Racist Profiling Leads to Hate Crime Assault in San Leandro
(Photo by San Diego Union-Tribune)
Content Warning: this post contains graphic discussions of bigotry and violence.
Last month, a Woman of Color participating in our local Buy Nothing group was attacked in a textbook case of how social media fearmongering leads to real-world consequences.
For those who don't know, Buy Nothing is a national organization made up of individual community chapters that serve as a place to share goods and services, from clothes to books, and yard work to housework, as well as almost anything else.
I have included links to the full statements from the administrators of North San Leandro Buy Nothing below, but I want to directly share the series of events as reported by the victim:
"On a porch pickup today (12/23) at 10:50am (to a house I have already been to) I was physically assaulted. My body is in pain and I can still feel burning where the man’s hands were wringing my arm. I was accused of stealing from the gifter’s porch which I explained to the woman who originally accosted me that I was expected there and this bag was for me with my name on it. When I refused to answer the personal questions about where I live, my full name and the name of the gifter the woman’s husband came out barreling towards me and grabbed me and the bag yelling and screaming at me and ultimately throttling me around, dragging me and hitting me with the bag containing the gifted item."
"I frantically screamed for help and the gifter and her husband came out to see what the problem was. They explained to the couple that I was allowed to take the package which did not stop them, particularly the husband from harassing me. I called the police and when they finally arrived they said they completely understood where the man was coming from due to porch theft and nothing more happened other than taking a statement."
"I AM A WOMAN OF COLOR AND I WAS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED for my safety. I almost brought my young child with me for this pick up but thank goodness I didn’t because I do not know what I would do if my child was in harm’s way. That being said, I want to make sure this is brought to the group’s attention because I do NOT want this to happen to anyone else especially since many of us bring our children with us on these pickups. The gifter and her husband were both EXTREMELY, extremely kind and caring and stood beside me. I hope this never has to happen to anyone else."
To be clear: a Woman of Color was assaulted by a White man, despite having every right to be where she was and doing what she was doing, despite providing proof, despite the very person whose home she was at saying this was not a theft or robbery. And after *she* called the San Leandro Police Department for help, they not only failed to arrest the man, but the officer even admitted they empathized with the man's violent racism!
I've written before about the problems with modern policing, so while this is shocking, it's not surprising. (See my previous posts on the subject on this blog.) However, this incident highlights another problem: the culture of fear and bigotry promulgated by reactionaries and regressive s through social media. On Nextdoor in San Leandro, people post private camera footage of every possible incident, whether genuinely about safety or not, as others subvert their content to push fabricated claims of a crime wave. This has led to racist profiling, falsified crime reports of kidnapping, misinformation about actual public safety issues, and calls for organized vigilante gun violence.
Don't believe me? You can check my album of screenshots. You can read some of my posts on the subject. You can also check out a number of reports from other communities and news media at Neighbors for Racial Justice, Embrace Race, Mashable, The Verge, Fast Company, One Zero, and NPR.
Meanwhile, there are a number of people (myself included) working on holding city officials and the police accountable, as well as coming up with new ways to stand in solidarity with BIPOC residents and assist as needed.
But the fundamental problem of what happened here is bigger than organizing volunteers, posting signage, or new group rules. Why? Because racism is insidious. It adapts to the times in order to justify and dismiss the harm it causes. Even if everything were done absolutely perfectly correctly, it still wouldn't be enough because bigotry is not logical or rational. It cannot be reasoned with because it doesn't need to make sense.
Until we confront our unwillingness to actually deal with our racial caste system – to practice and not just preach the values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion – we will continue to see more hate crimes in our city. We will continue to see the history of San Leandro as one of the most racist cities in America repeat itself again and again.
So if you like to think of yourself as not racist, then I urge you to take action. It's not enough to say you reject prejudice and discrimination, you actually have to be actively antiracist. You actually have to do the work of dismantling the systems and culture that perpetuate bigotry. Call city council. Call the mayor. Call the city manager's office. Call SLPD. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your family, friends, and coworkers. Step up in solidarity as an ally, accomplice, or co-conspirator. Join one of our many social justice and community-based organizations. Become an activist, an advocate, or an organizer. Help us build a better San Leandro for everyone.
Take note and take care.
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