Driving while whack 78% of young Black males, 18-24, without licenses

The young brother was distraught to the point of tears.

He had been arrested several hours earlier for driving after revocation, and would soon face a judge who could conceivably sentence him to a stay in the County Hotel, i.e. jail.

It was the young brother's third offense and his 'luck' had run out.

He said he had and his girlfriend had returned from a movie and were sitting in his car talking when a police car pulled up behind him. His girlfriend exited and as soon as he drove off, the police pulled him over for a busted taillight. Upon discovery that he was driving--once again--without a valid driver’s license, he was promptly arrested.

I tried to offer the brother repose, and then acquired if he had learned a lesson from his misfortune.

His response was as asinine as it was nonsensical.

"Yeah," he said. "Next time I won’t pull over; I’ll make a run for it."

Here was a brother who just doesn’t get it!

I was somewhat sympathetic when he said he continued to drive without a license because he needed transportation to get to his job. But I drew the line over his inability to understand that the "Man" had somehow victimized him, and his inability to grasp the consequences of running from the police was more than mind-boggling, it bordered on pure stupidity.

Sitting in jail for a month or two would probably mean the brother would lose his job. And the conviction on his record--no doubt a felony--would almost ensure that he would be limited in the type of jobs he could secure after his release. Moreover, if he didn’t pay the fine that surely would be imposed along with his jail time, he would be digging an even deeper hole for himself.

Sadly, the young brother is not alone. Literally thousands of young Black men in Milwaukee find themselves in similar predicaments. One could say they are caught between a flat tire and a bus line. On the flip side, a strong case can be made that theirs is a predicament they themselves created. Driving is a privilege, not a right, I told the brother, and a lifetime of experience has taught me that taking the easy way frequently results in unforeseen problems that negate the perceived benefits.

But I offered him a ray of hope when I repeated an old African adage that has guided my life: "you have stumbled, but that doesn’t mean you fell down. You have to look at stumbling as ‘falling forward faster.’ Learn from it and it’ll benefit you later in life."

"What?" he responded seemingly dumfounded? "What the hell does that mean? I wasn’t running, I was driving; you can’t stumble if you’re in a car."

There are basically two types of brothers--and a few sisters--facing scenarios similar to the jailed brother’s: those without a driver’s license who chose to drive instead of taking a bus or cab to the movies and clubs, and those with suspended licenses who feel they have no other options and carefully weigh the penalties against the possible loss of a good paying job.

In both scenarios, there are many who can be cast as victims of economic situations; in many cases linked to their inability to navigate the costly path created when MPS dropped drivers’ education programs and state laws were amended restricting their ability to "train" under an adult, as I, and many of my peers did eons ago.

Thus, while suburban children can avail themselves of tax supported school drivers’ ed programs, the poor find themselves with limited options and opportunities.

Many make the mistake of foregoing the process and driving without a license. In most cases, they are eventually caught while driving a vehicle unfit for the road, or by drawing the attention of police to their booming stereos, tainted glass or handwritten license plate.

If lucky, they will initially receive a municipal ticket. But when they fail to pay it, then find themselves facing contempt charges, elevating their cases to county circuit courts. The next thing you know they face a felony and the cycle is complete.

Another group caught in the net are legal drivers whose licenses are revocated for non-driving offenses.

A decade ago, our overzealous (and apparently money starved) lawmakers enacted laws that allow the courts to include loss of driving privileges as punishment for everything from failure to pay child support to inability to pay overnight parking fines. The end result was a thousand fold increase in the number of poor Black Milwaukeeans who have lost their licenses.

The bottom line: Over one third of all potential Black drivers in southeastern Wisconsin are now without driver’s licenses. Recent statistics reveal that 78% of all Black males between the ages of 18 and 24 are without valid licenses. That’s compared to 58% of Hispanic males and 34% of White males. There are 30,000 African Americans with suspended licenses.

Of course, this phenomena is not restricted to Black men. Exactly two out of every three Black women in that age group are without driver’s licenses, which means if everyone followed the law, the county transit company wouldn’t be facing a ridership crunch, auto insurance rates would drop proportionately, and Wisconsin wouldn’t hold the distinction of being listed in "Health Magazine" as one of the fattest states the country (walking does have its benefits).

