Jalylah Burrell

Hello, Babar

Seattle-bred, Brooklyn-based cultural critic Jalylah Burrell riffs on anything and everything.

Fear in Blue: In Memoriam of Oscar Grant III

Posted 01/07/2009 at 9:17 PM | Comment? | Category: Politics & Culture

This summer, my Dad and I were on the C train coming home from a Joel Dorn tribute at Damrosch Park when we were drawn out of our conversation by two baby-faced cops who strode through the open subway doors to a far corner of the car, making not a hint of eye contact with us riders along the way. Their presence attracted attention not because they were popos but because they were piss-scared. Uptight, disengaged, ill-equipped and off-putting, my dad derided them as we climbed the Lafayette stop steps to the neighborhood park. I am not prone to judging books by their covers, but body language don't lie and these young men, woefully underpaid and most likely uninspired, didn't seem to at ease with their responsibility or their environs.

What motivated Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Officer Johannes Mehserle to shoot an unarmed, defenseless, prone man in the back, only him and the devil know, but methinks it has a little something to do with the crippling fear that led two of New York's finest to huddle in a corner of the C train one summer evening. It is the fear that filters too many police officers interactions with people of color, especially the most meager of our numbers.

That grown ass men and women who are empowered to protect our streets, spill innocent blood in them is a testament to their immaturity and absolute unfitness to be alive much less employed as civil servants. Jesus says judge not lest ye be judged but kudos to those launching death threats. We are past due for some resolution. And for the record, rocking a few police cars and lighting a dumpster on fire are conservative gestures in the wake of this outrageously despicable crime. See below for footage of the BART murder and see RaceWire for information about how to get involved.