To Persecute and Arrest

by Staff Writer

To protect and serve--I feel more like to persecute and arrest. Having lived in Oakland for 19 years as a young man of color, I have not had a good memory of dealing with the police and I know I am not alone. I come from a community of color who have this fear whenever we deal with the police; even when we are the victims of a crime we are afraid of calling the police because there is a mistrust and I don't blame my community. When we look at the statistics documenting all the harm coming from the police done against communities of color, it's undeniable. I feel sad of that lives are lost cause of gun violence, but donÕt romanticize heros. I feel we live a violent system, a violent society and feel sorry I am not surprised of what happened. I also feel that society has a scale method, categorizing different human beings depending on your class and occupation. I donÕt think the lives of a police officer are more valueable than any other human life.