According to indybay.org, as Oakland, CA residents prepare for the outcome of the Oscar Grant trial, Oakland's Mayor Ron Dellums had this to say:
“Don't get used by these protesters…. Don't get pimped. You kids are too stupid to analyze the system you don't need to get angry. It's just the agitators who want to use you to legitimize themselves.
“I'm hitting you kids with some real wisdom here. I'm an older black man so don't question me about this,” he continued.
This is said to be the only approach local Oakland community nonprofits, Mayor Ron Dellums, and the Oakland Police Department could think of to keep the peace after the verdict is announced for the officer responsible for shooting and unarmed Oscar Grant in the back.
In a classroom where staying focused to solve something as simple as a math problem is the answer, this approach may or may not work. But in a situation where black people are constantly being over-powered by racist cops and plagued by an unjust system, violence may not make it right, but neither will calling people stupid.
To add insult to injury, police officials have assured the public that a quiet, orderly demonstration will be tolerated, but any property damage will be met with swift, Mehserle-style execution.
“We like freedom of speech,” said an OPD spokesman. “But we have a job, and that job is to keep Oakland's stupid youth from revolting. Since we can't openly treat them like the animals we know they are, we have to shift the blame to someone. So why not the groups that advocate revolution? So we thought, 'There's white people in those groups. We can just call them outsiders, and the brutal reality of our police state will fade to the back of peoples' minds.' Brilliant!”
[mashshare]
