Police Brutality

So the long-anticipated Oscar Grant verdict came in today… Surprise, Surprise the white police officer who murdered a young black man with inpugnity gets a slap on the wrist. The jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter deciding that he did not intend to kill Oscar Grant. The irony about American Prison Culture is that it is mostly reserved for those most marginalized. The privileged don’t go to prison. The question for me is: “how do we ensure accountability for violent actions across the board while not extending the PIC?” I just think that this is the question that we need to explore as a society. Even though the police officer committed an abhorrent act by killing Oscar Grant, I can’t join the calls for him to “rot in prison.” I want transformative justice and I want to uproot oppression.

For those who aren’t familiar with the case here is a good primer from Wikipedia

Julianne Hing from Racewire and Colorlines has for my money provided the best reporting and analysis of this case that I have seen. Here she summarizes the verdict from the case.