Chuck Meadows, 38, a former vice president of public policy at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, is the new executive director of the private fundraising group the Beltline Partnership. He was interviewed last week by staff writer Ariel Hart. His comments have been edited for space and clarity.
More than a decade ago Meadows was an aide in then-Gov. Roy Barnes’ office. He was driving his week-old Pontiac Grand Prix, which still had its temporary or “drive out” dealer tag.
I was stopped in Cobb County by an officer. You know, hadn’t committed any violation, hadn’t run a red light, wasn’t speeding. When I asked him why I was pulled over, he said it was because even though I had a drive-out tag, to him my car did not look new. He asked for all kinds of proof that I had purchased the car legally.
I wouldn’t characterize (the officer’s behavior) as overly aggressive. It was sort of matter of fact and nonchalant. He wasn’t overly rude or yelling or anything of that sort.
Thankfully I had the proof he wanted in a folder tucked neatly in my glove box because I’d just bought the car. And it wasn’t a used car, it was a brand new car. Obviously you can never empirically prove the whole driving while black situation, but that one stands out in my mind as pretty blatant. It felt bad at the time, it still feels bad when I remember it now.
At first I was a little — you know how you feel when you buy a new car — you’re kind of proud of yourself or whatever, or proud of the car, at least. So that was my first reaction, to be insulted that he said my car didn’t look new. You know, what do you mean my car doesn’t look new? It still smells new!
But then I started thinking about just how strange it was that his whole reason for stopping me was that my car didn’t look new. Like it just didn’t add up.
I would say there have been encounters with white law enforcement officers that have gone completely well. Where there wasn’t anything fishy that happened, the officer treated you with respect and handled the situation professionally and appropriately.
There is that fear in your mind that you could have an experience that does go wrong; if you do get pulled over, do things like put on the interior lights, make sure hands are visible, roll the windows down, and all those types of precautionary measures – that I would argue that folks generally don’t have to think about if they’re not black. That was definitely on my mind as I was taking my family across the country on our Thanksgiving trip.
Cobb police response
A Cobb County police spokesman pointed out some of the vague details of Chuck Meadows’ decade-old story and called it an “alleged” stop that the police department could not verify ever happened. The spokesman, Officer Mike Bowman, also noted that at that time, the law concerning drive-out tags did not require them to bear dates, and allowed anybody driving with one to be stopped.
