Young People Anticipate the Aftermath of Mixon’s Rampage
YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia, Commentary , Various Authors Posted: Mar 24, 2009
Editor’s Note: No one will be more affected by the fallout of the shooting-deaths of four Oakland Police Department officers at the hands of Lovelle Mixon than young people living in his neighborhood and places like this all over the Bay Area. YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia asked young people how they thought their lives would change in the wake of the massacre. Authors are interns at YO! and The Beat Within.
Police Will Be More Nervous
Well, what happened with the four police officers in Oakland getting killed is terrible, but it’s also just life – stuff happens. I think the police are really going to be cracking down on youth, not just in Oakland – it’s gonna happen all over. Even if you just look like you’re gangbanging or you just look like you’re in the street, you are going to be harassed by the police. The police are going to try and make an example of anyone else in the street life.
The other thing is that the police might be kind of nervous, and when they pull people over, I think that any move the person makes can cost them their life. I think the whole city is going to get cracked down on just because of one person’s stupidity.
This whole thing is not going to affect me because I don’t be in the streets like that. But in a situation with me and the police, I will be kind of scared. If I get pulled over, the police won’t know that I’m not in the streets just by the way I look – especially with my gold ones and clothes – they gonna think that I’m a gangster when I’m not even close to that. So, in that situation I will be very nervous and uncomfortable.
- Ricky Rollins, 17
Black People Are Moving Out of Oakland
For me, what happened this weekend with the police killings – it’s going to change a lot of things because my family is from Oakland and cops in Oakland already put a lot of black people in jail for no reason. There might be a lot of black people who will move out of the city of Oakland because of all the killing going on. This is happening already
My life is going to change because I don’t want anything to do with the police. My family has a lot of history with the police, and I don’t want anything to happen to them. I have a five-month-old son and, as he grows up, he is going to see all these things happening in these streets and I don’t want anything to happen to him. I hope the police put this situation behind them.
I live in Richmond and I am not going to go to Oakland from now on because I don’t want to be in this same situation. When I see the police, I am going to get scared because of what happened.
- Deajene Willridge, 17
Black Men Are Self-Destructing
Well, my concerns for this drama that just happened over the weekend in Oakland, you know five cops getting shot by a black man, who then lost his life. I mean what else is there to say besides the law will be cracking down harder, meaning low-tolerance, more lock-ups, and more angry black folks. Just hearing this s--t drives you crazy. What I can do? What I can say? Black dude feels like his life has just hit a climax, he reacts, then boom! I can say I believe a lot has to do with [the shooter’s] prior crime weighing on his mind.
But we’ve seen this situation before, like how Philly’s murder rate was a record high for like the fifth time or more – being 406 – in 2006. So, the city hired an extra taskforce to calm the city’s blazing heat, this was intense for the people. And then there was this guy by the name of Bryan Nickels down in Atlanta, he was on trial in 2005 for rape, but about to be acquitted. He reacted in the same manner as Mixon, but in his case, he killed the judge.
Me, myself, I sometimes feel like these men in life, like I wanna self-destruct, but I can’t. In their cases, I don’t know, maybe they felt like their lives were ending, so they ended it themselves by ending other people’s lives.
- Mike Wright, 22
Young People Need to Stop Doing Dumb Things
I think now in Oakland, cops are going to act different when they see young black men. They will probably have more cops on the street just to be careful, and these cops will probably be more aggressive than before. Honestly, if a cop approaches me like he is going to arrest me, I will run the other way because I don’t want to go to jail because I don’t want my family to worry about me. Sometimes, I think cops pull people over because they don’t have nothing better to do.
But I think if young people want cops to stop acting bad, they need to stop doing dumb things. They should go to school and get their diploma instead of dropping out.
- Quamaine Wallace, 17
Don’t Lynch the Community
I see the fatal police shooting as a horrible situation and my heart goes out to the family of those officers and the alleged shooter. People’s lives were lost, not only were the officers killed but the suspect as well, who was relatively young.
I understand the Oakland Police Department will be very upset, but they must understand that the community shouldn't be harmed. What I mean by this is that Oakland PD shouldn't look for a way to retaliate or lynch the community because of their hurt and anger. I think that police officers in Oakland will be on high alert and may potentially take out their frustration on the male black youth and it will result in a crisis situation.
This affected me as well, because my mom was suddenly warning me about going outside and the danger of living here in Oakland. Now, I look at the city differently, like where’s the protection?
- Sean Shavers, 17
Now, I’m Watching Out for Police
Personally, I’m not changing anything I used to do before the killings. I feel like, that this whole situation was just four more murders added to the other murders of 2009 in Oakland. The only difference is that it was finally some cops.
I’ve lost a lot of n-----s in these Oakland streets, not to mention that one of my patnas got killed by the Oakland police, but does the city care about that? Let them tell it, they were just doing they job.
