Two Poets on Politics in Oakland--the Mayor's Race

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Two Poets on Politics in Oakland

Two Poets on Politics in Oakland:
Ishmael Reed and Marvin X



Below is Ishmael Reed's analysis of Oakland's mayoral race. Ishmael has abrand of optimism that I lack, especially in the political arena. Hischoice for Oakland's next mayor is a formerstudent of his at UC Berkeley, now a professor at San Francisco StateUniversity, Joe Tuman. Ishmael is not alone in his choice of ProfessorTuman. My political advisers who visit Academy of da Corner have beenbacking Joe from the beginning of the race. I've listened carefully totheir strategy since they correctly informed me that Ron Dellums wouldbe Oakland's third black mayor. Personally, I have no faith in anyelected politicians, white, black, latino, gay or straight. I'm more infavor of a people's democracy. Even if Joe is able to beat out thefront runner Don Perata, will he be able to do any more than theprevious three black mayors and the pitiful Jerry Brown who served asmayor as a stepping stone back to the governor's mansion? Some wouldsay that even if they did nothing, which they did, it was a blessing tohave the previous black mayors, Lionel Wilson, Elihu Harris andDellums. But Obama has put the nail in the coffin that a blackpolitician is any better, or worse, than a white. He has revealedhimself to be a black man with a white heart, as they describereactionary negroes in the Caribbean. Or we can look at the plethora ofpresidents (for life) and prime ministers in Africa, another genre ofblack men with white hearts, whose jails, prisons, dungeons andcemeteries are full of opposition leaders, even their wives (Nigeria),journalists, poets and writers. It doesn't matter what color the nextmayor is, nor gender, for sure there will be no radical change.

Weneed a radical restructuring of the political order, but it will nothappen until there is political consciousness among the masses, to theextent they will do as the people are doing in France at this hour,take matters to the street to express their displeasure with politicianswho supposedly serve at the consent of the governed. At this hour whatAmerica needs is a good general strike for jobs, end of housingforeclosures, amnesty for petty criminals in jails and prisons (2million or more, 90% under the influence of drugs at the time of arrest,along with mental health issues), a total revamping of the racisteducational system, a discarding of white supremacy patriarchalmythology that allows homophobia, partner violence, emotional and verbalviolence, plus conspicuous consumption to perpetuate the capitalistworld of make believe.If women are 85% of the shoppers at stores andmalls, if they boycotted the stores and malls for one week, the troopswould come home from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. But wekeep hoping and praying a Democrat and/or Republican will save us, evenafter we see their tricknology election after election, no matter whatrace or gender.

In Oakland at the rally on the night of theverdict in the police killing of Oscar Grant, we saw an example ofpeople's democracy when the rally initially took place in the middle of14th and Broadway because our Maryor Ron Dellums refused to allow thepeople, who are his boss, to assemble in front of city hall that theyown. There shall be a rally for Oscar Grant this Saturday in front ofcity hall, but we understand no politicians will be allowed to speak,especially since none of them have forcefully addressed the policekilling of Oscar Grant. To the contrary, those in the race for the nextmayor are trying their best to accommodate and placate the policedepartment that is nothing more than an occupying army in league withdrug dealers. Imagine peace officers absorb the majority of the citybudget, 300 million of 400 million. They earn $180,000 with salary andbenefits, yet the murder, terror and trauma continues in the hood. Askanyone if they feel safer in the hood, no matter the alleged crimedecrease. That's like Obama telling us the job and housing crisis isactually getting better, after all, Wall Street and the banks are backto business as usual, so hold tight, prosperity is just around thecorner, vote for me, I'll set you free, change is gonna come!

--Marvin X (Plato Negro)
Academy of da Corner,
14th and Broadway,
Downtown Oakland
jmarvinx@yahoo.com
www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com

Hislatest books include Pull Yo Pants Up fada Black Prez and Yoself,essays on Obama Drama,2010; I AM OSCAR GRANT, essays on Oakland, 2010,The Wisdom of Plato Negro (Vol. I and II), 2010, Mythology of Pussyand Dick, toward Healthy Psychosocial Sexuality, Black Bird Press,2010. Order from Black Bird Press, 1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley CA 94702.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "uncleish@aol.com"
To: jmarvinx@yahoo.com
Sent: Thu, October 21, 2010 8:22:21 AM
Subject: Fwd: Mr. Reed -- enjoyed your column on Oakland mayoral race / fyi on ranked choice voitng

Marvin, I mentioned you in this piece that went worldwide. IR

http://www.counterpunch.org/reed10202010.html
October 20, 2010

A New Generation and a New Direction

Professor Joe: Oakland's Next Mayor?

