Rome (I Mean Oakland) is Burning!

Rome (I Mean Oakland) is Burning
By Bryan R. Parker

Oakland—A City Adrift

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I write this blog. Four Oakland Police Officers lie dead—Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans, Daniel Sakai and John Hege. These officers, victims of a senseless, violent attack carried out by Lovell Mixon, an ex-convict who was at the time of the killings being sought on violations of his parole. Today, our city, Oakland, honors these officers at a memorial at the Oracle Area. It is right that we celebrate these fallen heroes, these men who bravely defended our city and each of us as citizens.

Despite, what I am sure will be touching tributes, these men can never be brought back. For their families, friends and fellow officers, there can never be true solace. When taken together with Oakland’s rising overall homicide rate, tragedies like the Oscar Grant shooting, and the poor state of our economy we can see Oakland in its true context—a city on fire, seemingly adrift without a clear solution in sight.

The Meaning and Solutions

What then, does all of this mean for our city? Our Mayor would say that it is up to us, the citizens of Oakland, to stem this tide of violence and correct the city’s economy. I saw him speak these words at a recent State of the City Address. The Mayor is partially right. That is, we as citizens must rise to the occasion and assist in forming solutions to these pressing problems. However, the fact that the citizens of Oakland must be held to a higher standard of action, at this time, does not abdicate our Mayor of his responsibilities. Just, as in ancient Rome, there was no excuse for Nero fiddling while his city burned around him, so too is there no excuse for our Mayor not taking more decisive action at this time of crisis. Mr. Dellums must stand tall at this time, and offer concrete solutions and not just rhetoric. Mr. Dellums was a warrior for more than 20+ years as a congressman for our area, bringing tens of millions of dollars to California, and leading countless programs that helped our community. He must recall that spirit now!

I believe that the current situation, if left unchecked, has a high potential for escalating into further violence, thereby further tearing our city apart. Mr. Dellums must start by leading the creation of more jobs in Oakland and attracting a greater number of businesses to our city. As we have witnessed from history, lack of jobs and money are often precursors to crime, and crime in general is often a precursor to more violent crime. Given this trend, Mr. Dellums must issue a zero policy on violent crime—regardless of who carries it out. In addition, he must work with the state and federal governments to enforce stricter gun control. While I am a believer and defender of 2nd Amendment Rights, there is no justifiable reason for an ordinary citizen, as did Mr. Mixon, to possess an AK 47 (military assault rifle). Further, Mr. Dellums must work with those same groups to repair our broken parole and penal systems. Implementing programs like gps tracking of parolees, and having better programs in prison that ready ex-prisoners for re-entry into society are obvious starters.

The citizens and the police force must assist our Mayor in this enormous undertaking. Citizens can work with the Mayor and the Police, like the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area, of which I am a board member, are doing to find peaceful, non-violent solutions. Citizens, who wish to protest, must do so in a non-violent way. In addition, we should not celebrate people like Mr. Mixon as martyrs, rather recognize and appropriately deal with them as criminals. Lastly, even during this time of understandable sadness, our police force must carry out their duties with compassion and dignity. Any thoughts of retribution will ring hollow in the community and only serve to further divide us.

Takeaways
We must be ever mindful of the lessons of the great Ghandi who urged us “to be the change we seek”. We must come together and seek solutions as a community. If we do not, and continue to give in to hatred, anger, mistrust and even retribution, our city will be torn apart. Limb by limb, the very fabric that underpins the fiber of our city, will be torn to shreds. If and when this happens, we risk anarchy, increased violence and further economic despair. If however, we rally together, support our Mayor as he implements concrete solutions, and do our parts to be agents of change, our city can climb out of this tragedy—better, stronger, wiser, and ready to move forward and capitalize on the great potential that is Oakland.