"Big shout out to film maker Mooncricket who captured not only the rally that took place for killer cop Johannes Mehserle in Walnut Creek but also caught the ignorance and huge disconnect that many have when it comes to dealing with issues of race and police brutality..
In the clip below you hear the confrontations but more importantly you hear how deeply embedded racial perceptions are. pay close attention to the woman who wants to lecture one brother about genocide in Rwanda and then tells him about OJ Simpson.. It was a constant theme repeated over and over again which suggested that revenge from the OJ trial was sitting on everyone’s mind.
In this video listen to the other woman who attempts to tell us why people get pulled over and profiled and finds it hard to believe the police are doing anything wrong…This same woman is later caught on film yelling that mexicans should go back to Mexico."
There is some INTENSE shit on this video, especially at the end. I think my favorite bit is the white lady who interrupts a conversation being had between people and demands to know what's being discussed and before the black man who was talking can finish his sentence she waves her hand and say "oh that's BULLSHIT." Classic.
Shockingly, this same woman is seen later yelling "Mexicans, go back to Mexico!"
In another video (there are ten in all via the link!) a white man from the pro-Mehserle camp argues with a Black man and woman for quite a while before a young white man who was standing behind them starts yelling at him too. Pro-Mehserle dude's response to this white man ruining his personal white solidarity narrative? "Don't give into them". I could unpack that statement for days...
You know, when I had my long commute I couldn't help noticing that the vast majority of people getting off BART at the Walnut Creek stop were white (unlike most of the other East Bay BART stops which are generally somewhat diverse). I guess I know why now.
Go to the link for the whole story from Hip Hop Politics.
