I Was a Victim of a Racism by a Virginia State Trooper

All this talk of racist cops reminds me of an incident that happened to me a few months ago in Downtown Richmond. Are all cops racist? Heavens no. Are all racist cops white? Nope. There is at least one black Virginia State Trooper that I feel was racist against me.

I was headed north on Interstate 95 from Southside Richmond and had just crossed over the James River. My intended route would take me east on Interstate 64 via the ramp leading to the Shockoe Bridge. And it was around 5:00 PM on a workday. Rush hour was in full play.

As I approached the “64 merge” as it is called, traffic was stop and go into the bottleneck.

As I approached my exit, I signaled and merged into the far right lane. This exit ramp is also the entrance ramp for traffic getting on the Interstate from Broad Street. It is a real mixing bowl. However, the traffic merging in from Broad Street has a Yield sign. Most ignore it, but it is there. In fact, almost every Interstate entrance ramp in Virginia has a Yield sign. And people routinely ignore them.

There was a car coming up the entrance ramp, but plenty of room to merge. Besides, they have to yield. So I merged. And after a hundred feet or so at a very slow crawl, the vehicle in front of me stopped, so I , in turn, stopped. And I sat there for several seconds and as I glanced into my rear view mirror, I saw a vehicle approaching. What worried me was that the driver was running out of stopping distance and bust looking to her left, obviously intent on merging to the left into the I-95 north traffic. And paying no attention to what was in front of her.

As she closed, I braced for impact. I heard her tired squeal as she obviously, and finally, looked where she was going. She hit me with quite a jar, but I didn’t hear any breaking glass. So I put my car in park and put on my flashers and got out to inspect the damage.

Now several decades ago I suffered a rear end collision that was much worse. We exchanged information and went on our way. The next day my back was so stiff I could hardly get out of bed. I went to the Emergency Room and was diagnosed with a compression fracture of two of the vertebrae in my upper back. So I had some experience with delayed symptoms.

So I looked at the damage and there was virtually none. Just some marring on my bumper. The impact shook me, but the bumper did what it was supposed to do and the speed of impace was low. Less than 10 MPH. Maybe 6 or 7 MPH. So I suggested we exchange insurance information just in case and go on our way.

She threatened to leave claiming I just wanted to sue her. And she got in her car to go. I walked behind her and took a picture of her license plate and told her that I would advise her not to leave the scene of an accident. And then I called the police. And I proceeded to take some more pictures of the cars, the angle (she struck me squarely in the back bumper) and waited for the cops.

After a short time a State Police Safety truck pulled up and put on his large flashing sign. He made sure we were OK and asked us to pull to the shoulder. We did. And we waited for the police, who showed up a few minutes later. And at that point the Safety Officer left.

I will point out now that both the State Trooper and the woman that had struck my rear bumper were black. And at that point, the thought of race had not entered my mind.

He said that if we would both exchange information that we could leave. Otherwise he was writing a ticket. I told him I was willing to do that before I called the police and was still willing to do so and handed him my license and insurance card.

The woman was still unwilling to exchange information, so the Trooper took her information and mine to his car and sat there for about 20 minutes.

When he returned, I was completely floored when he handed me a ticket for “improper lane change” and told me I could avoid going to court by mailing payment to the address on the ticket.

I assured him I would be in court.

At that point, some people would have become belligerent. I did not. I gritted my teeth, but said nothing.

And then, the Trooper apologized to the woman for having to give her a ticket and said he cited her for following too close. And he apologized again, all smiles, when he gave her another ticket for an expired Driver’s License. And he told her that she can probably get that dismissed if she took care of it before court. And I asked if I could go, and he said yes. As I walked off, he continued to talk to the woman. I’m not sure but thought he was going to ask her out.

How do you get a ticket sitting still?

When I got home, I called the Insurance Company which was on the information I was given. Of course her insurance had lapsed. I knew that when she refused to give me her information.

So I went to court, spend all day waiting to be called (in Richmond). When I was finally called, I gave the judge (who was also black, by the way) the letter from GEICO stating that her coverage had lapsed, I gave her my hospital bills (yes, I had soft tissue damage, nothing major), and a picture of the Yield sign at the end of the ramp the woman had just gone through. I had a number of pictures, diagrams and other papers, but the judge looked at the cop and asked “Did you know there was a Yield sign there?”

“No mam”, he replied.

“Where was the sign in relation to the accident?”, she asked.

“It was just before where the accident happened”, he said.

At that point the judge stared over her reading glasses at the Trooper and while keeping her eyes fixed on him said “Mr. White, I am going to dismiss the ticket. You are free to go.”

Now I didn’t make anything of the feelings I had that I was given a ticket because I am white. And I didn’t mention that the Trooper was amazingly and uncharacteristically helpful and polite to the woman. I can’t prove anything.

But in my heart of hearts I believe there is one Virginia Trooper out there that made me his victim of racism.

So when I hear that cops are racist, I can say I have seen it with my own eyes. And had I decided to challenge the cop on the side of Interstate 95 that day, I have no doubt that such a move would have turned out well for me. I did what I believe was the right thing. I accepted the ticket and waited for my day in court.

And I can also say happily that despite the race of the judge, my confidence in the justice system was confirmed. She was fair and only considered the facts.

And on the facts, I prevailed.

Now how many blacks would have taken the ticket, kept their mouth shut and gone to court. A lot of times they mouth off to the cop and things always go downhill from there.

So those pushing the message that blacks are always treated unfairly by the cops and the courts, stop and ask yourself. What if I hadn’t run my mouth? What is I didn’t grab the cops gun? Ot taser?

My situation could have easily ended with my arrest, with me in the hospital or dead had I challenged and argued with the cop. Not because I believe he showed signs of racism, but because he is a cop. So had I lost my life by getting physical with a cop would anyone really say I got the death penalty for the crime of being read ended?

I knew I was innocent and I did nothing to put that in jeopardy.

But I hope the Virginia State Police include black troopers in their racial sensitivity training. they need it too.