....I could NOT believe tonight's SFGATE article on the protests happening in Oakland today.
[Backstory: A BART cop shot and killed a man - WHO WAS ALREADY HANDCUFFED AND ON THE FLOOR - on New Year's Day in a BART station in Oakland. If you really must, there are tons of videos floating around on the 'net with the actual shooting. They are even playing it on our local news. But I'm not going to link to one here. ANYWAY. As such, people are protesting - as well they should - this whole thing.]
During this evening's protest, things started getting out of hand and protestors started torching cars and smashing random storefronts. REAL productive. However, this one section of the article stood out to me as a huge WTF:
Protesters smashed the storefronts of McDonald's as well as stores called Creative African Braids and Oakland Yoon's Pharmacy. Cars along 14th Street were smashed, and some were set ablaze.Wait...WHAT? A protestor from San Francisco thinks it's TOTALLY APPROPRIATE to smash in an unaffiliated local business?? How the hell does that make any sense???? PEOPLE. It is horrible and awful and beyond belief how that boy was killed by the BART cop, and the cop should face the consequences for that. HOWEVER.....I am pissed off for the folks who own the braids place - I mean, really...especially right now when local small businesses are suffering anyway, let's just add a huge-ass repair bill on top of that?? UGH. That is horrible and I just don't get it.
A woman walked out of Creative African Braids holding a baby in her arms.
"This is our business," she shouted. "This is our shop. This is what you call a protest?"
Nia Sykes, 24, of San Francisco, a protester who was with the group, said, "I feel like the night is going great. I feel like Oakland should make some noise. This is how we need to fight back.
"It's for the murder of a black male," said Sykes, who is black. The demonstration "is totally appropriate."
Sykes had little sympathy for the owner of Creative African Braids.
"She should be glad she just lost her business and not her life," Sykes said. She added that she did have one worry for the night: "I just hope nobody gets shot or killed."
3 comments:
When I was teaching high school kids, I found that many of the gang kids or other problem kids operated under the assumption that they could do whatever they wanted - like lose control, hit someone, gang up on others, destroy someone's property, etc, but that people in authority like teachers, principals, police and other adults would never lose control. I had a conversation with a gang kid who was bragging about how he and his buddies ganged up and scared an older man.
Me: what if the old man had pulled out a gun and shot one of you?
Kid: (outraged) he would get in trouble!
Me: yes he would, but you would be dead.
I so agree with your comments, Katy. My heart aches seeing what our country has become with no moral guidelines....regardless, of religious beliefs, common courtesy and regard for others has seemingly gone down the drain. WTF indeed!
There's simply NO explaining the Mob Mind, IMHO. But still and even: I'm shocked. Not so much surprised, but shocked.
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