Driving, mobility, travel — these are essential elements of the American identity. But they’re also ones that have historically been denied to Black Americans. “What it means to be American is to take to the road,” a character says in the trailer for “Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America.” To drive is “to control your own destiny”; it means “discovery [and] freedom.”

From directors Gretchen Sorin and Ric Burns and inspired by the former’s study “Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights,” the PBS documentary special explores the experiences of Black drivers in the United States. From the economic status of owning a car, to the “trials” of vacationing as a Black person, to the protection of the Green Book, to contemporary anti-Black police violence at traffic stops, the film stresses that “mobility is freedom.” And, often, when Black Americans claim that freedom, they are punished.

“I think the automobile allows us to understand the way that African Americans have moved forward in this country and the way that African Americans have been pushed back,” a character concludes in the spot.

“Everyone understands and remembers driving or riding in an automobile, and many people have the experience of going on an annual family vacation,” Sorin stated, per a press release. “But while these vacations may be fairly universal American experiences, Black and white travelers went down parallel roads, and the experience for Black drivers on the road is something unknown to most white Americans. For African Americans, travel by automobile during the 20th century posed a paradox: although cars freed them from the tyranny of the Jim Crow bus or train, they faced intimidation and even violence when they ventured out on the road.”

“Driving While Black” features interviews with journalist Tamara Banks, authors Carolyn Finney and Kathleen Franz, and Stanford professor Allyson Hobbs, among many others. The special premieres October 13 on PBS.