Most of us know about Oscar Grant, the unarmed man who was shot by a transit officer in Oakland. Apparently, the officer who shot grant has sent a letter of apology to the family, perhaps hoping to redeem himself from the public stain of the incident. Grant's uncle, Cephus Johnson, rejected the overture from the officer, claiming that the letter is simply a "ploy."

Johnson told the media that he didn't believe the words of officer Johannes Mehserle, stating that the letter was meant to gain sympathy from the judge. Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for shooting Grant, who was 22 years old at the time of his death.

Mehserle's attorney said that he is seeking a delay in the sentencing. All the while, the black community remains outraged over the New Year's Eve shooting of Grant, who remains a symbol of the police brutality affecting black men all across America.

Our nation was riveted last summer by the alleged racial profiling of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. I found myself surprised that our country can stand still and our president can ruin an important press conference to speak on behalf of a Harvard professor, but when a young black man is shot in cold blood, the White House remains silent. I would argue that if President Obama is willing to speak out on behalf of the inconvenient arrest of Henry Louis Gates, he should be equally committed to speaking out on behalf of Oscar Grant, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell and black men who've either died at the hands of police or been seriously brutalized.

What the Oscar Grant case teaches us is that racial profiling is alive and well. The fact that there was a guilty verdict in the Oscar Grant case is a good start. There is still a great deal of work to do, however, when it comes to training our officers to partner more effectively with the communities in which they police.


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's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.