in trouble - especially in Little Rock in 1964.

Periodically, as with Professor Gates, charges are made about police targeting minorities simply because they are minorities.  That's never happened to me. Saying that, I'm not so naïve to think abuses don't happen to others, I know they do. There are racist and bigoted cops out there, but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. When stopped, citizens rightfully expect police officers to treat them with respect and courtesy but citizens should also be civil, courteous and respectful to police officers.  It surely couldn’t hurt.