On New Year's Day of 2009, Oscar Grant was shot in Oakland, Calif. The shooter was a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer by the name of Johannes Mehserle. Grant was 22-years-old at the time of his death, and the shooting was captured by cell phone cameras and disseminated throughout the Internet. Adding insult to injury, the Grant family just found out that there will be no African-American jurors in the trial of Grant's shooter. Jack Bryson, whose sons were with Grant the night he was killed, is angry about the jury selection:
"This is like a slap in the face," Bryson told the Associated Press. "This case came all the way to Los Angeles, after the judge in Alameda County said they couldn't get a fair and impartial jury there.
"This is the best you can do, and you did this in two days. We could've stayed back in Oakland for this."
The Oscar Grant shooting case has been racially divisive, to say the least. Up until this point, there has not been any logical explanation for the officer's decision to shoot Grant in the back that night. What's most amazing about this shooting and others is how officers are often acquitted even after it appears that they were clearly in the wrong. This only adds to the frustration.
Los Angeles County has 9.8 million people, with approximately 10 percent of them being black. So the fact that blacks were excluded from the jury is surprising in light of the pool from which the jury was selected. What is not surprising, however, is the fact that the defense attorneys wanted to keep African Americans off the jury.
What's most egregious about cases like this one is the sense of powerlessness that many in the black community feel, when one of our own is killed by police in what appears to be a highly questionable situation. Police are not accustomed to having their authority questioned, and some of us forget that officers are human like the rest of us, often carrying a temptation to abuse their authority. Unless a reasonable explanation can be provided regarding why this officer shot an unarmed young man in the back, there is no reason for anyone to believe the officers should be found innocent. Let's hope these jurors do the right thing.
01-June-2010 - In an effort to tackle the latest crisis, the horrendous BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast, Bill Maher thinks Obama needs to act more like a "real black president" and go in to the BP meetings flashing his gat.
25-May-2010 - Ex-police Lt. Jon Burge may have overseen the torture of and obtained coerced confessions from more than 100 African-American men over the course of a 22-year career.
27-May-2010 - CNN was a little embarrassed after accidentally playing a rap song with the N-word in it. The gaffe was part of a segment about a 103-year-old woman, Gladys Flamer, who still drives herself around and lives alone in Coatsville, Pa.
25-May-2010 - Mattel has launched a new line of Barbie dolls called "Back to Basics (pictured below)," which features several dolls, white and black, in (what I can only term) "after-5" wear: There are off-the-shoulder dresses, strapless minis and plunging necklines. The whole thing is absolutely freaky. It's like some odd soft porno featuring call-girl dolls.
24-May-2010 - The 21-year-old R&B sensation recently went on a Tweeting tirade against Atlanta-based celeb gossip blogger Sandra Rose. Reportedly, Brown resorted to attacking the blogger's complexion by using juvenile "you're so black" jokes.
23-May-2010 - If I'm blessed enough to live past my 10th decade on this planet, then 103-year-old Gladys Flamer is going to be my blueprint for how to behave after I pass the century mark.
Oscar Grant the drunk and drugged up twice convicted gun toting felon with a history of violence towards law enforcement officers was accidentally shot while once again resisting arrest with violence. Too bad. There goes another POS. Who wants to follow in his footsteps. The cops have lots of bullets and they are cheaper than jail cells.
you are sick .laying on the ground and shot point blank in the back on video and you say he deserved it. if this was a member of your family or race I wonder if your feelings still be the same.
This maybe the straw that broke the camels back . too many of these incidents have taken place . sometimes we can point to where this has happened to other people not this time I've lost count on how many times the police have taken a black man's life. if this is not proof I dont know what is.
So Dr Watkins, are you saying that because the juror's are white that they are incapable of delivering a fair and just verdict??? Wow, coming from most people that would sound... well racist!!! Funny how you seem to do the exact same thing that you have accused so many others of doing??? Just wanted to make sure I was reading you right!! Thanks Grand Wizard, oops I mean Dr Watkins!!
Let's turn the tables: Were this a white man shot by a black officer, and there were no whites on the jury, would you still be as trusting of their verdict?
plus it doesn't help that this nation has a history of all-white juries giving not guilty please to white cops for shootings regardless of how damning the evidence. It's all about trust, and right now there's still little trust in the justice system when it comes to people of color.
