Editor’s Note: This post is a follow-up on Jill E. Thomas's Nov. 11 blog post "The L.A. Riots Echo Loudly in My Classroom." In that post, she discussed helping her students relate recent news about police violence in Oakland to the 1992 L.A. Riots.
Closing out our unit on the L.A. Riots, I asked my students to reflect on whether they thought a similar incident could happen in Oakland. Student opinion revealed an even split.
Here’s what a few of the optimists had to say:
“I don’t think the size of the 1992 L.A. Riots could happen here in Oakland because here in Oakland we are less racist and we get all along.”
“Oakland is significantly smaller than L.A., the police are now prepared to handle riots, there aren’t a whole lot of businesses to loot, and there isn’t as much poverty in Oakland.”
“I think a riot the size of the L.A. Riots could happen but won’t because people are more educated now and know that violence resolves nothing.”
The pessimists seemed to think it’s only a matter of time.
“I do think a riot the size of the 1992 L.A. Riots could happen here in Oakland because there are many things happening that are unfair… like if you see a crime happen you call the police they don’t come right away. They take like three hours to come…if something else happens, like the killing of Oscar Grant, there’s going to be trouble.”
“In my opinion I think that this can happen in Oakland if the OPD keeps killing people without any reason, and I think that the citizen[s] will come to a point where they can’t take it anymore. They’ll do anything to get their justice and maybe start a riot.”
Through the entire discussion, what I found most encouraging was the overwhelming support of pursuing justice through non-violent means. One young woman made it clear that Oaklanders shouldn’t “use violence because then we look bad. Words speak louder than actions and sometimes we look stupid. We look like uncivilized People [when we riot].”
There are other ways to be heard, my students pointed out. They offered suggestions from protests to letter writing campaigns and community meetings.
“To be heard, you can ask the police station for a march and not a riot, like the march of undocumented workers to let people know about their message…people can see how they take their time to send their message in a march and it can change the opinion of someone about the crime.”
“I think an alternative way to be heard instead of rioting would be like what the protesters did earlier. They sang songs and made speeches and took their anger out by talking.”
“We all have to listen to each other and see other people’s point of view.”
One student, Mateo, was hopeful about non-violent means but also a realist. He said, “Protesting and TV might get the attention, but by sending the letter, a trash can is mightier than the pen.”
While Mateo may believe that any letter he writes will be thrown away and have no impact at all, I hope to change his opinion in the coming weeks. We will use Anna Deveare-Smith’s work as a model for our own community investigation project called Our Oakland. Each student will go out and interview residents, find out what is on their minds, and report back both in writings and in presentations to city council members. If the project is as successful as it’s been in the past, Mateo will realize the pen is mighty indeed.
Thomas is an English teacher at Life Academy of Health and Bioscience in Oakland, Calif.
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