By ISHMAEL REED
When Joe Tuman was my student at the University of California at Berkeley, I don’tremember his receiving any grade less than an A. When I met his parents Icould understand why. They were hard working Azerian Americans who provided their sons with good role models.
Since his days at the University of California at Berkeley, Joe Tuman has become a professor of political and social sciences at SanFrancisco State University and television personality. Now he is runningfor Mayor of Oakland.
He talked about issues both small and large when Tennessee and I sat down to talkwith him at Day of the Dead Coffee Shop at 3208 Grand Avenue inOakland. Small: He said that some critics are asking questions abouthis tanned complexion. He tries to explain to them that people from hispart of the world have darker skin. They assume that he gets his tanfrom hanging around expensive beach resorts. Some also wonder why ateacher would become involved in politics. The candidate who is leadingin the polls, Assemblyman Don Perata, is a former teacher.
Tuman says that he was drawn into the race over concerns about Oakland’scrime situation. “Violent crime is the point of intersection for a lotof different things.” For me, crime is another code word on the order ofbusing, welfare, and affirmative action. It’s another attempt to castblacks as scapegoats for the nation’s social problems, so easy thatGlenn Beck can do it, but Tuman seems to have a moresophisticated view of crime than those who use the term in an effort torun against blacks, a southern strategy that’s been used by whitecandidates and capitalists, like the Koch brothers, sinceReconstruction.
Tuman agrees with my North Oakland neighbors that crime has multi-ethnic contributors, a shock to a white Oakland Tribune reporter whointerviewed me about violence in Oakland. This white reporter is amongan army of white anthropologists, sociologists, novelists, film makers,and university professors, who see the inner city as a “gold mine ofopportunity,” the phrase used by salespersons at LionsgateStudios to woo investors to its black incest movie, “Precious.” Maybeinner city residents should cordon off these “hot zones” and chargeadmission to those endowed with studio money, grants and fellowships.
This reporter has received a fellowship to talk about the mental problemsresulting from violence in Oakland, but I could tell that he hadn’texplored the issue with any kind of depth when he defended “The Wire,”which has become a national drug for people who, apparently miserablein their own lives, can only get their brains’ pleasure centersstimulated by seeing black people brought low, a multi-billiondollar racket. He wants to pick the brains of my neighbors and me. Hewants us to be his unpaid informants. We’re supposed to be like RichardLeakey’s Kenyan assistants. We go out and discover the bones while hedoes the carbon analysis and gets the headlines.
I told Tuman about the experiences of my North Oakland neighbors and me who confront crime that has multi-ethnic contributors, not just blacks. Right now two Asian American gangs arecompeting for the right to control drug marketing on my block.
On Oct. 14, around the corner from my house, a drive by shooting resultedin the death of an innocent bystander. Asian American gangs are notthe only outsiders using black neighborhoods to accrue illegal profits.
For years, blacks and more recently white gentrifiers have tried to close down a local liquor store camouflaged as a grocerystore located a few blocks from my home. Its’ front is an outdooroffice for the district’s drug dealers and a scene of gunfire andmurder. The store owner, a Yemeni-American, comes to our NeighborhoodCrime meetings and denies any role that his store plays in suchactivity, but when interviewed by Otto award winning playwright Wajahat Ali, who, with David Eggers,is writing a pilot for HBO, he admitted to some of the accusationsthat have been voiced by Marvin X, a playwright and author, who goes bythe pen name of “Plato Negro,” as a result of his conductingspontaneous peripatetic classes on the streets of downtown Oakland.
Yes, some Arab storeowners do exchange sexual favors for groceries with poor black women customers. Sometimes these affairs result in children so an Arab storeowner might have an inner city baby momma along with a traditional family.
