Put your hands on the wheel.

[EndlessWire]

Decades ago, while in the Army, I was stopped by cops for a mechanical violation. I had been listening to a portable radio that was lying on the front seat. I reached over and turned it off.

Cop leans in the window and looks, and says, "Oh, that's what you were doing." He told me then that, whenever a cop stops you, put your hands on the wheel and don't move them. I paid heed, and to this day if I am stopped by a cop for anything, anywhere, I make sure to show him my hands, even if he hasn't asked to see them. I basically hold my hands up. May look weird, but my family has had run-ins with cops that have not ended happily.

I think that anyone, white or black, needs to do this. It's not a "you stopped me because I'm Black ( whatever)" moment. It's a "he's a cop with arrest powers and he has a big weapon to shoot me dead with" moment.

We may be forced to march in the streets in the future (not riot, MARCH) and we will need to train ourselves how to react to cops. Nonviolent protest is better than burning down someone's livlihood. Why anyone would want to burn someone's business, someone on your side, is beyond me. Yet, it happens so much.

[Dream Girl]

1. Every black kid knows this. As soon as they start driving this is drilled into them.

Seems like you’re trying to excuse them and make it non racial. Rest assured, it is.

[Skittles]

6. it's what my dad told me to do when I was learning to drive

because it is just plain common sense

[EndlessWire]

8. No, you are wrong.

It seems to me that you would just like to fight. I've been there before. You have made an assumption that is uncalled for. I have had my own share of trouble with cops.

My post was for how to avoid trouble with cops. Since I have never rioted in the streets before, I probably didn't express myself adequately for you. Yet, my point stands.

And, see how quickly a simple comment set you off, striking a pose of racial disharmony.

I have nothing against you. But, I am not going to join you in your desire to prove animosity against someone who basically spoke up with just a tip.

So, you all know this. You want people to speak up and join you, yet you jump down the throat of someone who just wanted to offer support. But, you are right, that I am not into rioting. I am into nonviolent protest.

I believe that unity is better than violence. I know that it certainly gets attention, to burn down a guy's business for absolutely nothing that he did, to you or anyone else. You see how similar that is to a cop crushing a guy's throat? Along comes a cop and kills him for nothing. Along comes a rioter and burns a guy's business down for nothing. What's the difference here?

We are going to be in the suck, sooner or later. If I come to stand next to you, are you gonna protest because I am different than you? I ain't you. Yet, there I am.

What would have worked better is millions and millions marching in protest. After all, 40 million or so of us have the time, right? A mask and social distancing would have worked. But now, we have the worry of Trump declaring martial law, calling out the National Guard to shoot anybody they want, and a curfew that those kids might not honor. All because they have no control of themselves. Riots don't work in the long haul.

But, don't mind me. I am now sorry I said anything in hopes of keeping black or white children and adults safe when dealing with a cop.

What color am I? I'm BLUE ! As in, NOT RED. And, I loathe Trump et al with all my heart and soul. But, I am not giving my humanity away.

[pwb]

2. That is when cops were brave.

Today they dress and look like storm troopers. Cowards and bullies is what I see when I look at them. No I don't like cops.

[FoxNewsSucks]

3. I read that in a book on getting away with speeding

It was written by a former highway patrol. Contained a lot of points like that, which is really just common sense.

Keep in mind, the cop has no idea who or what is in the car they just radared at 75 in a 60. Particularly at night, and if you have tinted windows. So if you take actions to avoid provoking or making the cop nervous, it is to your benefit. Keeps you from being shot, or maybe improves his attitude enough to not give out a ticket.

Pretty simple- stop right away, don't make them chase you down. Pull over in a driveway & make room for him to get behind you, or at least far enough on the shoulder to help avoid traffic. As you're stopping, open the sunroof and roll down the windows so the interior of your car is clearly visible, turn on the dome light immediately at night. And keep your hands on the wheel. Things like that. The premise was to behave the same way an off-duty cop would act if stopped, as that would have him subconsciously predisposed to be more relaxed and likely to let you go. Because they never give each other tickets.

