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Indybay Feature

"Black youth too stupid to be angry", says mayor, local nonprofits

by Alfonso
OAKLAND, California, - "Don't get used by these protesters" says a man who was paid to drop his 'old-black-dude-who-went-to-prison' wisdom on a group of Oakland youth. "Don't get pimped. You kids are too stupid to analyze the system, you don't need to get angry. It's just the agitators who want to use you to legitimize themselves," he continues, in the city-funded nonprofit's main room, while a police negotiator sits quietly in the corner.
OAKLAND, California, -
"Don't get used by these protesters" says a man who was paid to drop his 'old-black-dude-who-went-to-prison' wisdom on a group of Oakland youth. "Don't get pimped. You kids are too stupid to analyze the system, you don't need to get angry. It's just the agitators who want to use you to legitimize themselves," he continues, in the city-funded nonprofit's main room, while a police negotiator sits quietly in the corner.
"I'm hitting you kids with some real wisdom here. I'm an older black man so don't question me about this."
He pauses, looks at the officer, then at the nonprofit's director.
"Any questions?"

This is a part of a campaign between local Oakland community nonprofits, Mayor Ron Dellums, and the Oakland Police Department to keep the peace after Mehserle's verdict is announced.

Their strategy?

Tell the youth of Oakland that they actually are too stupid to be angry over the killing of Oscar Grant III on the Fruitvale Bart platform last January.
"The real blame falls on the political groups," says a local nonprofit director. "They want to use these naive, stupid little children for their 'revolution', but they're not from Oakland." When asked about the fact that most of the OPD are not from Oakland, he brushed it off.
"I don't care if the police are murdering kids," he says. "The outside agitators are the real threat here. Oscar Grant's family wants peace, so that makes the police OK in my book."

Police officials have assured the public that a quiet, orderly demonstration will be tolerated, but any property damage will be met with swift, Mehserle-style execution.
"We like freedom of speech," says an OPD spokesman. "But we have a job, and that job is to keep Oakland's stupid youth from revolting. Since we can't openly treat them like the animals we know they are, we have to shift the blame to someone. So why not the groups that advocate revolution? So we thought, 'There's white people in those groups. We can just call them outsiders, and the brutal reality of our police state will fade to the back of peoples' minds.' Brilliant!"

It seems, on the day of the verdict, that tensions will be high. But will Oakland's youth prove to be as stupid as City officials say? Only time will tell.
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Donald L Macleay (candidate [at] macleay4mayor.org)
And the police are from Oakland?

If there was not an explosive situation already,
then it would not matter if an outsider threw in a match.
by Erin
Alfonso--this "article" is BS. You are only spreading lies and making the situation worse. Please find something better to do with your time.
by it's not
fiction...read for yourself:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/05/BABL1E9ADJ.DTL

by Frisk
This is obviously an intentionally hyperbolic parody article, Erin. But the fact is, it's not that far from the truth.
by Really?
Did this man literally use the word "stupid" to describe Oakland youth, or refer to himself as an "older black man" who should not be questioned, or plainly state cops "murdering kids" is not a concern of his? You shouldn't put statements in quotation marks unless they are actual, verbatim accounts of what was said. Otherwise you could mislead some people to believe your attempt at sarcasm is an actual statement. That's irresponsible writing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel_(disambiguation)
by again
it seems like the sarcasm (and the point) of the article was not grasped by 'Really?' as it is precisely the idea that people (presumably Oakland youth in this context) would not be smart enough to understand real anger and injustice when it is in front of them, that is then repeated implicitly by 'Really?' when s/he says that "some people" might be "misled" by the style of writing.... Are you saying folks are "too stupid" to understand sarcasm, when it was obvious, and the only one on here that didn't seem to get it was you until someone pointed out it was a parody. Please think through your own comments, and their assumptions and implications, before posting!
by Frisk
Anyone who didn't immediately get that this was a parody is too retarded for any of us to take into consideration. Nuff said.
by a white anarchist residing in Oakland
thanks for pointing out the absurdity of these pig enablers with satire. way to represent, as usual
by ubu
I really worry about those who don't grasp satire. Like, really worry.
by asdasd
This story is GREAT and honestly what The Onion would've written about all the media hysteria confusing the people.
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