White bloggers, members of the Angry White Male constituency to which the mediamarket their product, people who get all of their information abouturban life from CNN’s farce, “Black In America,” and Hollywood, calledme a racist when I wrote that members of their beloved “modelminorities” engage in bad behavior, but at a recent meeting, John Russo,Oakland’s city attorney, confirmed our observations. He said thatAsian criminals were operating in Oakland’s black neighborhoods. OnOct. 14, Russo made the front page of The Oakland Tribune after hesought to apply a gang injunction to a Latino gang called Nortenos,which would mean that members of the gang would be “disallowed tocongregate in public between 10 pm and 5 am, carry or be in the presenceof guns, wear or display gang symbols or commit several specificgang-related crimes within a specified ‘safety zone’ in the Fruitvale district.”
“Businesses won’t develop here because of crime,” Tuman says. I reminded Tuman that though I live in a “hot zone,” crime was down 15 percent inOakland. By businesses he says he means huge concerns like Clorox andKaiser.
According to The East Bay Express, homicides plummeted 21 percent and overall violent crimedropped more than 15 percent in the first four months of the year.Property crimes are down 21 percent. Though the local Jim Crow media is aJerry Brown booster, during his last year in office, crime“skyrocketed.” Oakland has sought to deal with the staffing of thepolice department by floating several measures.
In 2004, voters approved Measure Y. In order to be eligible for $20million in funding for the police,the number of police officers couldnot fall below 739. Under this measure PSOs, 60problem-solving officers, would work in neighborhoods. Because thenumber of police officers fell below the 739 , after 80 officers werelaid off in July, only 682 sworn police officers remain on the force,which means that the city can’t collect the $20 million.
On Nov. 2, voters will vote on two propositions. Measure X would generaterevenue by charging owners of single-family homes a $360 parcel taxfor the next four years. It’s predicted that this measure will bedefeated.
Measure BB has a better chance of passing though Tuman predicts that both will go down. If Measure BB passes, the 739 officerrequirement would be eliminated and the city will collect the $20million. PSA officers will be restored which would help myneighborhood because the only person from downtown who was concernedabout our safety was Paul Brekke-Mismer, a Public Safety Officer. I talked to Brekke-Mismer whose job was cut foolishly by the layoffs.
He told me that he’d be willing to come back if he were rehired. Better than that, the next Mayor should hire Brekke-Mismer as an advisor. Find out why he was able to empathize with inhabitants of black neighborhoods while others have failed.
Tuman credited the Dellums administration, considered a bust by the media, for Oakland’s decline in violent crime. He’s one of the few reporters giving Bdelliums credit for anything, including the decline in crime, which accordingto multiple polls was the number one issue when he was elected.Twoother reporters whose opinions counter the consensus among the localmainstream media’s that the Dellums administration was afailure are Robert Gammon and J. Douglas Allen-Taylor. Gammon’s commentsappeared in the March 31, 2010 The East Bay Express. He wrote:
“Oakland’s mayor revamped the police department, but hasn't received credit for the substantial decrease in crime.
“Oakland’s crime problem spiraled out of control in the last two years of JerryBrown's administration. And then it remained high in 2007 and 2008during Ron Dellums' first two years as mayor of Oakland. Brown, however, managed to escape criticism for failing to slow the crime wave, while Dellumswas excoriated for it — despite the fact that his crime numbers werenever as bad as Brown's. And now, Oakland’s crime wave appears to beover, yet Dellums isn’t getting credit forthat either, even though there's an argument to be made that thedecisions made on his watch are partially responsible.”
J. Douglas Allen–Taylor, writing in the much missed Berkeley Daily Planet, which was driven to online status by powerful Berkeley critics, described Dellums' critics as “The big-pocket developers who made a killing when Jerry Brown was mayor and Mr. Perata held considerable 'influence' over a majority of the votes on theOakland City Council on key development issues. The leaders of theOakland Police Officers Association police union, who raked inconsiderable perks and power and millions in overtime during the sameperiod. These interests would certainly like to return to the days whenOakland was like an International Boulevard hooker ripe for their easyplucking, and so have helped direct and fuel an enduring media blitzthat has left us with the false impression that Mr. Dellums is a doddering old fool, napping at his desk during the afternoons, and neglecting the business of the city.”
