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Ok, so I'm sitting here at Gaylord's working on my computer when a Asian guy who's obviously without a home walks in to the establishment's door and takes a right turn, but before he can do anything this super-skinny, two day-old stuble (no mustasche) white guy with a painter's cap and a blue shirt-not-tucked-in and jeans and a face not unlike that of "Chucky" just gets up from his table, and angrily points at the man saying "You're coming in here asking for money." As he says this for me everything seemed to just slow down, as I was wondering if I should move now to protect my computer. So, the homeless guy picks up a chair and the painter cap guy picks up one and they kind of go at it in a weird way. Then some other patron -- a white man in a brown leather jacket with short hair -- rushes in and tries to subdue the Painter's Cap guy and ends up pushing him to the ground of the cafe. While this goes on I and others moved away and I c...

I've never missed an election since I was old enough to vote and attending Skyline High School. And in all those years, I can only recall once -- I think 1998, but I'm not sure -- when Oakland voters rejected a bond issue. This time was not one of them. Bond victory thrills Oakland schools Administrators are eager to fix infrastructure, but proposition's opponents fear lack of oversight By Grace Rauh, STAFF WRITER - Oakland Tribune OAKLAND — Caroline Yee can hardly contain her excitement about Measure B, the $435 million Oakland school district bond that snagged 77 percent of unofficial votes in Tuesday's election, far more than the 55 percent required to approve it. The principal of Lincoln Elementary School in Oakland's Chinatown is thrilled, elated and delighted, she said, letting the adjectives trip over each other Wednesday. "No kid deserves to be in a portable (classroom) with broken window shades, poor ventilation, crowded over," she said, referr...

On Friday, Oakland Council President Ignacio De La Fuente called Ron Dellums to congradulate him after learning that 50.18 percent of voting Oaklanders chose him as the next Mayor of Oakland. Here's the full Oakland Tribune report: Mayor race ends with concession De La Fuente calls to congratulate Dellums, pledges 'to continue working very hard By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente called former U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums on Saturday morning to concede the hard-fought race to become Oakland's next mayor. During a brief afternoon news conference at his Fruitvale home, De La Fuente said he congratulated Dellums and pledged to work with him as mayor of Oakland. "I will continue working very hard on those issues that got me into this mayor's race," De La Fuente said. Standing on his back porch, flanked by aides as well as his wife and daughter, he did not take questions. Mike Healy, a spokesma...

After I posted my problem in the way I was treated by a staffer at "Easy" I received a number of responses, most sympathetic, then some just plain pathetic. The ones in the "pathetic" category seemed to run a consistent thread of wanting to explain away the staffers behavior when the writer wasn't even at Easy at the time of the incident -- let alone at all. It's this desire to avoid adressing a problem that keeps us as a society from making sure such scenarios don't happen again. I must also report that no one African American wrote to disagree. The main point is that if a person explains that something in the way they were treated was racist, don't try to explain it away if you were not there to witness it. Remember there are really a limited number of ways one can treat someone else: mean or nice. The reasons this is done vary from person to person. Thus one can be mean to someone for reasons of racial difference and express the same behavi...

I received this email from a person who identified himself as one of the owners of "Easy" and regarding the problem I blogged about. I removed his name and contact information to protect his privacy. As an FYI, I had not contacted the establishment, so I can only determine that the blog post was so widely read, it was passed to him. Hello! I am one of the owners at Easy, and I'm really disappointed to hear that you feel that you were not treated with respect at our new establishment. With that all said, a couple of points (not in any particular order of importance): 1) All of the owners (4 in total), myself included, were present at the time of the incident. While I personally heard third-hand of what happened after close, had an owner actually been approached about the matter we most certainly would have sat down with you to resolve it amicably. 2) We do indeed have a number of black male staffers. 3) A large portion of my wife's family is African American, inclu...

I wrote about a race-based problem I experienced at a new establishment called "Easy." My post spawned this reponse from a neighbor in Adams Point who asked not to be identified for this post. Hi- I saw your blog article. I grew up in the lakeshore area and still live there. I drove by the place the other day and was suprised to see that the 5th amendment had closed and sort of excited to see the easy sign. I dreaded what I saw the other night when I drove by (9 pm, weeknight) there were tons of white waspy youngish, looking folks that definitely don't look like the normal folks of the neighborhood. Don't get me wrong...It wasn't' that they were all white is what scared me, it jsut looked sort of exclusive to them but maybe...it definitely had a bad vibe so when I saw your headline I was like "oh great!!, I was right" I am not surprised. But trust me I am going tell all my friends and family about your experience. As I don't put up with that __...

Is this the Oakland of the future? A place where black men are singled out and treated in less-than-human ways? It sure seems that way with the opening of "Easy", a restaurant and bar that opened in the space once used by the legendary Fifth Amendment on Lakeshore Avenue and in the business district that includes establishments such as Pete's Coffee and Arzimendi's. Thursday, June 15th was the opening of "Easy" and to those not familar with Oakland lore, it was an occasion to be observed. Long time Oaklanders -- like me -- wandered in to see how this new place was going to treat the neighborhood. Look. I understand more than anyone the need for owners to close an establishment at 2 AM. I also know that many bars have "after 2 AM parties" for friends, and whomever. Some of these gatherings feature the use of drugs, so it's better to sweep out the clientele before 2 AM so they can have real fun. Without naming names, there's one busin...