Justice For Oscar Grant

SPOILER ALERT: If you HAVEN'T seen Fruitvale Station, do not read this post.

I am PISSED.

ELEVEN MONTHS?!?!?!?!?

Let me get this straight. The value of the life of black Americans has been no jail time and eleven months for the murderers of Trayvon and Oscar, respectively? Bull.

While the circumstances of both murders were arguably exceptionally different, the common thread - as I've written before - is that of the fear of the black male in America. The police officers involved in the killing of Amadou Diallo, Malice Green, Oscar Grant - I mean gosh, I must've just gotten tongue tied with the loss of life of unarmed black males - looked at Oscar and thought that he was a threat. Why else would they kick and beat someone who was the VICTIM of an altercation on a train? Moreover, why was he targeted on the train in the first place? I'll grant you, movies may indulge in the facts, but I find it believable that Oscar was pulled off the train because he looked suspicious (sound familiar George Zimmerman?).

We're back at the point where because of a stereotype (our black males are inherently bad), society has a right to protect themselves and others from them. This imbalance of power is exceptionally scary when we provide those with power (resources, money, guns) access to differentially treat our black brethren. There is a PROBLEM when folks do not feel like everyone is equal. This means that work not only needs to be done within communities, it needs to be done across the board. Even if EVERY SINGLE BLACK-ON-BLACK MURDER was prevented (the major position taken by several pundits regarding black folks "overreaction" to the Trayvon Martin killing and verdict), the discrimination that leads to crimes against blacks (and perhaps more importantly, that leads to within race hatred and violence) is still alive and well.

I find myself most upset by two points from the Oscar Grant case:

1) The cop got 11 months for killing Oscar. And while this is 11 more months than George Zimmerman, the shooting was recorded and witnessed by several people. Folks argue that since Zimmerman was the only witness left in the Trayvon case, we didn't have the real story. Welp, I just watched 4 videos that all showed the same story: Oscar was shot in the back as he was restrained and held to the ground by two cops. Thus, the unarmed young man didn't even have to do any of the alleged things that Trayvon did to get killed. But alas, his life was taken by a man who believed he was reaching for his taser. I can't state whether the officer really did think it was a taser (though the safety differs drastically, among other things), but I do know that these excuses are all sounding a bit familial...I thought he had a gun (it was probably a wallet, or cell phone, or vile...see previous victims). And, although there was video of a man having his life taken, the murderer was given 11 months (with time served) for this loss of life. [Just as an FYI, average murder sentences are about 30 years with 10 years served, but since the sentence was dropped to manslaughter, he'll never see that kinda time].

2) People are STILL calling for justice in this case. I really don't know if there is anything we can do and it scares me a LOT. I am happy for the momentum from Trayvon's case, but Oscar's slaying was over 4 years ago. What has happened for his justice? What will happen from these rallies? And what the hell is me publishing in a journal going to do for the next possible black male caught in the wrong situation? I don't mean to sound this way, but I'm def despondent. It all feels so overhwhelming and I'm not sure how to solve some of the race-based issues in the US. I know we gotta keep pushing, but dang, when are folks going to stop pushing back?