Some of the unfavorable comments about the Dellums administration were a result of his owing back taxes and theimpression that his spouse, Cynthia, had too much influence on hisadministration. He was criticized for spending thousands of dollars forexpenses while lobbying on behalf of Oakland in Washington, but hislobbying efforts brought 65 million dollars of stimulus funds to thecity. I suggested in a SF Gate cartoon that Dellums, inorder to satisfy his critics, take Greyhound to Washington, take hisguests to a horse burger diner and stay in a flophouse.
AWM bloggers will probably discount this, but a double standard has been applied toblack male politicians by the media and Federal law enforcement sinceReconstruction. Defenders of David Dinkins pointed out unsuccessfully that the crime rate in New York City declined, drastically, under the Dinkins’administration. They were shouted down by the shrill opposition thatnow dominates public life. In the Oct. 25, 2009 New York Times MichaelPowell took a second look at Dinkins:
“Taking office in 1990, just as a Wall Street and real estate collapse pitched the city into deep recession, Mayor Dinkins, the city’s first African-American mayor, stumbled more than once. Buthe also registered more successes than most New Yorkers realize, and sohe laid part of the foundation for today’s New York.
“‘Dinkins faced a very sharp economic downturn, and he was in the very difficultposition of coming in with high expectations from manyconstituencies,’ said John H. Mollenkopf, a politicalscience professor at the City University Graduate Center. ‘Yet heexpanded the police force and rebuilt neighborhoods; he deserves morecredit than he gets for managing that time.”’
Yet Matt Littman, writing in the progressive Huffington Post, described the Dinkens “regime” as “awful,” while praising Rudy Giuliani whose poll numbersprior to 9/11 was 40%. Some New York firemen attribute the death oftheir fellow fireman to procedures that were put into practice byGiuliani.
Tuman’s answer to crime is to hire more police; he believes that the layoffs that thecity council ordered as a budget saving measure has ended a deterrentto what he refers to as “irrational capitalism,” meaning the drugbusiness, but I informed him that the black players in Oakland’s drugbusiness, the kind of people one sees on television and in Hollywoodmovies are the underpaid mules and other ethnic groups are making thereal profits and are using those profits to grease their way to thesuburbs. For example, the Yemeni store owner says that he makes over$200,000 per year in profits, mainly through liquor sales. When I askedhim during a public meeting why a Muslim was selling liquor, apoliceman, one of those whose role at the meeting is supposed to beinformational, abandoned this role and told me that I was out of order.Turns out that the policeman and the store owner and the cop aretight.
Tuman didn’t mention the role of white suburbanites who make profits by arming thegangs who terrorize our neighborhoods. I’m still waiting for HBO to do apilot about this component of the drug trade. Moreover, my neighborswould also consider him naïve to assert that more policewould deter “irrational capitalists,” or, in his words, “regulate” them.Even when we had a “robust,” police force using Tuman’s word, North Oakland blacks and now white regentrifiershave complained about the lack of police protection and during arecent meeting we were told that there would be even less protectionas a result of the layoffs, resulting in their refusal to pay towardtheir “Cadillac” pensions, the adjective used by a perceptive Oaklandpolitics watcher, Robert Gammon of The East Bay Express.
The police know about these criminal operations including the one that’sbeen threatening our neighborhood for over five years but nothing hasbeen done about it and those who live in other parts of North Oaklandcomplain that a similar situation exists in their neighborhoods.
Tuman, however, has a solution to the budget for the police department whichputs a strain on the city’s budget. According to The East Bay Express,Oakland’s “$414 million general fund budget, which is where the $83million deficit lies, is taken up almost entirely by police, fire, anddebt service the city is obligated to pay. In fact, according to themayor’s budget, police will cost the general fund about $198 millionthis year, while the fire department costs about $104 million, and theannual debt service amounts to about $45 million, so that's $347million for just three items, which leaves only $67 million for nearlyeverything else city government does.”
Tuman would pay for more police by using a university model for retirementand recruitment. He’d retire officers at 60 or 62 and then hire themback part time as independent contractors.
Since this is the key issue in his campaign, I asked him to write out this proposal so that I wouldn’t misquote him.