Now after all that happened, I’ve been really watching out for the police. To the police, I’m a target because I am on felony probation and I live in a real violent section in East Oakland. As a matter of fact, the cop killings that took place last Saturday happened right around the corner from my house. So every time I see them, I’m afraid they gonna bounce out on me and take me in just because, or kill me if I decided to run from them.
- Damarius Brown, Age 18
Police Need to Realize They Are Not Supermen
On March 22, five police got shot and four died. Personally, I think this was a good thing because the police always think they’re tough cause they got a gun. Another reason I think this was a good thing is because the police need to know how it feels to lose someone they care for. I’m originally from Hunter’s Point in San Francisco, but now I live in Oakland, and it seems like everywhere I go there are punk ass cops trying to be superman. The thing is – they’re not made of steel.
I feel two things are going to happen. One is that the police that are scared are going to be even more scared, and when you’re dealing with a scared cop, they tend to do all the unnecessary stuff. The second thing that’s going to happen is that there are going to be more assholes on the job. I think Lovelle Mixon just made it harder for the black community because the cops already look at us like criminals, now they going look at us like killers. The police need to know that everybody who wears a hoody isn’t a criminal.
Everybody can learn from this incident. For example, the police should learn that it isn’t okay for them to abuse their powers and because eventually somebody might snap and MURDER THEM!!! And for the people who think it’s okay to shoot at the police, know that if you do, they will be on you like a lion on a zebra so you better have a backup plan or a getaway driver. For myself, I learned that bad stuff happens to everybody.
- David Cunningham, 18
Related Articles:
First Response: Oakland Young People React to Police Killings
An Infamous Legend is Born and a Community is Under Siege
Oakland Police Massacre Casts Ugly Glare on Ex-Felon Desperation
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User Comments
mark smith on Mar 30, 2009 at 16:35:28 said:
I\'d submit that the families of the murdered poice officers will feel it a little deeper and the fallout will be harsher for them than the teens of Oakland.It\'s a shame that in your rush to blame everyone but Mixon, and to mourn his loss, kept you from contemplating the innocent children, wives, friends, and family and the impact the killings will have on them for the rest of their lives. Plenty of finger pointing on both sides of the fence,again in your rush to blame the victims, you overlooked the perp. Heres another take midtownmiscreant.blogspot.com
Rickey Henderson on Mar 26, 2009 at 14:33:57 said:
Shirley, that\\\'s part of the problem. Most of OPD is white, and very few officers live in or are from Oakland proper.
Another thing that\\\'s not being mentioned here is that OPD has a horrible record re: officer misconduct, abuse, corruption and covering up the department\\\'s mistakes.
The shining example of this is the botching of journalist Chauncey Bailey\\\'s assasination.
The hidden fallout of this incident is that there will be a tremendous amount of officer worship. The dept will use this good will to argue against further criticism and oversight of the department, even though its hands are about as dirty as they get.
And the Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle and all the other national papers are buying straight into this narrative.
Malik Al-Arkam on Mar 25, 2009 at 10:40:54 said:
Centuries of U.S. government imposed ethnocide and forced assimilation have molded all of the inner cities into "killing fields." As America falls economically, politically and spiritually the intensely wicked ruling elite is actually exterminating the masses of slave descendants while making it appear that Black and Brown youth are simply spinning out of control. Meanwhile most of the media continues to hide the very existence of the Reparations Movement spearheaded by the Honorable Silis Muhammad of AFRE. For more than fifteen years AFRE has courageously waged a legal battle inside the United Nations designed to establish Human Rights and secure massive Reparations for all 250 million Afrodescendants in the western hemisphere. Please read each and every issue of Muhammad Speaks newspaper and invite President Ajani Mukarram to deliver lectures on Reparations at your church, mosque and school.
As-Salaam-Alaikum,
Senator Malik Al-Arkam
www.allforreparations.org
Frank Eng on Mar 24, 2009 at 23:07:33 said:
I empathize with the above commentators, who lack a MSMedia forum microphone.
But, as someone who has tried to live an "interracial" and "intercultural" life for near nine decades in this country, I have ALWAYS been amazed that the "black" community has not resorted to armed rebellion, the "muslim nation" apart.
Armed force won't solve anything, and I ache for the young in the urban ghettos.
Racism and "color" continue to "blacken" the domestic landscape, and the bulk of the killing may be laid at the door of our constituted "authorities."
Shirley Hiinson on Mar 24, 2009 at 19:31:16 said:
I live in Charlotte,NC. I don't know the ratio of Black cops and White cops but they get along just FINE.(It looks like 50/50) I think you need to put more Black cops patroling the Oakland area. They build up a relationship and trust. After awhile start bringing in more White cops. When folks see how the "brothers" work togather, there
-->comes a "Beginning". Time heals all wounds and and I'm a believer that this togetherness will work. I will start praying for Oakland...it will work !!!!!