Oakland Riots

Oakland Riots a Harbinger of a Long, Hot Summer?

By Rod Pennington

Last night there was rioting in Oakland. The trouble started after a former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer named Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Mehserle was convicted of shooting an unarmed black man named Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. Because of the emotion connected with the trial it had been moved to Los Angeles.

While tame by 1960s riots standards it was still an ominous reminder that the inner-city of most major metropolitan areas of America are sitting on a potential powder keg. Imagine if Mehserle had been found innocent? Would there have been a repeat of the Rodney King riots that wracked LA in 1992?

Buried in the bowels of recent unemployment statics are some pretty scary numbers. Nationally, unemployment for African-American male teens 16-19 is a staggering 43.3% with females only slightly better at 40.1%.

In distressed cities such as Detroit where the “official” unemployment rate is around 15%, city officials think it may be double that for all Blacks and approaching 70% for Blacks under 25. This is intolerable.

Combine this with the falling popularity of President Barack Obama and it becomes an even more volatile mix. Will African-Americans reach a point where they consider any criticism of President Obama a personal snub as well? Without the near unanimous support of Blacks, Mr. Obama’s approval rating is under 40% with the rest of America. As the November elections approach the partisan rhetoric will escalate with much of it pointed at Mr. Obama. There is the potential that Blacks will start to feel everyone else is “dissing” their guy.

There are already Black hate merchants trying to ferment violence. A member of the New Black Panthers, Malik Zulu Shabazz, was caught on video saying “we’re going to have to kill some crackers. We’re going to have to kill their babies.” He was also the same man who was found guilty of intimidation of voters at a Philadelphia polling place until Attorney General Eric Holder stepped in and had the charges dropped.

With the economic situation and frustration in the Black community, it won’t take much to light the fuse. It could be a White cop shooting a Black teenager or a video tape of an African-American being roughed up by overzealous police. As the heat, humidity and despair continues to build in our cities, the risk of another Oakland style riot increases as well. The biggest concern, would an isolated incident cause a cascade of protests that sweeps the nation?

President Obama ran on the message of hope but in the inner-cities hope is in short supply.

Update: US Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will “Review” this case. Whether this decision will help calm the situation in Oakland or merely inflames the passions further will soon be clear.