My city... Oakland, The 'Town, has been rocked by the murders of four police officers by a guy who seemingly wasn't "going to go out out like that". The 'Town is still shaken by the murder of an unarmed young man on a BART platform by a BART police officer. Yet still, last year, we saw innocent people injured and killed as they sat a piano lesson in a "good part" of town or while in the bed sleep. We then saw riots as outside agitators egged on impressionable uninformed people to tear up their city- all when there was no reason to. We saw a city council member flame the fire instead of trying to quell an angry crowd while addressing a BART board meeting after the above BART shooting.
Big cities see more than their share of murders and violent crime. Usually these crimes are just a blurb on the 10 o'clock news-unless you were close to the actors or victims. But these examples of recent murders / violent crime in Oakland has brought out the worst in people on all sides of the fray. As I read comments on various media websites, I shudder to think my neighbor or the guy in the next cubicle could very well be spewing some of the most hateful vitriol typed out from behind the cloak of anonymity in cyberspace. People are angry that they are seemingly inundated with headlines blasting out the latest shooting etc... in their city. They have a right and responsibility to be angry- but some of the things I'm reading are scary. Folks are calling for vigilante posses, bombing all of Oakland, calling the populace apes, sewer trash etc... On the other hand you have people making excuses for those committing crimes. On a local news report, a community member was trying to express her condolences for the officer killings when some folks drove by shouting, "F*&^ the police" and other similar epithets. Another person, a representative from the nearby Uhuru House, was upset that people were mourning the loss of the officers. Who are these people with no compassion for life? Who are these closet racists who post garbage all over media websites ? As a black man, believe me, I know that there are some police officers who really should not be police officers have harassed people of color for sport. But HUMANS lost life needlesly. If you can't cope, why not be respectful and keep your mouth shut.
On the one hand we have closet racists calling people of color- animals, and other names, then we have folks who I hate to say- are acting like savage animals and playing into the racists hands.
I'm TIRED of this. I ' tired of the murders of black men by other black men. I'm tired of people making excuses for them. I'm tired of racists lumping everyone into one pot and for them being cowards for making statements but not wanting to engage in any meaningful dialog. I'm tired of what I know will be a pointed response by police officers who are going to clamp down and really come down on folks. I'm tired of the whole cycle. Please pray not only for the officers, but for the folks out in the streets who think it's ok for 4 people to be killed while working to protect the citizens. Pray for the hearts of those who have no compassion for others. Pray for those out in the streets who feel they can do no better.
In the words of Marvin Gaye, "What's Goin' On ? ".
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