driving while black

English

Etymology

A jocular play on driving while intoxicated.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

driving while black (uncountable)

1. (US, sarcastic) A fictitious criminal offense, said to be committed when a traffic stop is motivated by a police officer's racial bias against a black motorist, rather than any actual violation of law.

   Synonym: (initialism) DWB

   I was pulled over for driving while black yesterday. That idiot cop spent 20 minutes asking me a bunch of crap.

   • [1995, Paul C. Rosenblatt, Terri A. Karis, Richard D. Powell, Multiracial Couples: Black and White Voices (Understanding Families)‎, SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 147:

     jill We [Jill and her husband James] call it, "Driving While Black." We have a . . . nice car. So we got pulled over for a DWB. . . .]

See also

• racial profiling
• lookism
• facial discrimination
• Appendix:Snowclones/X while black

Further reading

• driving while black on Wikipedia.Wikipedia