“First, with respect to containing/controlling costs for policing: Long term, Ibelieve we need to rethink the assumption that a police officer inOakland must (on average) cost about $180,000/year with salary andbenefits. The city council and even former Senator Peratabelieve this to be so. The Council limits their approaches to staffingour police department in only two ways: either they want to raise taxesto pay more officers this $180k average, or lay off officers and payless of them that same amount.
“Even Senator Perata buys into this mentality, saying he would simply find the same amountof money ($180k average) by laying off other city employees to hireback laid off police officers. I think about this differently; Iquestion that amount. Why does it have to be $180k? Why couldn't it be$140K or $145K? Since the police contract is closed for a few moreyears, and I do not want to go to interest arbitration over this issue,my solution to this would be to begin offering voluntary earlyretirement incentives to eligible officers (10-15% of the force arewithin 2-3 years of retirement), and using savings from theseretirements to begin hiring a new second tier of police recruits whowould come in at a lower salary base. Essentially, gradually manage outmy most expensive officers who are going to retire anyway--and slowlyreplace them with officers at a more affordable salary for the city.With an unemployment rate hovering at 20% for the city, I'm confidentwe could find many applicants for these jobs, even at reduced salary.More officers, in turn, reduces the need for overtime, and means thatboth overtime and pension costs will be less, since these arecalculated by base salary. This has worked in other bureaucracies; itcan work here, too.”
With this proposal, Joe Tuman is inviting the displeasure of the Oakland police union, anorganization so powerful that it has interfered with the local mayoralelection by actually campaigning against one of the mayoral candidates,Jean Quan, who called for police layoffs.
“Jean Quan will say anything to become mayor,” said Dom Arotzarena, President of the Oakland Police Officers Association. “And her recordproves she would do nothing if she got the job. Our city is desperatefor leadership. This is the wrong time for Oakland to settle for justanother politician like Jean Quan.”
On Oct.12, I received a flyer that denounced Jean Quan. It was sponsored by Coalition for a Safer California an organizationwhose contributions come from police organizations, developers, andbusinesses like AT&T and Blue Cross. Every time I turn on thetelevision there are uniformed policemen endorsing this candidate anddenouncing that one. The enormous power that millions of whites havegiven to the police for the purpose of containing the black and brownpopulation will eventually backfire and lead to their repression aswell. So powerful is the Gun Lobby it’s announced that it’s going toaddress policy issues other than the Second Amendment.One of the reasonsthat Rudy Giuliani defeated Mayor David Dinkins is attributable to his encouraging a police riot against Dinkins.
One of the contributors to CSC is Signature Properties whose president is Mike Ghielmetti. Ghielmetti and Phil Tagami,managing central partner of the California Capital Group. were among thedevelopers who received millions in subsidies during the Brownadministration- millions that critics argue, haven’t benefited the city.Brown was also criticized for his close ties to developer, Phil Tagami, sometimes called “The real mayor of Oakland.” So confident is the real mayor that he publicly insulted Mayor Dellumsby insisting that he fill out a time sheet for the hours he spentserving as mayor, something that was never required of Mayor Brown whowas often absent from city hall.
Ghielmetti’s Oak-to-Ninth project, a 64-acre housing development was opposed bypreservationists. Others charged that the subsidies received bydevelopers during Brown’s tenure amounted to “corporate welfare.”
State and local police and corrections organizations often behave in anarrogant manner because California’s shrinking and elderly whitepopulation has given them carte balance to deal with blackand Hispanic residents anyway they desire and when a policeman murders ablack or Hispanic he or she can always get a suburban jury to acquit.One of the reasons for violence in the inner city, usually stemmingfrom competition over drug markets, is the lackadaisical manner bywhich these homicides are treated by the police, many of them commutersand some of whom belong to far right organizations which view suchhomicides as a form of population control. If Tuman losesthe election it’s because he is asking the police to take a pay cut. Hehad the chutzpah to take on an entity that views itself supreme--overthe Mayor’s office and the city council.
