PHOTO/RYAN ANDERSON
OAKLAND, CA — From the beginning, this country was built on the backs of the poor. Despite what some call social and technological advancements, the survival of this country in the ways that it exists remains dependent on the existence of a working class poor.
Industrialization seemingly freed African slaves, labor movements appeared to give workers the right to bargain, the Civil Rights Movement made us “equal” to the oppressor, the emergence of the “middle” class fooled the masses into trading in the pursuit of freedom for the pursuit of goods and services. While the poor remained poor, wars continued, education dropped, corporations became people, and people are sold in stock markets instead of auction blocks. Overseers traded in horses and whips for pistols and patrol cars. The game Chess is comprised of a checkered board with pieces that have specific names. If the names of those pieces are changed, would you still be playing chess? Yes. Is it the establishments intention to change its oppressive institutions because it now calls slaves, prisoners, renames the poor, working class, and calls overseers, police officers? No, the game is still the same.
What stands between the people and the establishment, the poor and the rich, the oppressor and the oppressed? Under the disguise of public safety, police have the ability to harass, terrorize and kill without consequence. In fact they are employed to do so, to protect the establishment from the people and protect the status quo. Police terrorism occurs when your heart skips a beat upon hearing sirens, when an officer is verbally and/or physically violent towards you as means of intimidation, murders our loved ones without cause, use their access to resources to commit crimes or cover up the crimes of others, including recording and monitoring citizens without permission. Terrorism is defined as: the use of violence and or intimidation in pursuit of political aims.
Most crimes committed in Alameda County are considered crimes of poverty, meaning, crimes that result in achieving one’s basic needs: crimes like burglary, robbery, auto theft, petty theft and prostitution. While being poor is not a crime, the symptoms of poverty can be. The homeless are ticketed for sleeping on the street and the charitable are ticketed for giving them water.
Jobs are scarce, schools are closing, public assistance is limited, college is more expensive, while over 40% of our city’s budgets goes to law enforcement. Is it possible that these conditions are related? A person who is uneducated or under educated is more likely to commit crimes of poverty, as are those who do not earn a living wage (employed or not.) So what then does the establishment do with these so-called criminals? Under the 13th Amendment, Title XIII Section 1, it says: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
