Panic in the streets of Oakland

Check out the above video. It’s some amateur footage captured by someone last night in Oakland, Calif., where citizens (and I use that term loosely) protesting the shooting of an unarmed man by a transit police officer turned their peaceful demonstration into a violent riot, smashing cars and storefronts all along streets in the downtown area.

Source: SFGate.com

Source: SFGate.com

Why were they so outraged? Oh, because the victim was black. And whose businesses and cars were being attacked? Um, black-owned ones.

This violence didn’t comprise calls for justice or acts of vengeance against “the Man.” It was simply a bunch of morons taking advantage of a volatile situation. Look at the video again. Those are white skateboarders smashing in car windows indiscriminately. Who are their oppressors — the people who install skate stoppers in public parks?

So if the response in an American city to a single wrongful shooting death is wanton violence and disregard for fellow people, is it really any surprise that decades-old conflicts endure in places such as the Middle East?

1 Comment

  1. Maria January 9, 2009 11:09 am 

    I don’t know why people are surprised by the capacity for human stupidity. And we haven’t even reached it’s full potential yet!