[Skittles]

7. ha!

it certainly never worked for me

[Blue_true]

4. In my area, AutoZone and NAPA put locations in the poorer side of town. Autozone has a massive

distribution center in the poorer side of town. Those businesses pay taxes, which because of where they are located, a percentage automatically has to get allocated to government and civic activities in that side of town.

Unfortunately, in street protests, it is often the hotheads that take over. Police shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters don't do anything but inflame the situation.

[Caliman73]

5. Oh, it that how that works?

Funny, I didn't seem to notice that when I put my hands on the steering wheel and answered questions with "yes officer, no officer" when I was in high school, and they STILL Pulled me and my Asian, Black, and other Mexican friend out of the car, asked our gang affiliation and tried to illegally photograph us for their book.

Maybe I should have put my hands on the steering wheel harder? better? less Mexican like? Certainly seemed to me that it was about non White people being in a car together at the time since we did not have on Dickies, Ben Davis, Ace Shirts, Khakis, Pendeltons, or anything that would have identified us as gang members and yet there we were 4 honors students from a Catholic High School sitting on the curb.

I think that assuming that cops are justified in whatever they are doing is not a good thing. We should acknowledge that there are racist asshole cops out there who are just looking to jack you.

It is easy for a cop to say that the subject was resisting arrest, especially if they kill you and you aren't around to defend yourself.

Yes, protests should probably be non violent but even MLK Jr., the master of non violent protest during the Civil Rights movement, understood the reason that people rioted. There is a thread about that which would be good to look up.

I do not mean to attack you directly EndlessWire. I get activated when people say things like, "You should just be quiet and obey the officer and everything will be okay". If I had obeyed the officers that night instead of telling them that it was illegal to photograph minors unless they were being charged with a crime and challenging them to arrest us and contact an attorney or let us go, my picture would be in a gang book.

[Dream Girl]

9. I get triggered by the simplistic advice of white privilege

Just put your hands on the steering wheel. Listen to Officer Friendly!

[EndlessWire]

10. I am sorry for your troubles.

"I do not mean to attack you directly EndlessWire. I get activated when people say things like, "You should just be quiet and obey the officer and everything will be okay"

I never said that. My story is from 50 years ago. Nothing has changed, not even the people. We have not learned.

Rioting gets you nothing. Massive peaceful protest is the way to go, a la King, Ghandi...

And, whether you like the balance of power or not, it is better to remain alive, in order to rejoin the fight. Haven't you ever smiled sweetly at someone, all the while plotting their downfall?

We are about to lose our fucking COUNTRY! Like it or not, this protest will be forgotten in just a few weeks, and the poor guy who died will be forgotten also. If you want to serve some righteous anger on them, do a massive, silent protest with a huge poster of everyone who died of police violence for nothing. But, that would require self control.

[Caliman73]

12. I don't disagree with you entirely.

You said, "Put your hands on the wheel" that is the title to your post. You talked about advice a police officer gave you that you took to heart and then you say that everyone needs to do it White or Black.

I am telling you that sometimes it doesn't matter...especially if you aren't White. Cops will beat a Black man to death for saying he can't breathe. Cops will kill Black and Brown 12 year olds for having toy guns, within 20 seconds of arriving on scene, but they will let a White man point a loaded AR-15 at them, threaten them, and "talk him down for an hour and 45 minutes. They will let a White man swing a knife and hatchet at them and he will end up in the back of a squad car while a Black man ends up dead for likely unknowingly passing a phony $20.

When that type of thing keeps happening, it isn't the Black and Brown community that hasn't learned its lesson, it is that police have not received any kind of consequence for killing unarmed Black and Brown people. People are going to be pissed and they are going to express that anger.

