Driving While Black - Plays On The Phrase

Plays On The Phrase

Plays on the phrase ("snowclone"s) include "walking while black" for pedestrian offenses, "learning while black" for students in schools, and "eating while black" for restaurants. Actor Danny Glover held a press conference in 1999 because cabdrivers weren't stopping for him in New York City; this was called "hailing while black". The phenomenon was investigated further on Michael Moore's television series TV Nation.

In 2001, the American Civil Liberties Union convinced the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to repay $7,000 that it had seized from a black businessman in the Omaha, Nebraska airport on the false theory that it was drug money; the ACLU called it "flying while black". A pain specialist who treats sickle-cell disease patients at Manhattan's Beth Israel Medical Center reported that for many years doctors forced African American sickle-cell sufferers to endure pain because they assumed that blacks would become addicted to medication; Time magazine labeled this "ailing while black."

The phrase is also used with other racial, ethnic and cultural groups. A well-known example is Flying while Muslim, referring to the scrutiny that Arabs and Muslim face as airline passengers.