JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
A scene that's all too familiar played out in body camera footage released on Sunday. A Black man was forcibly removed from his car and detained in handcuffs by police.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TYREEK HILL: If I wasn't Tyreek Hill, worst-case scenario, we would have had a different article, you know? Tyreek Hill got shot in front of Hard Rock Stadium.
SUMMERS: That was Miami Dolphin star Tyreek Hill, who was on his way to the team's first game of the NFL season when he was pulled over by Miami-Dade Police. He was ultimately released after he was detained and cited for careless driving and failure to wear a seat belt. The encounter has drawn national attention and revived a conversation about interactions between Black drivers and police. Aaron Morrison is the AP's race and ethnicity editor. He's been covering this story and joins us now. Aaron, welcome.
AARON MORRISON: Thanks for having me.
SUMMERS: Aaron, Tyreek Hill has spoken out since the encounter that he had with law enforcement. And one thing that, as I've listened to him, he seems to acknowledge repeatedly is the privilege that he carries because he's a recognizable NFL player. He's been repeatedly raising the question - what if I wasn't Tyreek Hill? What stands out to you there?
MORRISON: Well, I think what we know is that data and sentiments about police interactions can give us an idea of what would have happened to Tyreek Hill if he weren't a celebrity, a star wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins. Less than a quarter of Americans age 16 and older reported having any contact with police in the most recent survey by the Bureau of Justice statistics. But those that do report if you are Black or Hispanic, you were more likely than white people to experience the threat or use of force in traffic stops. Black people are also more likely to be shouted at by police than white people. So I think what Tyreek Hill was trying to emphasize here is that he knows very well - even if he isn't wanting to talk about it explicitly, he knows very well that this traffic stop could have turned out much differently for him.
SUMMERS: In the article that you and your AP colleagues wrote, it also wraps up some of the reaction from Hill's Miami teammates, particularly some of his Black teammates. Can you give us some examples of what they had to say having seen what happened to their colleague?
MORRISON: Well, I mean, his fellow Black players were not surprised to learn or even witness him being pulled from his vehicle, placed on the ground and handcuffed. One of his teammates was placed in handcuffs himself for trying to intervene. This is a Black teammate. And again, data and surveys back up this experience time and time again for Black Americans and particularly Black men. So the players sort of affirmed and even said and went further than what Tyreek Hill was saying about the incident - and really calling attention to the idea that there is still disparity in treatment between Black and white drivers in this country.
SUMMERS: Aaron, I know this is a beat you've been covering for some time leading the team there at the AP. I'm curious if you're surprised at all by the level of national attention that this story has garnered. I mean, as I've scrolled through my own social media, Facebook feeds, my family and friends, it's been hard not to see it, frankly, not to see the video, not to hear more about the story.
MORRISON: Yeah, I think one of the things that this moment or incident reminds a lot of people, is that despite the waves of protests that we've seen over - or even over the last decade - last month, we marked 10 years since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. And then, of course, four years ago, was the, you know, uprising nationwide, really worldwide, over the murder of George Floyd. And I think moments like this sort of remind us that we haven't gone as far as we think we have and that the reality for Black men and for Black people is that there is a different experience, and there continues to be and will continue to be until more is done to address these issues.
SUMMERS: That's Aaron Morrison of The Associated Press. Aaron, thanks for your reporting.
MORRISON: Thank you.
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