“A ‘Driving While Black’ smartphone application is set for release this month, but its developers say motorists should be careful when they use it,” Steven Dubois reports for The Associated Press.
“‘Do not reach for your phone when you are talking to police,’ stressed attorney Melvin Oden-Orr, who created the app with another Portland lawyer and a software developer,” Dubois reports. “Avoiding any move that could make officers think you’re reaching for a gun is just one of the tips ‘Driving While Black’ offers. And despite its attention-grabbing name, the common-sense advice it offers applies to motorists of all races.”
“The app describes how people can assert their civil rights with officers, enables drivers to alert friends and family with a push of a button that they’ve been pulled over, and includes a recording function to document the interaction,” Dubois reports. “The term ‘driving while black’ reflects widespread frustration among African-Americans that they are more likely to get pulled over than white people — a reality confirmed in a Justice Department report last year that also found black and Hispanic drivers are more likely to be ticketed and searched than whites. The key to surviving a traffic stop, Hyland and Oden-Orr say, is to remain calm, keep your hands on the wheel, be respectful and make no false moves.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
“Hands up and don’t attack the police, thug!”
When is the “Driving while stealing” app coming out.
Ever notice that our f@@@@@@ media go to great lengths when describing the dead person, to omit the theft or laws they were breaking right before they died.
Last time I heard, stealing wasn’t a law punishable by death!
only when you try to beat up a cop and steal his gun and then continue to attack him…
Stealing happened earlier. Charging a
Police officer happened right before hot searing lead tore through the thugs ass. Tell all the dead police that hesitated to not shoot now… Wait, we can’t because in their cases the charging thug actually killed the officers.
Whatever became of the GhettoTracker app?
I hate the US focus on skin pigment. Please, people! Stop focusing on trivial things like skin pigment and start focusing on developing the virtues, traits and qualities that you want in yourself and your fellow human beings. Choose to see the qualities you like in someone and let go of your bias.
Take note of which side points out skin color…. Constantly.
Sunshine, rainbows and lollipops.
Wake up and smell the coffee, because you are living in a dream world.
I agree. Tell that to the tens of millions of racists in this country. They are everywhere.
Well said.
And this video is interesting as well:
http://www.upworthy.com/a-black-man-and-a-white-woman-walk-into-a-barbershop-someone-has-something-to-say-about-that?c=reccon1
OH FRAK’IN PLEASE!!!! More incessant Police Bashing. More WACCO Race-Bating, Hagga-Magga!!!!
Race matters, and to argue that it doesn’t is ludicrous. I read this website and the comments daily, and it is clear that so many people who post on MDN are out of touch and living in their own protected bubbles. Generally, people of color CAN’T ignore race. We point out racism because it is omnipresent in our lives and it affects us significantly, and if we are unlucky enough and/or make a mistake that might go unpunished in other communities, it could cost us our life. If white people are tired of hearing about racism, just imagine how tired people of color are of living it. Some MDN commenters need to get off their privileged soap box and try, for a moment, to have some empathy. Or, try listening instead of getting defensive when people point out injustices perpetrated on people of color.
Why do you think Blacks are more likely to be pulled over than Whites?
What is the reasoning for the cops?
What a dumb question. You know the answer to that.
I know the answer from my perspective, not Martin’s.
So, what is your point?
Check this out. Black guy got pulled over for a DUI. See what happened.
http://news.yahoo.com/arrested-arizona-dui-bac-0-00-black-185209528.html
Well, so much for a ‘national conversation on race’
(which never accomplishes anything).
Can you state that this is typical . If so what is your proof
How about because they drive in a manner that attracts the attention of th police IE. like idiots.
You must know if you come here often that we hate everything and everyone. Nobody but us is smart, even CEOs are beneath us. We hold contempt for all causes, all ideas. We are the forum of anger and hatred. So you are in the wrong place here.