One of Tuman’s rival, candidate Rebecca Kaplan, has been endorsed by black businessman Geoffrey Pete, who said that he was impressed with Kaplan, who promised to help in revising, “Oakland’s outdated and regressivenightclub and cabaret regulations.” She also has the endorsement of theBlack Women Organized for Political Action and The Sierra Club. Somehave called her an opportunist for switching from the Green Party tothe Democratic Party. And though she has received endorsement from someblack leaders and groups, it is charged that she is the candidate foryoung whites who frequent downtown restaurants clubs and coffee shops.People who are pushing blacks out of Oakland. People who enjoy moviesthat star Reese Witherspoon and queue up before Pizza places and ice cream parlors.
Ms. Kaplan, a lesbian, agrees with Tuman that Oakland police officers are paid too well, as she told The EastBay Express, “The average cop costs the city about $188,000 annually inpay and benefits. She notes that police officers in other cities, fromNew York to Baltimore, make much less. And she points out that Oaklandcould have more cops on the force if it paid them lower salaries. ‘Wehave fewer police officers than other cities because we pay them more,’she argued. ‘But making the costs so high so that you don't haveadequate finances, in my mind, is not a pro-public safety position.’”Ms. Kaplan was among those council members who joined in the protest against the shooting of Oscar Grant by a Bay Area Transit policeman. Tumansaid that he was asked to enter the mayoral race as a result of theviolence that followed Oscar Grant shooting. Not only was the “violence”exaggerated by reporters like the Time’s Jesse McKinley, but most ofthose arrested were white out-of-towners, anarchists andnot “irrational capitalists.” After running a photo of two black allegedlooters, as though the rioters were exclusively black, the SF Weeklyon July 9, 2010 provided an update:
Authorities have adjusted the arrest total to 78 -- with fully three-quarters ofthose arrested hailing from outside Oakland. Why is it that these folkswere apparently happy to help Oakland burn, but not live there therest of the time? Do they find Oakland too dangerous? Were they worriedabout, er, meeting the wrong sort of person there?
But none of the candidates has been as tough on the police as Jean Quan. Quan, who has the support of Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, labor unions and non-profits criticized the refusal of thepolice to pay 9% toward their pensions like other city employees. Shetold the Express, “The union said it wouldn’t start paying 9 percent into police pensions unless the city guaranteed no layoffs for two years. Quanargued that such a guarantee would have been financially irresponsiblebecause voters might reject tax measures in next month’s election.”
The police and their allies have expressed their opposition to Quan by sending out flyers linking her to Mayor Ron Dellums, who is considered a foe of the police union. The flyer passed around in my neighborhood carried the headline: “If you thought Ron Dellums was a good Mayor…You’ll love Jean Quan.” Its main complaint is that Mrs. Quan supported, “Laying off up to 200 police officers while opposingefforts to reduce the City bureaucracy.” Intimidated by the criticismof Dom Arotzarena, the powerful president of Oakland’s Police Union, Mrs. Quan capitulated. She sent a flyer into my neighborhood, which shows her standing in front of a police car and recapping her tough on crime bon a fides.
In its most recent display of arrogance, the police were about to chargethe city of Oakland overtime for their attending a charity event in Redding,California! This is an example of their favoring the suburbs wheremost of them live over Oakland where they get paid to serve. Like Quan, Tuman’sresponse to the event invites even more anger from an entity, thepolice union, which in the view of Chip Johnson, The San FranciscoChronicle, puts its needs above those of Oakland’s citizens. In hisresponse to me Tuman wrote:
“As far as the most recent episode of questionable overtime payments goes, let me react in this way:
“I am encouraged by the fact that our officers want to participate in acharity event; this speaks volumes to their willingness to be good civicpartners here as well as in other places. I do not feel, however, thatin this economic environment it is appropriate to charge overtimecosts for this cause… There is a lesson here: everyone in citygovernment (not just the police officers) should be more careful andhonest stewards of public funds--and under my administration, they willbe just that.”
Tuman would remedy the situation of Oakland’s police being drawn from thesuburbs by insisting that more police be hired from within the city ofOakland.
