Oakland protests after BART killing of Oscar Grant

January 8, 11:41 AMRace & Justice ExaminerNikki Jones

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Oscar Grant

Oscar Grant, 22, was shot and killed by a BART transit officer shortly after 2:00 am on New Year’s Day. The killing of Mr. Grant, who was unarmed, and the subsequent handling of the incident by BART and Oakland officials, has resulted in a series of protests in Oakland.  Some of these protests have turned violent. 

Young people who come of age in distressed inner city neighborhoods in Oakland are no strangers to violence and many have become accustomed to losing friends or family members at young ages, too often at the hands of other Black youth. Yet, there is often a way to make sense of this violence: a young man who is deeply involved in “the game” lives and dies by the “code of the street,” for example. Family and friends know this and their familiarity with the rules of the game allows them to make some sense of a murder, even as they grieve the loss of a loved one. 

A special sort of frustration and even rage emerges, however, when an otherwise innocent young person loses his or her life in a senseless shooting.  Recent newspaper reports suggest that Oscar Grant was actively working to be a “better man”: he was employed at a supermarket, took pride in being a father to his four year-old daughter and had family and friends who loved him—these same people are now ready to fight for him.

In a report aired on KQED, a friend of Oscar Grant’s family said that she is tired of how police officers treat Black youth, “I feel like they just look at a Black person like nothing.” In a number of neighborhoods in Oakland, San Francisco, and throughout the country, the police routinely stop young Black men; they ask them to produce identification, pat-search them, and keep them under watch as they move on their blocks. This treatment often extends to other areas of the city, including public transportation. Proponents argue that such police practices are necessary to combat the violence that plagues Oakland, yet the seemingly arbitrary application of these practices can anger young men of color, especially those who are trying to distance themselves from others who are more committed to the street.

The video of the shooting was captured by a cell phone camera.  The second video of protests in the wake of Oscar Grant’s killing suggest that Oakland residents have reached their limit with how youth of color are treated in the city.

The BART Shooting

Protest in Oakland