You are largely right, Joe, even subtracting a sardonic twinge from your comment. Emotion runs high, opinions are wielded like weapons. It’s like the holodeck in Star Trek, where actions can be played out without physical consequences. But in the Internet, unlike the fictional holodeck, I think there may be other consequences, moral or ethical, that go into a Karma spreadsheet somewhere.
I absolutely concur with your response. I have been thinking about letting MDN go for a long time, and, I need to thin out my Twitter feed a bit as well. I think it’s time to let MDN go once and for all. This used to be a diverse and interesting tech blog, with only the occasional radical, but has turned into pretty much what you describe. No doubt that serves MDN just as well as anything else when it comes to advertising dollars, but I do not think it serves the technological community very well at all. Thank you Mac Daily News for all of the good years, but you are becoming a repository of radicalism, insanity, and downright nonsense. I am deleting you from my Twitter Feed, and deleting your app from all of my iOS devices. Even just a little moderation of this forum would help a lot, which you used to do, but clearly no longer manage at all. $$$$
I used to do a lot of posting here, but, will no longer post much of anything because it is inevitably met with extremist lefty or extremist righty rhetoric.
I guess I am deciding that you are useless to me now. Personally, I hope that affects your income so that maybe, just maybe, you’ll return to the decent tech blog that you used to be.
Cheers.
@Martin…that’s BS…it’s all about your perspective and HOW you live your life….there are plenty of us “people of color” that do NOT share your tinted world view. get over it and move on…life is beautiful.
I happen to agree with Martin, and I’m a person of color: PMS 726 (in winter)
Thank you for your well written and level headed comment. I have been reading MDN for many years, but in the last year I have really seen the intellectual level of the comments section devolve into a tea party-ish, racist, low intellect, steaming pile of s#!t that makes me not want to visit the site any more.
bye! and good riddance!
j. eric is just another example of the slow downfall of MDN.
I’ve been visiting for over a decade. it used to be a much happier place. people would lend a hand, be respectful, understand humour and sarcasm with out having to see emoticons or /s tags. to be sure, there were more real Apple folks here, they weren’t all bozos—they were smarter.
there has not just been a rise in plain stupidity but also far-right vitriolic jingoism (and of course the racism that goes with it). a real shame.
I do like all the ads though. the non-stop click bait style Apple coverage is also a nice.
What is the solution? I don’t believe I have ever heard a solution from commenters or civil rights leaders that were more than
glittering generalities with no substance. Give me a solution give me a path with substance. Not everything violent concerning human beings is race related, but it is treated that way by the media. The Furguson incident was played up by the media and they looked like they not only expected violence but we’re hoping for it. ( I hope not)
By the way has anybody here read the grand jury report or seen the prosecutor’s presentation of the report on live tv? If so do you dismiss it out of hand as the protestors did because it does not fit what you want to believe.
Solution? As an individual start with treating everyone with respect. Recognize that there are good people and jerks in all races and that every incident is not something to be stirred up in hatred. Nobody wins if we keep doing that. The hatred in some is fueled by this.
I live in a small town county seat in north Alabama for the last 4+ years. I have not seen a racial incident in that time. ( not to say there hasn’t been any) I attend a large Southern Baptist church which is mostly white but has several black families and on occasion guests speakers that are black. All are warmly welcomed. We go into the community and beyond to help people personally. Race is not a factor. The solution is to ignore the haters and make a positive effort one person, one situation at a time.
The huff is over police unfairly targeting people of color. Just because you didn’t happen to see this in your town doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen there. The police have stopped me several times and it’s always been over some ludicrous reason, pisses me off. A solution with the police is to hire people from the community that reflect the community. Problem is, if you’re not white, then you’re very likely to have a police record that would disqualify you. That would suggest people of color are mostly both bad and crooks, but that’s nonsense. It’s just that police hate people of color, or there is a conspiracy to keep people of color out of positions of authority. The president and the attorney general don’t count because they are puppets to big money. The system is rigged, hence the outrage.
Oh Pleases!!!!!!
