At the south end of Lakeside Park, someone put up a plaque that reads:
This memorial is dedicated to Black and Brown lives taken by the police and vigilantes since the beginning of the George Floyd Rebellion of May 25, 2020
At a time when the contradictions in our society are laid bare for all to see, we would like to mark this as the beginning of a new era, where the struggle for freedom made a turning point. From this day forward, we commemorate those who have been killed and held prisoner to state violence, both past and present, by remembering their stories and continuing the resistance…
All very stirring, in a violent revolutionary Black Muslim way, and all complete BS.
Let’s begin by counting up the “Black and Brown lives” killed by police officers in Oakland over the last several decades. I don’t know the precise figure, but it can’t be more than a dozen or two. Now let’s count up the number of Black and Brown lives killed by Black or Brown murderers over a similar period. Again, it’s impossible to arrive at an exact number, but it has to be in the thousands. Talk about “contradictions laid bare”! It’s fine to mourn the loss of any life, but it’s pretty ideologically slanted to single out a few dozen deaths compared to thousands for whom the people who put up the plaque seem to have no regard at all because it’s an inconvenient truth for them to do so. Not a Black or Brown name mentioned, not a tear shed, not a finger pointed at the true dealers of death.
Moreover, is it wrong to speculate that most of the “Black and Brown lives” taken by police officers were during the commission of serious crimes? By my reading of the news, the vast majority were shot while attacking police officers or fleeing from them, or while they were engaged in behavior that placed the public--that’s you and me--at imminent risk. We pay our police officers to stop these people; it’s why we thank them for their service and protection. Quite honestly, when I hear that a violent perp has been stopped while attempting to kill a police officer, I think, “If one of them had to die, I’m glad it wasn’t the cop.”
And what’s up with “vigilantes”? That makes it sound like Black and Brown people are being hunted by self-appointed, crazy private citizens (presumably White) who are gunning them down. Are you aware of any such instances in Oakland? Neither am I, and for good reason: none exist.
As for being “held prisoner to state violence,” yes, we do have a lot of felons in jail. That is because, to put it bluntly, too many individuals choose to live lives of crime. When they’re tried in a court of law and found guilty by a jury of their peers, we send them to prison. That’s the way it works. It’s what humankind has always done with its incorrigibles. Again, when I read in the newspaper that so-and-so who murdered someone has been sentenced to years behind bars, I think, “Good. One fewer to worry about.”
Finally, as for “continuing the resistance,” there you have it: A confession that there is an organized resistance (I prefer to call it an uprising) in Oakland. I am convinced that many criminals rationalize their sociopathic behavior by resentment of “400 years of slavery” or “Jim Crow” or “institutional racism” or “White supremacy.” Let’s please get one thing clear: there can be no justification whatsoever for violent crime. Never. Whoever chooses to make war against civilized society—for whatever professed reason—must pay the price. We, the peaceful, law-abiding citizens of Oakland, are clamoring for more police officers to be given wider latitude to do their jobs than they currently are, because we’re acutely aware that this uprising endangers us and our loved ones. We are a patient, compassionate and tolerant people, but we have the right to peace. Let the people who put up the plaque think whatever they want, but before the bar of history, they have been found wanting; and if push comes to shove, they’re going to lose.
By the way, did Oakland Parks and Rec approve this offensive plaque? I wonder what would happen if a pro-police group put up a pro-cop plaque. I bet it would quickly be vandalized. I emailed Oakland Parks and Rec about this but haven’t yet received a reply.
Steve Heimoff