City of Oakland Forces Homeless RV Camp Out of Union Point

Oakland-August 20, 2019 - Once again the City of Oakland and its mayor Libby Schaaf have conducted a civil and human rights attack on homeless people in Oakland. Today under the watch of a large police presence (think violent people with guns using force) the relatively stable RV/Tent community living in Union Point were forced to disperse.The police had blocked off a large area which made it difficult to observe what was being done by our government. To where the residents went -who knows – but that doesn’t seem to matter to the mayor and her agents.

While not an ethnic cleansing it has some similarities – removing unwanted people from visibility – making them invisible. When you have a fairly stable community with restroom facilities nearby where people have lived for some time and established themselves – what good does it do to disperse them and put a burden on people who already have a daily struggle?

While hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions are spent on building housing for the affluent in Oakland – we have seen some of the worst homelessness in recent history. An agent of the United Nations said that some of the conditions in Oakland were as bad as they had witnessed anywhere it the world. You would think that would be a crisis, an emergency but it seems like life goes on for those who have it. The mayor takes her vacation, sleeps in her bed in her cozy home every night. Does she have a clue?

This is not a condition for study and long-term planning. It is a current existing emergency just as if a major earthquake suddenly hit the area and caused homelessness for a large number of wealthy and middle class people. But the people of Union Point are not wealthy and many are minorities who once had homes in our community. This is a shame and tragedy only made worse by callous action on the part of our city government. When will they learn?