The week following the 4^th of July weekend had somewhat of a media frenzy surrounding it.  It seemed like all media outlets were focusing their attention on a single decision.  So many people were holding their breath awaiting NBA star LeBron James to announce what team he would be signing with for the 2010-2011 season (as it was promised he would announce before the close of the week).  But, while the nation focused their attention on James’ decision to migrate to Miami, there was another decision being made on the other side of the country in California; a decision that to many, flew under the radar and went unnoticed.

On the afternoon of Thursday, July 8, 2010, a Los Angeles jury convicted ex-BART transit cop, Johannes Mehserle's of involuntary manslaughter in the case of 22-year old Oscar Grant.  Why does this decision even matter? Well, because it marks yet another shooting death of an African American male by a police officer.  And much like many previous cases, the police officer in question got off with the proverbial slap on the wrist leaving people feeling as if justice was not served.  On New Year's Day 2009, Mehserle shot Grant in the back on a BART train platform as Grant laid face down, unarmed with his behind his back.  Video footage of the killing was turned into authorities, media outlets, and has sense been posted on YouTube for the public to see.  In any other normal case this would constitute at the very least second degree murder, but in this case involving an unarmed black male and a police officer, the killer gets off on a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.  How could the jury let him off almost scott-free for such a heinous act? 

Well this isn’t the first time this has happened.  I’m sure you remember the 2006 shooting of Sean Bell involving five undercover and plain clothes police offers that fired fifty shots at a car containing Bell and his friends.  If it wasn’t bad enough that he was killed the day before he was suppose to be married, all officers were acquitted on all charges ranging from manslaughter to reckless endangerment.  Recently, in April 2010 an argument involving an off duty police officer and a group of teens left one unarmed teen, Clevonta Reynolds, shot to death in Arlington, TX.  At the time of this article’s release, that case has yet to see any charges been pressed against the off-duty police officer.  These are just two examples of how this scenario normally plays out.  There are countless others that don’t even make headline news.

For as long as I could remember, the African American community has been at odds with law enforcement.  Police officers have never been looked upon in favorable light within our neighborhoods.  In our sight, they were always trying to harass and tyrannize the very same communities they were sworn to protect and serve.  This shameful perspective of the “boys in blue” is behind long standing feud between us and them, leaving us feeling terrorized in our own territory and us being determined to make their jobs hard on them.    Paranoia among officers policing these neighborhoods causes them to suspect even innocent inhabitants of criminal activity, may be a reason for such a rebellious attitude towards authority figures, even with law abiding citizens, like myself. 

For whatever reason, there always seems to be something brewing under the surface whenever the police are around and every once in a while, the tension boils over.  Every so often, these suspicious officers go beyond the call of duty crossing certain lines they should not cross.  Their actions, especially when perpetrated against African American people, often go unpunished only fueling the heated feud between the two sides.  In 1992, after the acquittal of the Los Angeles police officers who beat Rodney King, the tension spilled over into streets as the people of LA began a riot in the city.  Likewise, in the aftermath of the recent verdict being announced in the Oscar Grant trial, the citizens of the city of Oakland responded in kind.  The streets erupted as people began to smash the city to protest their outrage Johannes Mehserle got off on involuntary manslaughter. 

There have been entirely too many cases, just like this one, where members of law enforcement have gotten away with unlawful behavior.  In the wake of the verdict being announced, there hasn’t been much of a reaction from our President (possibly because the oil crisis in the gulf is more of a priority).  And it would seem as if our federal government is showing little interest in punishing these officers or even policing these police departments.  So that would mean these police officers are able impose on our civil liberties with no consequences, right?

Only if we were to sit back and allow them to.  We as a people must ban together in order to combat this new form of oppression.  We pay the police’s salaries and we elect these public officials, so we do have a say in how our communities are being patrolled.  We must take responsibility for what goes on in our neighborhoods and police our own communities.  Ultimately, the ball is in our court.  We must put pressure on not only police departments, but our local government to place and enforce perimeters on these officers.  Why? Because if they don’t, this struggle is going to continue to rage on and the cost we all pay might end up being more expensive than any of us anticipate.