In Memory of Oscar Grant by Chris Stain

I understand the anger that so many people feel over the fact that Johannes Mehserle got a sentence of two years in prison (with time served) for killing Oscar Grant. I feel that anger too. My anger though is directed at a police culture that is deeply oppressive and at our unwillingness as a country to confront that reality.

I noticed messages on social media suggesting that this is yet another example of how cheap black life is in America. Well it is a basic truth that black life is devalued in the U.S. It shouldn’t take these kinds of cases though to bring this analysis to light.

I am also being told via tweets on twitter that Michael Vick was sentenced to 4 years in prison for dogfighting while Mehserle to only 2 years for killing a human being. Again, presumably this is supposed to illustrate the cheapness of black life in America.

Sorry but we do not need to hold the Oscar Grant case up as proof that black life is not valued within this culture. Frankly, we should be pointing this fact out every day and in every way possible. We see that black lives are devalued through the disproportionate suspensions and expulsions being meted out to black youth on a daily basis across America leading these youth to be pushed out of schools. We see it in the fact that black youth ages 16-19 had a 50% unemployment rate in September. We see it in the disproportionate contact that black people have with the criminal legal system. Black lives are not valued in this culture and Mehserle is not the only or even the main culprit. He is part of an entire system of law enforcement that is set up to terrorize communities of color. By the way, we can’t lock up every single police officer in the country. We are going to need to organize and create a mass movement in order to uproot the systemic violence that is at the core of police culture.

Now that this is out of the way. Can we please discuss the fact that calling for Mesherle to be locked up for years will not address the fact that black life is cheap in America? It will not. The very same people who rage against the ineffectiveness and destructiveness of prisons suddenly become its apologists in this situation. We have to be consistent. If prisons are evil, then they are bad for everyone even cops who murder innocent young black men.

What might true accountability for his horrible actions look like for Johannes Mehserle? Can we ponder this question for a minute? I would like to see Officer Mehserle mandated to attend anti-oppression workshops. I would like to then have him reflect on his experience as a police officer and on the racism, classism, and violence that permeate police culture. I would like to then have Mehserle participate in a series of peace circles over the next two years with young black men from across the country where he would have to listen to them as they explain to him the impact that oppressive policing has on their lives. I would then have Mehserle document his circle experiences in some way that could be disseminated to a broader public.

He would have a sentence of another 2 years to go around the country to educate his “brother” police officers about what he heard and what he learned. I guarantee you that after this type of experience Mehserle would have a much better understanding of the destructiveness of his actions and be in a better position to try to repair the harm that he caused. No, Oscar Grant would not be returned to us unfortunately. That is absolutely true. But his memory would live on. This would be a way that Oscar Grant would avoid fading into the undefined collective memory of a society too used to losing young black men. The Mehserles of the world can shoot young black men with impunity because they are so dehumanized in their eyes. They are not people but archetypal “criminals” and potential “gangsters.” Peace circles force everyone participating in them to think about each others’ humanity. This is why they are effective anti-violence interventions.

So I am going to say something supremely unpopular but here it is… We cannot hate prisons and then advocate for people to be locked up in them; no matter how terrible the actions that they have committed and no matter how great our own anger. I am fully aware that mine is a minority position in this culture. Hell, less than a minority position in fact. However that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that some of us need to speak our truths even in the face of certain resistance. I hate prisons because they are destructive, oppressive, ineffective, and counterproductive and so I cannot advocate for more people to be locked up in them. Period. This includes Johannes Mehserle.

This is a good time to bring back Innocent Criminal by Pat’s Justice which I have previously written about.