“In that moment, (Tyreek) Hill thought he was a member of the Miami Dolphins. He wasn’t. Hill was a Black man in America, and the rules are different,” opined The USA Today’s columnist Mike Freeman. “That’s one of the main points of the talk. Police, I was always told, will try to put you in your place, or put you on the ground.”
Déjà vu all over again? Did we just experience George “I can’t breathe” Floyd 2.0. …..Or 3.0? …..Or 4.0? I’ve lost count.
Like those meddlesome dandelions in the front lawn, here we go with still another police/African American interaction that quickly went south, a storyline that conjures up the late Marvin Gaye’s lyric, “It makes you wanna holler and throw up both your hands!”
Although probably not his intent when he rolled out of bed that morning, an enormously talented and enormously rich Tyreek Hill offered up a painful reminder of what we’d hoped had disappeared into our regretful racial past.
In case you did not hear, Hill was involved in an incident on September 9, 2024, on his way to work at the Dolphins season opener in Miami. The script is all too familiar; a Black man pulled over by the police for – in this case speeding and not wearing a seatbelt – is surrounded by multiple officers, dragged to the ground, a knee placed on his back and handcuffed. Fortunately, this incident did not escalate to where Hill was either chocked, tased or, God forbid, shot to death.
Of course, details remain too sketchy for us to draw handfast conclusions about what happened. We’ll leave that to an investigation. But it is understandable – or should be – that the incident does raise red flags in the African American Community. And if you understand our history, who can blame us.
Now I’ll first say this, and as emphatically as I can, that there’s no denying that police have a difficult job to do to in protecting us. They’re the first ones we call in threatening situations, aren’t they? Without police there’s chaos, there’s mayhem. But just like everyone else, they shouldn’t be immune from criticism or the consequences of unnecessary behavior.
Second, should Hill have been driving recklessly without wearing a seatbelt Absolutely not. If you listened to his remarks afterwards to the media, he’s obviously an intelligent young man and should have known better.
And above all, does Hill’s status as a filthy rich NFL superstar mean that rules for the rest of us don’t apply to him? Of course not.
“Hill’s a knucklehead,” said my friend Butch. “I mean the dude has enough money to hire a private driver, or even Uber or Lyft, to drive him to games. And if he was caught driving too fast to avoid being late for kickoff, that suggests that he has a problem with time management and that speaks volumes about his maturity.”
So as an African American father, does the Hill incident suggest to me and other Black dads that we need to dust off “the talk” with our sons and daughters – instructions passed down in Black families for generations about what to do when – not “if” – getting pulled over by the police?
Now there’s no denying the statistics that the DWB (Driving While Black) conundrum lingers on to this day. The data easily shuts down any “whataboutism” by those who deny this realism. And similarly, there’s no denying how the persistence of implicit bias and societal stereotypes can pollute African American/police encounters.
Well, there’s a lot to unpack here so let’s go to solutions. I’ll summarize some tips and strategies for African Americans to use during those inevitable police stops and augment that list with some things police officers can do to lower the temperature in those interactions.
For African Americans….
1. Always abide by the law! – don’t speed, don’t drink while driving and always fasten your seatbelt.
2. Although it may seem “cool,” avoid tinting your car windows. If bright lights and sunshine are problems for you, wear sunglasses.
3. When stopped, keep your hands in plain sight and on the steering wheel. Have your driver’s license, registration and insurance ID ready to present since you want to avoid having to fumble around in your glove compartment or purse to retrieve them.
4. Avoid sudden movements and follow his/her instructions without delay.
5. Say right away that you’re unarmed.
6. If you are a parent, share this column with your driving age sons and daughters, then discuss it with them.
And keep in mind that the talk guarantees nothing, cautions Freeman. But it does increase the likelihood of keeping things calm.
I’ll end with a parting message to police officers based on my being pulled over for two infractions over the last decade. First, voice tone matters! I don’t need arrogance, condescension, disrespect or a lecture when I realize that I may have inadvertently broken the law. Just treat me the way you’d want to be treated, or you’d want a member of your family to be treated.
Second, here’s a list of behavioral characteristics that you may find helpful: humility….calming….compassionate …self-restraint …and professionalism.
In closing, I’ll say that the results of the “best” stop I had with an officer happened a few years ago when we exercised the main suggestions in this column and ended up laughing and “talking trash” about which team would win the next Super Bowl.
Oh, lest I forget, he did issue me a well-deserved ticket for a minor traffic violation.
Oh well, can’t win them all, can we?
© Terry Howard is an award-winning writer. He is a contributing writer with the Chattanooga News Chronicle, The American Diversity Report, The Douglas County Sentinel, Blackmarket.com, recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award, and third place winner of the Georgia Press Award.