Profiling Bill Sets Off a Quarrel

A bill meant to keep police officers from unfairly stopping minority drivers has set off its own racially charged quarrel among some of Los Angeles’ most prominent civil rights activists--with the bill’s African American sponsor accusing his opponents of being led by white outsiders.

The measure by state Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City) would provide training for police to prevent racial profiling and would require officers to give motorists an identification card with a telephone number to register complaints.

The controversy erupted because, in a compromise with Gov. Gray Davis, Murray has backed away from requiring police officers to record the race of drivers pulled over in traffic stops.

Such a requirement is viewed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups as the only way to effectively put a halt to unfair traffic stops for what is often called “driving while black.” The data collection was central to an earlier Murray measure vetoed last year by Davis, who said at the time he didn’t want to impose the state’s will on local police.

The ACLU and other activists said Murray’s compromise is worse than nothing.

Murray, in turn, has dismissed the ACLU’s unyielding demand to require data collection as something put forth by whites who do not share his sense of urgency for rapid action.

“They are not people of color,” Murray said about the leadership of the ACLU. “None of them has actually had this happen to them.”

Murray said he was stopped while driving in Beverly Hills in June 1998 because he is black. He said that, as an African American, he is pushing for a bill that would pass quickly rather than waging a long fight for race data requirements. ACLU officials, he said, can afford to engage in protracted legislative and legal battles because they are not personally suffering.

“It really does smack of colonialism,” Murray said of the ACLU’s position. “They would tell minorities how best to do their affairs.”

While aimed at white staffers of the ACLU, Murray’s comments have enraged African Americans who had supported his original bill. A group of local African American activists called a news conference Friday in Leimert Park to denounce Murray’s latest bill and the senator’s remarks.

“It’s vicious to inflame passions by playing the race card, and insulting [for Murray] to say that African Americans who oppose him can’t think for themselves,” said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, director of the National Alliance for Positive Action.

Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic Hope, said: “Murray is trying to put out the misperception that we as black leaders don’t have the intelligence to think for ourselves.”

Ali pointed out that though he opposes the Murray bill, he is well aware of the urgent need to end racial profiling.

“When Brother Murray was stopped, I was among the first to take up the issue,” he said, referring to the Beverly Hills incident, in which the lawmaker said police pulled him over for having no front license plate.

Hutchinson said he, Ali and others at the Leimert Park event are starting a campaign against Murray’s bill, targeting black media and lawmakers.

Ali said black organizations supporting Murray’s bill are motivated by the hope of receiving government grants that may be issued to fund police training and other anti-profiling measures.

Brotherhood Crusade president Danny Bakewell, a leading backer of the Murray bill, said his group would not receive any funds generated by passage of the bill. Bakewell said the Murray bill would “shift the balance of power” in a traffic stop because officers would have to provide motorists with a business card.

Bakewell repeated Murray’s swipe at the ACLU.

“I support the ACLU, but they are off base on this. They should not impose their will on the black community,” Bakewell said.

John Crew, coordinator of the ACLU’s campaign against racial profiling, said, “It is unfortunate that Sen. Murray has chosen to attack the messenger instead of the substance of the message.”

Los Angeles civil rights lawyer Constance Rice said that it is impossible to know the extent of racial profiling without race data on traffic stops. She said Murray’s characterization of the ACLU as “outside the community” is wrong.

“The ACLU is part of the Los Angeles community, and racial profiling is not just a concern of the African American community. It is a concern of all communities” against injustice, she said.