Once again, another person trying to defend wrong. How many all black jurors had there been for an white officer or person who has committed a crime. The fact of the matter is a crime was committed and justice isn't blind and not equal in America. Black men are killed and harrassed daily by cops, guilty or not. America has blinded us so that we believe he deserved regardless of what the truth is because he's black. So, please ask yourself the question, had he been a white boy killed by a black officer in the back, handcuffed and that cop was in jail and had an all black juror, what would your response be? Also, consider the trend of justice (or read about) for blacks (historical and present) when you THINK about it.
OMG, you took the words right out of my mouth. I guess since blacks think all whites are racist then whites should think all blacks are criminals. It's not black or white it's good or bad. It's funny how a black will defend another black no matter how horrible his crime. I only see good or bad in people, right or wrong, not their color. You never see whites defending a scumbag just because they are white, to me they are scum as well. Nothing worse than a hypocrite. Are people really that stupid ???
jerome;I know you are looking for press time, because no one could be this ignorant, that purports to walk on 2 feet. let me guess? tea bagger....Palin enthusiast, proud resident of Arizona, or all 3?
Yvonna Russell: Delicious Diva Sasha Allen
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
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By: Mike on 6/10/2010 9:15PM
Oscar Grant the drunk and drugged up twice convicted gun toting felon with a history of violence towards law enforcement officers was accidentally shot while once again resisting arrest with violence. Too bad. There goes another POS. Who wants to follow in his footsteps. The cops have lots of bullets and they are cheaper than jail cells.
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By: charles on 6/10/2010 11:36PM
you are sick .laying on the ground and shot point blank in the back on video and you say he deserved it. if this was a member of your family or race I wonder if your feelings still be the same.
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By: Marshall on 6/13/2010 1:13PM
How would you feel? If this was a black cop that shot a white man like that? Also there are white people in prisons to.
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By: charles on 6/10/2010 11:42PM
This maybe the straw that broke the camels back . too many of these incidents have taken place . sometimes we can point to where this has happened to other people not this time I've lost count on how many times the police have taken a black man's life. if this is not proof I dont know what is.
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By: jeromequigley on 6/11/2010 3:12PM
So Dr Watkins, are you saying that because the juror's are white that they are incapable of delivering a fair and just verdict??? Wow, coming from most people that would sound... well racist!!! Funny how you seem to do the exact same thing that you have accused so many others of doing??? Just wanted to make sure I was reading you right!! Thanks Grand Wizard, oops I mean Dr Watkins!!
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By: Shawn828 on 6/11/2010 4:49PM
Let's turn the tables: Were this a white man shot by a black officer, and there were no whites on the jury, would you still be as trusting of their verdict?
plus it doesn't help that this nation has a history of all-white juries giving not guilty please to white cops for shootings regardless of how damning the evidence. It's all about trust, and right now there's still little trust in the justice system when it comes to people of color.
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By: Candice on 6/12/2010 12:38AM
Once again, another person trying to defend wrong. How many all black jurors had there been for an white officer or person who has committed a crime. The fact of the matter is a crime was committed and justice isn't blind and not equal in America. Black men are killed and harrassed daily by cops, guilty or not. America has blinded us so that we believe he deserved regardless of what the truth is because he's black. So, please ask yourself the question, had he been a white boy killed by a black officer in the back, handcuffed and that cop was in jail and had an all black juror, what would your response be? Also, consider the trend of justice (or read about) for blacks (historical and present) when you THINK about it.
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By: Rob on 6/22/2010 7:31PM
OMG, you took the words right out of my mouth. I guess since blacks think all whites are racist then whites should think all blacks are criminals. It's not black or white it's good or bad. It's funny how a black will defend another black no matter how horrible his crime. I only see good or bad in people, right or wrong, not their color. You never see whites defending a scumbag just because they are white, to me they are scum as well. Nothing worse than a hypocrite. Are people really that stupid ???
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By: Bill Snyder on 6/13/2010 11:57AM
jerome;I know you are looking for press time, because no one could be this ignorant, that purports to walk on 2 feet. let me guess? tea bagger....Palin enthusiast, proud resident of Arizona, or all 3?
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