Oakland, California is among the most radically progressive cities in America, but a new awakening is underway there. Oakland residents have had enough of crime and they — African-Americans, included — are sounding more like what the media would often label “right wing” if not “racist.”
Emblematic of that change is an open letter sent last week by none other than the Oakland chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a leading Black minister. Consider Oakland’s similarities to Chicago and ask whether things such as this, which are in the letter, shouldn’t be said in Chicago:
Oakland residents are sick and tired of our intolerable public safety crisis that overwhelmingly impacts minority communities. Murders, shootings, violent armed robberies, home invasions, car break-ins, sideshows, and highway shootouts have become a pervasive fixture of life in Oakland….
Women are targeted by young mobs and viciously beaten and robbed in downtown and uptown neighborhoods. Asians are assaulted in Chinatown. Street vendors are robbed in Fruitvale. News crews have their cameras stolen while they report on crime. PG&E workers are robbed and now require private security when they are out working. Everyone is in danger….
Failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals. If there are no consequences for committing crime in Oakland, crime will continue to soar….
People are moving out of Oakland in droves. They are afraid to venture out of their homes to go to work, shop, or dine in Oakland and this is destroying economic activity. Businesses, small and large, struggle and close, tax revenues vanish, and we are creating the notorious doom-loop where life in our city continues to spiral downward. As economic pain increases, the conditions that help create crime and criminals are exacerbated by desperate people with no employment
opportunities….
We are in crisis and elected leaders must declare a state of emergency and bring resources together from the city, the county, and the state to end the crisis. We are 500 police officers short of the number that experts say Oakland needs. Our 911 system does not work. Residents now know that help will not come when danger confronts them. Worse, criminals know that too….
Unfortunately, progressive policies and failed leadership have chased away or delayed significant blue collar job development in the city….
We urge African Americans to speak out and demand improved public safety….
We also encourage Oakland’s White, Asian, and Latino communities to speak out against crime and stop allowing themselves to be shamed into silence. There is nothing compassionate or progressive about allowing criminal behavior to fester and rob Oakland residents of their basic rights to public safety. It is not racist or unkind to want to be safe from crime. No one should live in fear in our city.
[Emphasis added.]
-Mark Glennon
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Funny how progressive politics result in higher crime that mostly affects women and minorities. There are a lot of angry-frightened women in Oakland now.
When you’ve lost the NAACP race-hustlers, you know your crime policies are not working
As long as female tik tok users are allowed to vote, the nation will become ever more woke.
Sadly the schism inside the black community is at it’s all time worst. Again, we see that blacks in the majority support Pritzker, Foxx, Johnson and continue to vote them in. Not sure if they got the memo but someone else has been eating their lunch for a long time economically. We really need to see so many more Willie Wilson’s not Chief Keef and Little Durk. This is the essence of the schism. Black lives might matter to people in Northbrook with their idiotic yard signs in their 800K home with $30k a year in property taxes, but that… Read more »
Progressives are turning conservative everywhere! I love it.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/a-tale-of-two-cities-portland-offers-a-worrying-example-for-seattle/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all
Inaccurate assessment and not even remotely correct. Read the article and what I comprehend is not aligned with your statement whatsoever. Both cities are examples of “How Not to Run a City” and continue on a massive downward trajectory because of leftist politicians who are obsessed with creating followers who have complete reliance on government handouts. Both are depopulating and taxpayers are moving and voting with their feet. Progressive is Theodore Roosevelt. Modern progressives are communists and socialists 100% with Obama and Saul Alinsky as their leaders who have chosen different names of what they call themselves to not frighten… Read more »
Did you read the comments?? It’s kind of hard to take you seriously when pessimism and defeatism is explicitly baked in to your user name. JFYI
As I suspected, another communist who wants to tell me how to think and how to live. Easy to spot and separate from the others. Go watch Ravi Baichwal he has major news to report on more deplorables like me. LOL 😂😂 😂 You might need a tissue from all the crying and crocodile tears. JB is definitely your guy.
Why not just do it and get it over with. The slow march to an Oakland style City is too boring.
Sounds like Caraccas after decades of decline under Socialism. Sadly, in the Land of Pritzker, Chicago who recently elected Brandon Johnson, further declines under Socialist “leadership” will happen before such an evolution of thought might be realized here.
You are so right. Why are the majority of illegals flocking FROM Venezuela!
An excellent article to show the “ crime is down in America “ drones.
I think the real lesson here is that things have to be wrecked before some Democrat voters wake up to reality – they are largely a cult.
Portions of the population vote to “stick it to the man”, while a growing segment of the population are voting with their feet. The Central Business District in Chicago will soon be hub cap shops and nail salons. Prosperity is just around the corner!
Follow the money. Who is buying up the devalued properties at fire sale prices? Are these buyers granted inordinate (illegal) leverage by ‘friendly’ banks?
Too little, too late
Let’s all meet at the Mystic Knights of the Sea
Lodge Hall and discuss the issue
There is no crime problem in Chicago. Repeat, there is NO crime problem in Chicago. I’m Mayor Johnson and it’s just kids funnin’ and acting stupid. White Supremacists are the problem.