The social phenomena of a population without driver’s licenses has resulted in the unintended consequence of reducing employment opportunities for thousands of low income. Not only are they limited in their areas of employment, but also there are many jobs that require a valid license as a prerequisite.

For the record, I’m not excusing or justifying the situation the jailed young brother found himself in, or the thousands of peers who make similarly idiotic choices. But I do have some sympathy for those supporting a family with a job outside the restrictive county bus routes. The Old Testament provides that a man who steals food to support his family should not be classified as a thief. That’s not to suggest using scripture as a defense in court, but I’m sure you’d get a different reaction from the judge if you explain you had to drive to support your family, versus taking your woman to the movie or joining a cruising caravan.

The jailed brother’s situation warranted punishment. In fact, it ranked up there with the hundreds of young Black men who drive a hoopty without plates, missing tail lights, tinted glass or booming stereos who are surprised when they attract the attention of police. Some even cry "racial profiling," giving real victims of institutional racism a bad name. They deserve what they get, and penalties should be multiplied as they continue to violate the laws purely out of convenience. Many of them take advantage of loopholes in the law that allow them to drive without insurance, impacting on our costs and putting safe and legal drivers at risk.

These folks are not the ones being targeted by a group of brothers who are spearheading various campaigns to restore driver’s licenses for the thousands of "circumstantial victims." These are individuals who warrant recourse, and a reevaluation of laws and policies that essentially penalize them because of their poverty--starting with their inability to pay for drivers instruction and ending with their being punished for totally unrelated, and often punitive, legal actions.

Tyrone Dumas, Judge Derrick Mosley and Ralph Hollmon are among the dozen or so community leaders who have been waging a battle to right those wrongs, with programs to restore licenses, pay off fines and when necessary, provide them with restorative counseling. It’s been an uphill climb, however, both because the numbers are so large and the resources so few, and secondly because their cries for justice have essentially fallen on deaf political ears.

Several years ago then-Mayor Marvin Pratt assisted the group by allocating funds for a one-time restoration project. Over 4,000 people showed up, with about one fourth ultimately navigating through the system to get their licenses back. They were quickly divided among those sincerely seeking a helping hand, and those looking for a handout, having fines expunged for illegal and unjustified violations. It was easy to spot those in the latter group. They were so callous and arrogant that they drove to the municipal building.

"Imagine that, they are driving to court to deal with tickets issued for revocated licenses," Dumas recalled. "They just didn’t get it, but they would have if the police positioned themselves to check who was illegally driving. It was almost funny."

That one time effort grew into the Center for Driver’s License Recovery and Employability, a more holistic program that not only provided financial incentives, but counseling and legal assistance as well.

Dumas explained that the new project not only helps individuals navigate through the court system, but also deals with the underlying issues that influence the social phenomena. Supporters of the program may also eventually lobby the state to rescind laws that allow judges to rescind driver’s privileges for non-driving offenses.

"This is much bigger than merely someone’s ability to drive. It’s about economic restrictions, jobs and breaking the cycle of poverty," Dumas explained. "We’re not pushing for amnesty. People who break the law, or who ignore fines, or put themselves in predicaments of their own choosing have to deal with their decisions. But there are some double standards, and penalties that influence families and society. People are losing jobs because they weren’t able to pay for an overnight parking tickets. They are ending up with felonies stemming from this situation."

"That’s why MATC and the Urban League are involved, and why judges like Judge Mosley have taken a personal interest in this. It’s about more than the privilege of driving."

As Tyrone spoke, images of the ignorant brother with the broken taillight came to mind. What if he had sped off and ended up in a car accident that killed someone. Or, maybe he ran off and one of the police officers was a member of the 7th District Punishers--a vigilante group of reported White supremacists--had chased and ultimately shot him. Imagine a scenario that started with a young brother unable to afford a driver’s education course, ending in death.

Blame it on the brother’s stupidity. But a case can be made there were other hands on his steering wheel as well.
Hotep.