I learned early this morning that Gucci Mane, while on parole, was arrested again for allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road and destruction to public property. Officers had to pepper spray him in order to subdue him. The long arm of the law continues to haunt Gucci just as it haunts T.I. and Lil Wayne.
The news reminded me of my own singular run-in with the law and my own unprovoked harassment by Montgomery County Police (see "Adventures in Sportbike Riding). Do black folks really speed more than whites? Do black folks perpetrate more crime than whites? Or do whites simply fly under the radar while blacks travel with flashing beacons on their backs?
I suppose riding a sportbike is as much of a beacon as anything. But just like the non-violent drug felon's record follows him for the rest of his life--hampering his ability to find work and preventing him from voting, my record was tainted in much the same way.
I was unfairly stopped by a pig for going 65 in a 55. I was unfairly slapped with two points by an old white male judge who could see nothing but the fact that I'm black and ride a sportbike. These points nearly prevented me from being admitted to the Rider Coach program which would have significantly hampered my financial future. I nearly became another victim of the justice system--a system that seems to find ways to fish out young black males and then keeps them on a short leash forever.
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