San Francisco "Liberals", Their Police Department & The Assault on the Black Community

This last week has revealed ugly racist (anti-black) text messages made by several members of the San Francisco Police Department. Politicians and police officials have been quick to condemn the texts but do these texts just follow a history of hatred of the black community by the SFPD and the so-called “liberal” democratic political establishment of the city.

There are several factors indicating an assault on the black community over the years in which SFPD has been utilized as a tool of oppression and denial of full participation in the community. Most clear is the gentrification of the city and the removal of almost half of the black population in the past twenty years. Other instances of official misconduct include the dislocation and disruption of the black community with the urban redevelopment of the Fillmore District. Many might say this drove a stake in the heart of this famous black neighborhood. Another major question involving some of the top San Francisco politicians including Willie Brown was their involvement with a very questionable man and his organization who led many desperate and innocent black victims to their deaths. I’m, of course, speaking of Jim Jones and The People’s Temple. There is no doubt that many top San Francisco politicians knew of Jones’ dangerous and unstable personality but failed to act to stop him due to the political power he developed. In fact, he was appointed to the San Francisco Housing Authority.

The untold history of the black community under attack in this so-called “liberal” city needs more research and reporting. There was always a serious undercurrent of racism in the City by the Bay. Back to the police and their dubious history including many questionable killings of black males. In September of 1966, the city had major riots in the Bayview-Hunter’s Point and other black populated areas after a white police officer shot and killed a 17 year old black male as he fled the scene of a stolen car. The following lines from Chris Carlsson’s “The Hunter’s Point Riot – Unfinished History” gives some idea of the police mentality at that time: “The police had, until the early sixties, dealt with black youth from Hunter's Point by isolating them there. One officer is quoted by Hippler on his technique:

"Get back upon the hill where you belong, nigger. If I see your black ass down here again, I'll shoot it off!"

At the outbreaks of the riots, in spite of their being city-wide, the same tactic was used. Blacks, no matter who they were or what their reason for being in the area of Third Street, were either arrested or herded back up the hill.”

A very troubling police killing happened in 1980’s. Two San Francisco police officers, one the son of a judge, had stopped a car driven by a young black man – Larry Lumpkin. The police proceeded to kill Lumpkin as he sat in his car. Everything was very questionable and there was significant community uproar however a very disturbing thing came out. The police microphone was left on as these two cops went about their stop and killing and guess what was overheard – racial slurs directed at the young man. Anything happen? – no, this is “liberal” San Francisco.

Another troubling event in the SFPD attack on the black community happened within the last decade when SFPD, with funding from Homeland Security, decided to re-open the case of the killing of a San Francisco Police officer in the early seventies. This led to the targeting of eight black men and their having to spend several years going through a ridiculous witch hunt on the part of SFPD. These men became known as the SF8.

This week Christopher Agee, an Assistant Professor of the History Department at the University of Colorado, Denver will give a talk at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco entitled: The Streets of San Francisco: Policing and the Creation of a Cosmopolitan Liberal Politics, 1950-1972.

The program description follows: During the sixties, the nation turned its eyes to San Francisco as the city’s police force clashed with free speech, civil rights and sexual liberation movements. More than just one-time flare-ups, these street level conflicts forced Americans (and San Franciscans) to reconsider the role of the police officer in democratic society. Historian Christopher Agee explores the influential ways in which San Francisco liberals provided a solution that championed both broad diversity and strong policing by turning to the police as partners and granting them a powerful tool: the use of discretion.

The word discretion means acting on one's own authority and judgment. The police should be acting under the supervision and direction of the civilian community. San Francisco, under its so-called “liberal” and very clearly racist political leaders and the community has given the SFPD free reign to do as it pleases including murder. A more thorough and complete history of San Francisco and the experience of its’ black community needs to be researched and written. I have only given a small example of a much larger and uglier picture.