Rather than leaping into the fray, I’ll again point out that no matter if it’s within or without reference to ‘color’, there quite clearly is a difference in CULTURE. When that gets all mixed up with someone’s culture I get mighty annoyed. Not all green martians are alike!
Marvin and John agree.
I don’t know about the rest of the country, but, here in New York City, cops have way too much power and can literally get away with murder. It has increasingly gotten worse since 9-11. In many ways, the terrorists really did win.
wait until 0bama calls martial law. you may want to take a crash course in conversational Russian.
I just follow Chris Rock video. Safe everytime.
Racism and racist, do any of you know the meaning of those words? My guess is no you do not. Folks, their meaning is not what you think it is, do break out your dictionary.
I will agree there is much bigotry and prejudice, however racists and racism is ever so small a percentage, maybe less than .000001% of the population.
Also, I will agree there is one ethnic group that always raises the race card. When they are caught in the wrong it is the main thing they use. They also defend their own even when their own are caught committing the wrongs.
Remember the OJ trial, when the trial was over one jury person is quoted as saying “we must protect our own”. See, there is something very wrong with their concept of justice.
Finally, which ethnic group finds it so very important to burn down sections of business districts? Maybe the very places they either work in and patronize. Now, when some of those business decide not to return that area becomes a blighted section of town. Recall what the father said “burn the bitch down”. Yeah, right that will solve a lot, it turns folks against you, even some of your own. Because of your behavior and overt attitudes there is profiling, bigotry, and prejudice. Change your behavior then others will look on you more favorably.
So you’re saying that there are 319 racists in this entire country? The KKK has between 5,000 and 8,000 members. Not every racist has swastica tattoos and you can’t put a number on racism because of it’s very nature. It is like a rock plunged into a pool and the ripples spread to all people.
Ethnic groups are a descriptive class that lack agency. The don’t DO anything as you claim 6 or 7 times. Seeing it that way is a big piece of the problem.
B.S. App. Remember one thing. If you act like a jerk at an officer don’t be surprised that you get treated like a jerk. You don’t need an App, you need common sense.
It is not just people of color that need to be concerned about our out of control cops.
LAPD just paid $5 million to the family of an unarmed white man driving a Corvette who was shot as he moved away from the police. The assassination was witnessed live on local LA TV.
The cops said they saw him reach for something on his seat while driving, but they shot him with nothing in his hands walking away out of his car.
Being a cop is not even on of the 10 most dangerous jobs in America, but our cops are killing citizens- including many unarmed citizens of all races- and walking as they use fear of imminent threat as a trump card. A badge is a license to kill in America.
Do cops go to far sometimes? Sure. Those who do should be punished accordingly. No question.
Is there racism in the US? Sure. It’s also pretty much everywhere there are humans. Humans suck, for a giant list of reasons, but that’s a different topic. Still, we need to fight it wherever we can.
The challenge is that It’s hard to tell if there really is a widespread problem, or it’s just that this is the latest thing the media is hyping at the moment. These stories, when you get the oversimplified, 10-second version, sound terrible. Then you dig into the details, and find that there was quite a bit more to the story. If you are anti-law enforcement, you probably don’t want to go that deep, because you may find that it doesn’t support your views. That happened with the Michael Brown incident. If you look at the evidence, it appears that he was just a 280 lb thug, who attacked a cop, and got killed doing it. That evidence hasn’t stopped people who get all excited by any chance to make a huge deal about race. It’s oddly similar to “bend-gate,” and other things the general public gets freaked out about. Few people care enough to find out what really happened. It’s much easier to form an opinion based on a headline.
No other country in the developed world has the problem of unarmed citizens being killed by cops. Ours is a very violent society policed by a lot of paranoid cops.
Being a Policeman in the United States is not listed as one of the 10 most dangerous professions, but they seem to have a license to kill. You can count the number of cops in jail for killing an unarmed citizen not guilty of any crime on the fingers of one hand.