Was Sandra Bland guilty of "driving while black"?

[Pamela]

Perhaps not.

Apparently, Bland had a history of DUIs and other run-ins with police.

See here for another take

[chrisinhouston]

Originally Posted by Pamela

Perhaps not.

Apparently, Bland had a history of DUIs and other run-ins with police.

See here for another take

That might explain the frustration at being stopped by the DPS and also her depression to the point of taking her own life. But it doesn't the way she was treated by the DPS.

Also, wouldn't those priors all show up when the trooper ran her ID? Unlikely she would get a warning with that many recent citations. Furthermore, she would have had to have been current on her insurance or that's an automatic ticket.

By the way, that website you referenced is pretty lame as well as those commenting. The "About Us" section is a real joke!

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by chrisinhouston

...
Over the years I have been stopped by police, mostly for minor things and I have always found that here in Texas the DPS are the nicest most polite police around.

You're a white male.

Originally Posted by chrisinhouston

For the life of me I can't figure out why this one escalated the situation. ...

She wasn't a white male.

Originally Posted by Pamela

Perhaps not.

Apparently, Bland had a history of DUIs and other run-ins with police.

See here for another take

Previous record should have nothing to do with the current interaction.

[chrisinhouston]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

You're a white male.

Yes, but in the handful of police stops I've had the DPS officers were polite to the point of apologizing for stopping me even if I was at fault. The other cops were not.

In fact the most unpleasant experience I had was driving back to Texas from Georgia where I had been taking care of my parents. I was on State Highway 59 as it heads south from Texarcana to my home in Kingwood and was almost home. This section of highway goes through a lot of towns and the speed limits go up and down in a manner that I am sure was designed to entrap motorists. I was in a 75mph zone that suddenly with little warning dropped to 55 and an officer from the small town of Shepherd, Texas was waiting around the bend and stopped me. Downright rude guy who said some rather insulting things. I let it slide and was able to do the safe driver video course and just pay the court costs and get the ticket dismissed. Later found out this is one of the worst speed traps in the area.