Kevin Bacon at the end of ‘Animal House’ – “ALL IS WELL!!!”
As he’s being trampled by a panicked crowd…
There is no doubt that a multi-faceted strategy is needed to combat the multitude of problems facing Chicago, crime being the utmost issue. You don’t solve that and nothing else matters. Chicago is at an interesting inflection point. Its citizens may feel like they’re Oakland brethren, but their leaders do not. Chicago has a new mayor who is still in a honeymoon phase; people willing to give him some time to fix things his way. There are a number of Marxist city council members who haven’t a clue about serving and are blinded by their selfish ideological endeavors, not caring… Read more »
You described the ‘tribalism’ that is wrecking not just Chicago, but our country…
All the little ‘fiefdoms’ jockeying for control…
Unwilling to cooperate with each other, lest their perceived ‘influence’ be reduced…
What is desperately needed is ‘servant leadership’…
What we are getting however, from both sides, but more so from the left is ‘leaders of servants’…
“Tribalism”…very well put.
My feeling as well. We’ve become a solidly ‘conflict’ society, as contrasted with a ‘society by consensus.’
That’s well said and exactly correct.
Chicago is also disproportionately run by blacks. Not just any blacks but a very “progressive”, militant offshoot of the mainstream democratic party and have shown their willingness to embrace social marxism evidenced by their wholesale support for the most destructive and incompetent teachers’ union in the world. Our leadership in no way reflects the people however the people refuse to participate and this minority rules to their minority base. We need more Willie Wilson type candidates who understand this city works best as a mercantile city not a socialist sewer. It was the manufacturing version of Chicago that created the… Read more »
Absolutely on point!
How do you expect to get anything done or for people to invest their time when you use words like leaders and fiefdom? This is a huge problem! Winning language is a prerequisite for any sort of change. These clowns don’t rule over me and I’m going on offense. Every other commenter in here is trying to persuade people to leave the state. There’s also a huge number that claim there’s nothing we can do. Why would anybody want to get involved after reading this pessimistic garbage? I’m one of the few that actually calls them out. Everybody else should… Read more »
Calling them out for leaving a failed state and bettering themselves/family…huh?
Braggadocious comments about ones exodus aren’t uncommon here but why even bother? I suspect maybe one person cares about your winning language. Point is your time could be spent on important topics here instead of bullying people into following your brand of optimism. Cheers
Are you aware that calling out optimism is your only contribution to this conversation?? Thanks for really driving home my point. Is calling out optimism what you consider an important topic??? How insane are you?
Cheers!!
No. No I’m not. I didn’t call out optimism. Only your brand. My interest in corruption and the solutions to fix it is what’s driven me to this site. I read it regularly and have confidence in the reporting here. I’ve donated. Does that still drive home your point you nutter?
There’s no brand here. I’m calling out the obvious and making it known that an overwhelming defeatism consensus leaves a bad impression and deters anyone that comes here with good intentions.
You are free to stay in the shooting gallery where criminals and corrupt politicians can’t even protect a toddler. Optimism is not as powerful as common sense which you seem to be void of. Can’t fix stupid unfortunately. A place where victims have no rights, are you kidding me?
Leader is a defeatist term? I’m voicing my opinion, like so many others. Stop deriding people who do that. This is a blog post, David, not a help line or a solution think tank. I’ll leave the formation and execution of a cheerleading strategy to you. How’s that coming by the way?
They sure don’t act like leaders. Leaders is far from my first choice in describing them. What’s your justification, as an out of state guy, for spending a substantial amount of time commenting on local Illinois politics and deriding Illinois citizens trying to make a difference? I have to admit, I’ve been in politics for a long time and have never met defeatist personalities like yours in real life. Do you drive to rallies here too to tell people they’ll never win and to move out? Three weeks ago you told me to have fun dodging bullets trying to make… Read more »
Your choice in describing them as leaders or not is exactly that, your choice. I have the same choice. The mayor is a leader no matter his performance. Add an adjective and you now describe his effectiveness as a leader. Just because I no longer live in Illinois, I shouldn’t speak negatively and I should sit in the sidelines. Sounds like you’re advocating for restricted speech, Dave. Do you work at Facebook? Wirepoints promotes open dialogue. I think you should respect that, irrespective of one’s message or view. Keep up your efforts to promote brighter days for Illinois. Despite the… Read more »
“Just because I no longer live in Illinois, I shouldn’t speak negatively and I should sit in the sidelines. Sounds like you’re advocating for restricted speech, Dave.”
I’m advocating for restrictive speech? How many times to I have to repeat myself?? Free speech has noting to do with it. Nobody is challenging your right, as an out of state guy with no identifiable interest in Illinois politics, to speak negatively and overwhelmingly conclude there’s nothing we can do. hahahah
I’m trying to convince you that you’re making things worse for everybody with your negativity.
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/alameda-county-district-attorney-pamela-price-responds-recall-effort-critics/
Wow, that whole piece is pretty amazing 😲
Proud graduate of the Kamala Harris school of public speaking…