Driving While White (DWW)

Back in 2001, myself and Ron Kreisman, a Maine attorney, were leaving Indian Island in Old Town, Maine in his car from a meeting. Indian Island is the home of the Penobscot Indian Nation, which is a sovereign Native American entity within Maine and the United States, as set forth by treaty. The Penobscot Indian Nation at Indian Island has its own police department, staffed by Penobscot Indians.

We got pulled over for speeding. The police officer was a Penobscot Indian. We were speeding, probably by about 10 mph. So the cop gave Ron a speeding ticket and then we were on our way back down to Augusta and Hallowell, Maine, where we both lived.

It is at least possible, but in no way provable, that if we were Penobscot Indians, the cop would have let us off with a warning. And it is possible, but in no way provable, that the cop gave Ron a speeding ticket in part because he is white and not a Penobscot Indian. Again, there is no way to prove this, but it is possible.

I recall this story because in the United States about the only way that a white male can suffer police discrimination because of their skin color is if they are pulled over on Native American land by a Native American cop.

And that doesn't happen much.