Exit 280 on I-65 South (Alabama)

By

Robert A.Jackson, Jr.

If you have ever traveled I-65 South going towards Birmingham, Alabama, you have passed by Exit 280. You may have passed by this exit multiple times over your lifetime and thought nothing about it. This is a story that many people do not know. It is one that I had suppressed. On June 23rd, 2019, I was reminded of a traumatic event that is forever etched into my brain. You see, without knowing it, that early morning event of my early twenties is replayed every time I see this exit.

I had gotten up early to take my girlfriend (now wife) back to Montgomery. We left Pulaski to make a stop in Hartselle, Alabama to pick up a rental car. I had used this particular company multiple times. So, I knew their way of business. 

I noticed something interesting about this car that I was renting. It had a “license plate” that said, “Tag Applied For”. I had seen this particular tag multiple times while driving in Alabama and I always thought it was interesting because Tennessee would put a “ride out” tag on the car until the license plate was delivered. I felt uneasy. So, I specially asked the employee if this tag was going to be an issue with law enforcement. I asked, “What if we get pulled over?” The employee told me that if we did, “Show the officer the paperwork and tell them to call if there are any questions.”

We left Hartselle and started our journey towards Montgomery. I remember it like it was yesterday. I saw a police car from the city of Warrior getting onto the interstate at Exit 282. I specifically remember checking my speed to make sure I was in compliance with the speed limit. I knew that we both had on our seatbelts. So, I thought everything was alright until I saw the officers pull in behind us. I became uneasy. My thoughts ran back to my conversation with the rental car employee.

As we approached Exit 280 South Bound on I-65, the flashing blue lights came on and I pulled into the fork in the road in front of the sign that says, “Exit 280”. I got my license and the rental car information and got myself prepared for the officer to come to my window. As I looked through the rear view and the side mirrors, I noticed that both officers got out of the vehicle and approached us. The driver came to my door and proceeded to ask me for my identification. He proceeded to tell me that Alabama had recently had a string of stolen vehicles and they all had the “Tag Applied For” tag on them. I remembered what the rental car employee told me. So, I told him about the phone number on the rental application. For whatever reason, he refused to make that phone call. Sometime during that conversation, he asked me to exit the vehicle. I didn’t know it at the time, but the officers were separating us to individually question us to see if our stories matched.

How did we end up in this situation? The officer with me asked where I had “picked up” the young lady. I advised him that the “young lady” was my girlfriend, and I was taking her back to Montgomery. I found out later that Tiffany was asked the same question. This interrogation in the median of Exit 280 continued for several minutes seemingly to see if our stories changed. 

Even though several cars were passing by, this was a very lonely and heart pounding event. I was not handcuffed but I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed because, to motorists, it looked like I had done something wrong even though I knew that I had not. I had no idea what these officers had in mind. All I knew was that I was a big Black man in his twenties driving a rental car that did not have a license plate on it with my girlfriend as a passenger. It soon became obvious that the officers thought that I was a car thief that had a female accomplice that could be a prostitute. 

This incident happened two decades ago. But the memories of the trauma that we experienced that day still linger when I’m traveling through that part of Alabama. It causes an uneasiness in my spirit because I know that things could have been worse. The only thing that I was guilty of that day was DWB (Driving While Black). 

This story and other similar stories are why it is so hard for me to put my sole trust into the “Blue Line”. I have heard so many stories of onlookers seeing them doing their job, but the victims are actually being harassed. I did everything right that day, but their intimidation worked. 

As I walked through the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham on that day in 2019, Bull Connor’s tank stood out to me. I found it very interesting that he and others in law enforcement over the years have been so “scared” of Blacks and other people of color that they chose to use military equipment and other intimidation methods to strike fear into us. 

Even though I have friends and family in every level of law enforcement from the local to the federal level, I still have the understanding that while I care about their lives, I also care about the lives of those who may not like them because of past treatment from other officers. I stand in a paradoxical state of existence. It is like God will not allow me to take an “either/or” stance but “both/and” stance.

While I understand the concern from the families of law enforcement, I also understand the discomfort and/or hatred towards law enforcement. I have experienced the feelings from both standpoints. Should I allow my feelings about my family and friends make me become calloused towards those who oppose the system in which they work? I think not. Exit 280 I-65 South has forever changed my context for how I view law enforcement as a system. The system questioned this law-abiding citizen and refused to believe me. Therefore, trust was broken. On that day, serving and protecting became intimidating and harassing. There was no reason for that day to take as long as it did. 

If you are not a person of color reading this blog, imagine what this experience would be like if you experienced it as a law-abiding citizen. In order for you to empathize, you have to seek to understand my context. If you think that you know my context without seeking to understand, you have taken on the attributes of an oppressor who seeks to tell everyone else how they should feel.

I’m telling this story because I know others have experienced similar ones. Some in my life have tried to explain these events away. But there is nothing that anyone can do to erase what I know I felt that day in Alabama given its history between law enforcement and Blacks. I thank God for our protection on that day at Exit 280 I-65 South in Alabama.