April V. Taylor

In an ironic display of white supremacy, Black residents in the historically African American East Oakland area are now being treated as menaces by white invading gentrifiers who are calling the cops on them for simply living life as they always have. A recent report by the East Bay Express reveals that the rate at which whites are calling police on innocent blacks is skyrocketing at an alarming rate.

Using data from the website Nextdoor.com, the publication was able to uncover cops being called for such harmless infractions as walking down the street and knocking on a door. Black salesman and postal workers who were simply doing their job have even faced harassment and been criminalized just for delivering items to residents.

As if existing Oakland police officers do not have a history of criminalizing and brutalizing Black residents enough, white residents have also taken to hiring private officers to patrol the neighborhood with even more tyranny. Oakland officers report that they are currently receiving more than 700 calls a month about suspicious vehicles and people, revealing that they are forced to respond to baseless, unwarranted calls from white residents who are racially profiling their neighbors.

As gentrification reverses white flight across the country, Black people are being subjected to racial profiling and white supremacy at the hands of invading white gentrifiers whose racial biases will continue unabated until there are some kind of legal repercussions for their harassment. Black residents are being forced to relocate by rising property taxes and the shattered tranquility of homes that are no longer the vibrant cultural centers they once were, and city officials are doing little to address the problem.

Meanwhile, drummers who have a long tradition of playing music at Lake Merritt recently had police called on them by white residents, and Oakland police bowed to the man’s wishes, sending a large number of officers to handle a peaceful situation and pass out citations to a group of residents who were simply enjoying their neighborhood as they always had.

A local Oakland church even had police called on them for a noise complaint about loud singing. In an extreme display of arrogance, white invading gentrifiers do not even hold any respect for allowing Black residents to worship in their sacred spaces without being subjected to white supremacy. Long time Oakland resident and publisher of the Black newspaper the Oakland Post reveals even more about how bold white newcomers are in reporting that young white residents and realtors have even knocked on his door inquiring about buying his home and having the nerve to asked him when he is leaving, implying that he is in the way.

High school freshman James Fisher recently spoke with the East Bay Express about the suspicious and fearful stares he gets from white people, making him feel out of place and uncomfortable in the only place he has ever called home. As gentrification continues to spread across the country, Black residents everywhere, not just in Oakland, are left to wonder if they will every be able to call any place in America home without white people having the right to invade and pilfer their neighborhoods and communities.

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