As an incentive, for the police to recruit from the inner city, he’d provide the police, firemanand teachers affordable housing by using vacancies left over from JerryBrown’s 10K program. Tuman wouldn’t use theterm failed to describe the disappointing results of Brown’s 10K plan.He says that by his second term Brown had lost interest in the mayor’sjob and was looking forward to the next job. Others have a less politeview of Brown’s administration. One of the charges was that he was toobeholden to developers who were his campaign contributors. In 2004,Brown obtained a $61 million dollars subsidy for Forest City, adeveloper, to build in Oakland. The development called “Uptown” hasbeen beset by problems and instead of condos, the developer, because ofthe bust in the housing market, has had to settle on rentals. Beforethat, my real estate agent says that they were just about giving awaycondos at $125,000 a pop.
Tuman is certainly informed and with more experience might understand theviewpoints of those who live in the hot zone of North Oakland. He saysfor example that racist practices in the Oakland system of education areunintentional.
After observing my daughter’s run for the school board, I’d disagree. The North Oakland’sdistrict run was tilted in favor of the white affluent Rockridge section of Oakland. The attempt to keep Hispanic and black students from entering the ChabotElementary School where they would study along side the children ofupper middle class white students was deliberate. The successfulcandidate was focused solely on this school and after her electionmillions of dollars were directed to this school while some of theschools attended by blacks and Hispanics go without text books.
Having accomplished her goal of directing money to the school where herchildren were enrolled, she disappeared from public view, only requiredto attend monthly board of education meetings.
Racism exists elsewhere. The residents of Piedmont Ave.,a tony section ofOakland, are undergoing some soul searching, (or are they) over somerecent racial profiling of some black children. The Tribune reported:
“Last week, the City Council held a public hearing reviewing an incident inMarch where two minority students were stopped and questioned by policewalking home from school after someone called to report supposedsuspicious activity.
The call was unfounded and police closed the matter after speaking to the students.”
Problems in our district are also complicated by police corruption that couldbe viewed as racist because the police would not practice corruption inthe suburbs where they live. Prof. Jerry Bryant is correct when hesays that black neighborhoods have been used to raise ill gainedrevenue for other groups, traditionally. With the billions passingthrough hands as a result of drug profits, there is corruptioninternationally and locally. Some of those who attend the Beat 10YMarket Street Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council Meeting chaired by VertisWhitaker usually question why the police are so chummy with the drugdealers. The “mainstream” pundits and journalists don’t see some of thepolice action that we witness. They don’t care to see it. When Ichallenged two Oakland Tribune reporters to cover yellow on black crimeas much as they did black on yellow crime, they didn’t even bother to reply.
Sam Hamod, the poet and publisher, recounts what happened when The Nation ofIslam rid Washington D.C. projects of Jamaican drug gangs; the policewent after the NOI because they were no longer receivingkickbacks from prostitutes and drug dealers--money that is used toimprove the lifestyles of suburbanites. The underground economy inblack neighborhoods throughout the nation pays for home improvements,medical bills, college tuition, and vacations for white and coloredethnic groups. In one Harlem precinct, twenty six policemen werecharged with corruption.
“A former New York City police officer caught in the sweeping scandal at the 30th Precinct in Harlem was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison fordealing drugs, evading taxes and breaking into property without asearch warrant.” The New York Times 9/10/96.
And what has become of Adrian Schoolcraft, a patrol officer who uncovered evidence of racial profiling as a policy for a Brooklyn Precinct?
“Officer Schoolcraft is on suspension without pay on charges that he left a work shift onHalloween in 2009 without permission, and then failed to return, saidhis lawyer, Jon Norinsberg. He has filed a $50 millionlawsuit claiming department officials retaliated against him, includingtaking him to a hospital in handcuffs that night for psychiatricevaluation, after he reported his suspicions. He has also secretlyrecorded roll calls that have resulted in allegations that commanders atthe 81st Precinct pushed ticket and arrest quotas on officers. Thepolice have denied the existence of quotas.” Times, Oct.15
At one time, black businessmen who were excluded from the capitalistsystem by the banks could obtain loans from black numbers bankers, butwhites took control of that too. The film “Cotton Club” touches uponthis subject.
Racism unintentional? My neighbors would disagree. They know that if they lived in the moreaffluent white sections of Oakland they’d receive better service andbetter protection.
A recent article in the Oakland Tribune revealed that traffic fines are leveleddisproportionately in the down scale sections of the city. When I hadto appear in Oakland traffic court to pay a one hundred dollar fine fornot coming to a complete stop, I found that 95 percent of those thereto pay fines were either black or Hispanic. If, as Tuman says, class, not race determines ones status, why weren’t more whites present?
