Oakland's Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

I was watching the news last night and saw a really disturbing piece on what's going on in Oakland right now as they await the verdict in the BART shooting case.  The trial is in Los Angeles, moved there because of the huge publicity and high public tensions, and the jury is currently deliberating.  A verdict could come as early as today.  As I mentioned in a previous post it's unlikely the jury will find the BART guard guilty of the most serious charge.

The story showed how for dozens of blocks - I think the story said 30 - shopkeepers are boarding up windows and locking and chaining doors in anticipation of what could be the largest outbreak of civil disobedience since the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.  What was even more disturbing were the interviews with some of the Oakland residents.  One young guy said he believed the officer was racist and the shooting was carefully staged to make it look like an accident.  I'm constantly amazed at the level of nonsense people are willing to believe to support their own prejudices.

One local peace activist thinks a lot of the trouble is coming from outsiders:

Kevin Grant - who is not related to Oscar Grant - holds a fiercely Oakland-centric viewpoint that places above all else the well-being of Oakland's people, property and especially the at-risk young people and parolee population he is responsible for reaching.

To out-of-town protesters, he says: "If you (are) so down with the cause, let's kick it off in your neighborhood, not in mine."

Grant has conveyed that message from Juvenile Hall to the school district's summer school program at Oakland Technical High School to the Boys & Girls Club and mandatory parole meetings. His outreach workers do the same on the streets of Oakland from Thursday to Saturday nights.

At the recreation center two Fridays ago, Grant spoke about a flyer he saw publicizing post-verdict demonstrations planned for Oakland and noted that it showed protesters from Oregon with bullhorns in hand.

"We ain't got bullhorns in the hood!" he said. "Nobody's mama went out and bought them bullhorns."

Grant, who spent time incarcerated as both a juvenile and an adult, said his own past allows him to speak in real terms with young adults from some of Oakland's toughest neighborhoods.

A few young men even felt comfortable enough to speak their true minds.

"A lot of the youngsters don't watch the news, but some of the hard-core kids said if they (demonstrators) bust a window at Foot Locker, 'I'm gettin' off,' " Grant said.

Grant accepts the candor and then busts out with the knowledge and wisdom that only time and experience can provide - and prays that his kids are listening.

"Yeah, they'll get us all riled up, and by the time we get down to the corner, they're at home watchin' us go to jail on TV," he replied.

Based on what I've seen in these reports there seems to be a large group of Oakland residents who feel this shooting, and especially a verdict that is less than the maximum possible, will justify any rioting and looting that will follow. After all, if someone else is getting some free stuff, why not me? Morality goes right out the window (or through the window, as the case may be).

There's also an element that probably secretly wants a riot because that usually means the state and federal government will come in with billions in redevelopment aid, much of which ends up in the pockets of the local activists. Given the sorry state of both the state and federal governments these days, if I were governor I'd do a couple of things right now:

• Given the preparations that are already underway for a riot, I would have ordered the National Guard in there already and have them standing by to stomp out any problems before they can get completely out-of-hand.  If the local city government objects, tough.  Instead, it's likely that things will be total chaos for two or three days before the National Guard can get there.
• Inform the city and the local media that the state may not be able to help if there's a large amount of destruction in the city.  The state doesn't have the funds and Oakland and surrounding communities will be on their own to clean up the mess.

Maybe cooler heads will prevail and the locals will ignore the outside agitators and protect their city.

Yeah, and maybe Obama will announce massive tax cuts and will repeal Obamacare.