Alex Landau, an African American man, was raised by his adoptive white parents to believe that skin color didn’t matter. When Alex was pulled over by Denver police officers one night in 2009, he lost his belief in a color-blind world—and nearly lost his life. Alex tells his mother, Patsy Hathaway, what happened that night and how it affects him to this day.

In 2011, Alex was awarded a $795,000 settlement from the City of Denver.

Two of the officers involved have since been fired from the Denver Police Department for other incidents.