VIEWPOINT: Racism is real. Now it's time to talk

I was surprised to see the flashing blue light behind me. I had committed no traffic infractions. I wasn’t speeding or weaving.

It was early on a Friday night several years ago. My buddy and I were heading through downtown Portland after watching a basketball game with a few other friends.

Moments earlier, my friend had warned me that we were about to get pulled over. The cop had given him a cold stare a couple blocks back.

I scoffed. I didn’t even see the car until the officer flicked on his lights.

He was shocked to see me, a 40-something white male in business attire, behind the wheel. He took a step back, and then demanded to know who owned the car.

“I do,” I said.

Ignoring me, he zeroed in on my buddy, a big, mixed-race guy with light brown skin.

“Have you guys been slinging drugs?” he asked.

Before we could answer such a preposterous question, he demanded to see my friend’s ID. He never asked me, the driver, for either my license or proof of insurance.

He eyed us with suspicion when he returned to the car. He wondered whether my friend had been the victim of identity theft, and said someone who “looked like” him had been doing some “pretty bad stuff.”

He rambled on in a rather nonsensical way as he tried to justify the traffic stop until he abruptly said he had to rush off to another call.

There was no explanation, no apology, nothing. “I’m glad you were with me,” my buddy said. “There’s no telling what would have happened otherwise.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/print-edition/2014/08/29/viewpoint-racism-is-real-now-its-time-to-talk.html