What we are seeing right now isn't some "planned response" it is ANGER. When emotions are activated it takes a while for logic to catch up. Black Lives Matter engaged in a lot of non violent protest, but they were met with riot cops and tear gas. We have seen the video of the White guy suspected of being a cop walking around breaking windows. Maybe this will be forgotten, likely it will bit not because of ineffective strategy. It will be forgotten because White people do not want to deal with the fact that this is reality for a lot of Black and Brown people. People do not want to understand that we have played around with the notion that all people have equal dignity, but we haven't really accepted that notion. Recently we saw a White women blatantly and in a calculated manner, threaten, then call police on a Black man for asking her to leash her dog as required by the law. She had it figured out in her mind that she could just say "African-American man" and the cops would come in guns blazing to save her. The good thing is that it didn't work, but the fact that she even considered it shows you that it is ingrained in society.

Riots are not productive. They are reactive, they are about emotion (at least in the case of Black and Brown people). White people did okay when they rioted against the British in Boston. They did pretty well in the 1940's too when they attacked Latinos in LA for wearing flamboyant suits. I guess rioting might be one of those, you got me cause I'm Black activities too. Or when White people scavenge to suvive while Black people loot.

Peaceful protests are probably the best bet of that I am not in dispute. Like I said before though and like MLK Jr. said, we may not like riots but if we are going to change, we need to understand why they happen and it is upon the dominant cultural group to make concessions not for the oppressed group to "just behave better".

[EndlessWire]

15. Thank you for your answer.

I wasn't born yesterday. I get it. But, I am sick of every person who is not like you, or others, getting vilified for nothing. I think that prejudice is a burden that people would be better off laying down. It is not unthinkable that people could solve problems together regardless of their differences.

But, this thread just illustrates how divisive race is, and it is definitely a two-way street. I learned that lesson a long time ago. But, who knew that a simple story about how I learned to be careful around cops could cause people who don't even know me so much consternation.

We all have stories about cops. I happen to have some balancing, positive stories about cops, as well, but the term "white privilege" would definitely diminish anything I said as being an attempt to whitewash cops, incurring anger from certain people. As it is, I dislike cops, because I've just seen too much. So, I would like them to change, too.

And, why bother? MLK, Jr. told you it was okay to riot? (I don't think so, but you never know.) Well, Ghandi taught me that nonviolent resistance works, too.

Telling someone to avoid getting shot by showing that their hands are empty is NOT telling them to submit. Why do you think this? This is just prudence. You may have a point that you can make, but you will be just as dead.

So, I just want to say, I'm with ya! But, I'm sure going to keep my mouth shut, because, when they urge everyone to speak up, they sure don't mean it! I'm going back to fighting the plague.

Sorry about the guy that got killed. Condolences to his family. None of them deserved it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. Putting your hands on the wheel does not solve police brutality.

The problem is institutional, not individual. "Put your hands on the wheel" solves police brutality like "use reusable grocery bags" solves climate change.

[EndlessWire]

13. Well, okay, feel free to travel on.

Racism is a two way street. Just remember that as you visit your wrath upon those that seek to stand with you. You are not currently seeing the faces of your friends.

Don't worry, the clouds will clear. By the way, I never expected to solve police brutality with a post about how to avoid getting shot by a crazy cop. But, I certainly learned my lesson!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. .

Racism is a two way street.

Racial bigotry is, but institutional racism is not. And institutional racism is what this country is built on.

Just remember that as you visit your wrath upon those that seek to stand with you.

Where am I visiting my wrath?

You are not currently seeing the faces of your friends.

Do what now?

Don't worry, the clouds will clear. By the way, I never expected to solve police brutality with a post about how to avoid getting shot by a crazy cop. But, I certainly learned my lesson!

Talking about ways to placate the cops normalizes the idea that they need to be placated, that the general population is something untrustworthy and the cops should be scared, and that people who are killed by cops probably did something to deserve it. We can do better.

[EndlessWire]

16. OFGS!

"Talking about ways to placate the cops normalizes the idea that they need to be placated, that the general population is something untrustworthy and the cops should be scared, and that people who are killed by cops probably did something to deserve it. We can do better."

I wasn't talking about placating a cop! But, that's it, I'm done. Not worth the price paid.