Peace In Our Time: Oakland and the Oscar Grant Trial

A commentator on my earlier post about the predicted "Oscar Grant Verdict" riots wrote that I was giving Oakland short shrift, and that many people were actively working to keep the peace. Point taken and, right on cue, the Chronicle has a biggish story about those efforts: Oakland Calls For Non-Violent Verdict Reaction

For all the worry over the upcoming verdict in the trial of the former BART police officer who killed Oscar Grant, there is just as much determination in Oakland to make sure the reaction remains peaceful.

From youth clubs and churches to City Hall and even groups planning protests, many people are working hard to keep the inevitable demonstrations from getting out of hand the way they did Jan. 7, 2009.

That evening, rioters damaged scores of businesses and torched several cars in the downtown business district in reaction to the shooting of Grant, who was black, six days earlier by former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle, who is white.

"We have been trying to let the youth know that in the case of a riot, you are affecting the very same people in your own community that the riot is supposedly for, and that is just senseless," said Chris Logwood, a director at Boys and Girls Clubs of Oakland. "What possible good is that? It's a sign of ignorance. It shouldn't happen."

That's certainly much more useful than, say, Al Sharpton strutting through Queens at the head of a mob; or Maxine Waters chanting "No Justice, No Peace" at a press conference during the Rodney King riots; or the pop culture hagiography of Black Panthers; or the actual riots that followed the Oscar Grant killing. But that's the thing: rioting in the face of a media-friendly injustice has become ingrained among certain leaders in the community. For every Chris Logwood trying to keep the peace, there's an Al Sharpton Jr. trying to whip up trouble, along with the inevitable International ANSWER types who can be found in the thick of any anti-cop mob.

They claim to act in the name of social justice, but the innocent law abiding people in the neighborhood end up taking it in the chin.