Here in Oakland, CA, we are awaiting the verdict in the trial of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle's murder of the unarmed Oscar Grant. The murder, which was captured on video by bystanders and seen on Youtube by millions of people, sparked massive protests and militant actions around Oakland last year -- and has the potential to generate further unrest if a "not guilty" verdict comes down. Did I mention that Mehserle is white, and Grant was black? As Dahlak Brathwaite reminds us in his poem, "Just Another Routine Check," this isn't a coincidence. As activists, we look for the shades of gray in a situation -- but when it comes to racial profiling and police brutality, it's all too often a case of black and white.
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