The practice of absentee landlords renting their properties to drugdealing gangs can also be seen as an act of racism. The lower propertyvalue of my neighborhood and those like mine can be attributed to thispractice. An abandoned house located on my block was the scene ofprostitution and drug dealing before it was boarded up. The city hasbeen promising to demolish it for two years; it’s still there. Such isthe power of Oakland’s landlords that she has been able to ignorecitations from the city and threats of fines. She owns four propertiesin North Oakland and is probably the product of a two family home.
AWM bloggers even white progressives--like Robert Scheer who praised the Tea Partiers and Rand Paul (on KPFA, 10,9, ’10), while condemning Obama, Maxine Waters, and JesseJackson)--would probably disagree that racist practices are being usedagainst the black citizens of Oakland, but I no longer will take therole of an unpaid research assistant for them. Their minds are frozenin their attitudes toward blacks.
Tuman said that the mayor didn’t have a role in forming school policy, which didn’t bar Jerry Brown from influencing Oakland’s school policy, but coulduse the office as a bully pulpit. He would direct funds to non-profitswho have a track record for improving conditions for marginalizedstudents. He’d also study the approach of schools located in poordistricts whose test scores are competitive.
Tuman showed his command of the issues including ways of pumping more revenue into Oakland’s public schools. It was a geekish recital from a young man who is in full command of the facts. His late father would be proud. I promised the elder Tuman that I would include a reference to Babylonian astrology in one of myfree associative novels. I told Joe that the promise had beenfulfilled.
Judging from the excitement generated by Don Perata at a rally held by my brother, Dr. Michael LeNoir, Don Perata is going to be hard to beat. Having faced down an automatic weaponwhen his car was hi-jacked and having survived prostate cancer and anFBI probe, the kind of experiences that bring reflection and wisdom,he carried on like a lion in the winter, wounded, but still full offight, before a crowd of enthusiastic black supporters. The federalprobe ended with no charges being filed. Having undergone three 100percent tax audits, I can’t imagine what a federal probe must be like. Peratablamed the probe on the Bush administration seeking to undermine thepower of Democrats. In his mind, he’s already cut Oakland’s budget byeliminating some boards and commissions, which he feels areunnecessary. He spoke of a program for the arts, perhaps drawingrevenue to the city by employing its famed creative resources, Rap,Blues, the visual arts.
Mr. Perata has been endorsed by a number of black pastors, including Bishop BobJackson, who heads the 7,000-member Acts Full Gospel Church. When Ms. Kaplan sought Mr. Jackson’s endorsement, he said he told her, “I don’t think you’vehad a chance to warm up your seat yet,” according to The New YorkTimes. On Oct.18, he was endorsed by The San Francisco Chronicle.
Though the local media are harping on Don Perata’s flaws, specifically his role in an Oakland Raiders deal that has leftthe city millions of dollars in debt until the year 2025, Tumanis the only candidate who comes to the mayoral run with a clean slate.He began as a dark horse, but is now gaining in the polls. He placedsecond in an endorsement by The Oakland Tribune followed by Rebecca Kaplan. Jean Quan was third. In The East Bay Express endorsements, Tuman placed third after Quan, second and Kaplan, first. Tuman, Quan and Kaplan are hoping that ranked-choice voting will mean that second and third place votes could determine the winner. Perata believes that ranked-choice voting has “deprived voters of substantive discussions.”
Tuman’s debut as a politician has been impressive. He’s open to ideas, too.Having watched “irrational capitalism” at work since the late 80s whenthese operations invaded my neighborhood, I proposed that tutoring inbusiness might be an alternative to jail for some these undergroundcapitalists, and if successful, the extending of micro loans to thosewho achieve a certificate. He took note of this idea.
One thing for which Jerry Brown should be commended. For awhile he livedin a neighborhood where he witnessed firsthand the dysfunctional sideof Oakland. If elected, Tuman or whoever is elected should do the same.
Win or lose, Tuman represents a new direction and a new generation.
Ishmael Reed is the publisher of Konch. His new novel, Juice!, illustrated by him, is available for pre-order at Amazon. He can be reached at: Uncleish@aol.co
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