Is warp drive possible? Dunno. I'm too busy thinking about driving while black

This column should be about warp speed, but it’s not.

It’s about driving while black, which is unsafe at any speed.

Stop me if you’ve heard that one before. (Get it? Stop me. It's not funny, is it?)

A recent headline in Popular Mechanics said, “Warp drive is theoretically possible.” The article went on to explain what a University of Alabama-Huntsville mechanical engineering student had to say about the technology that Star Trek writers use to explain interstellar travel. 

I wanted to explore this further. I wanted to call a theoretical physicist and have a chat about the concept. I wanted to discuss the importance of out-of-this-world thinking. I wanted to relay it all so that more people might be inclined to dream about what’s possible.  

But for people who look like me, dreaming is often impossible. How can you dream when you have to deal with stress, fear and anxiety every time you do something as simple as drive down the street?

He was pulled over for an air freshener

Last week, The Arizona Republic got footage of a 22-year-old black man getting pulled over in western Arizona by a La Paz County deputy over an air freshener.

The officer said it was dangling from the rear-view mirror and obstructing the driver’s view, but that doesn’t explain why he repeatedly asked about drugs. Among the questions recorded in a 10-minute video:

“Is there any marijuana in the car?”

No.

“Do you smoke marijuana?”

No.

“When was the last time you smoked marijuana?”

I don’t smoke.

“Do you have cocaine or heroin in the car?”

No.

“Do you have a medical marijuana card?”

No.

This can’t be policy, can it?

See why this makes black men nervous?

The officer also asked the driver to get out of the car and effectively said he was being too perfect, since he had kept his hands on the steering wheel throughout the stop. The officer also said the driver looked nervous, which made him suspicious.

If you don’t see how this makes people who look like me leery of encounters with so-called authority figures, then I have to believe you’re actively working to ignore our humanity and the basic rights that it confers.

But just in case there’s room in your heart, and you’re really curious about what it feels like to be my skin, consider those “thin blue line” bumper stickers, with the cobalt stripe across a black-and-white American flag.

They’re meant to show support for police. Against what threat, I have no idea. Police have guns and body armor and backing from the public and other officers.

Yes, the job can be dangerous, but no one made them sign up for it.

Anyway, a few weeks ago on the drive to work, I saw a “thin blue line” bumper sticker next to a Confederate flag bumper sticker.

You can give me the “states’ rights” lecture all you want, but I’ll refer back to Leonard Pitts who once wrote, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Yes, the Civil War was about states’ rights. It was about states’ rights to own slaves.”

More recently, I saw a “thin blue line” flag artfully designed inside of a Punisher logo.

If you didn’t spend any of the last 40 years or so reading comic books or watching movies based on them, the Punisher is a vigilante who kills the criminals and villains he encounters rather than arresting or capturing them.

Other things should capture our imagination

So, again, driving is stressful.

It’s horrifying to imagine that the people driving these cars were police officers or their relatives.  

How can minorities be certain of fair or equal treatment during police encounters if there's even one racist behind a badge?

And all of this has the potential to flash through my mind every time I put my car in gear.

Hispanics with skin the same color as mine might deal with similar stress every time they hear the name “Arpaio,” prompting them to remember his ridiculous immigration patrols.

ROBERTS:Here's what stinks: A traffic stop over an air freshener

Is it any wonder, then, that reports still come out showing an under-representation of black and Hispanics in science, technology, engineering and math classes and careers?

How can we use our brainpower to start considering the possibilities of warp drive and space ships and zipping from star system to star system at the speed of light when we’re worried about getting accused of doing the wrong thing every time we try to drive down the street?

This should be about the possibilities and limitlessness of human potential.

Instead it’s about driving while black. Again.

Stop me if you’ve heard any of this before.

Get it?

It's not funny, is it?

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @WritingMoore.

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