Oakland currently stands vulnerable with 100 homicides this year and counting. This has been a dramatic increase from last year's low of 85 deaths. This is currently the highest Oakland has seen since 1995. From 1986 to 1995 the average was at 138 homicides a year. Much of the killings are over drugs and turf wars, mostly in the poor flatlands of East and West Oakland. 80 percent of these deaths are amongst the African-American community. Some action clearly needs to be taken by the community and the roots of the problems must be addressed.

Much of the hype over Oakland could be blamed on the media. Lately the death toll has taken the attention of the media nationwide. The concerned community has to ask, why is all the emphasis going to Oakland? Is the media sensationalizing crime? "Whenever you continuously project negative images of a community, people start to become the images the see on TV,

60 percent of all prisoners are incarcerated for non-violent offences already. Why, because it feeds the greedy multi-billion dollar prison industry (but that is another issue all together). "The ratio per capita of white to black drug users in the US is roughly 1 to 1. But the sentencing rate of whites to blacks for drug possession is 1 to 10. The amount of crack you need to get a five-year mandatory minimum is 5 grams, but for powder cocaine it's 500 grams - which is interesting once you learn that 75% of those arrested for powder cocaine are white, and 90% of those arrested for crack are African-American," said legendary Black Panther Eddie Ellis. Again, all this will just contribute to the demoralization of the urban communities like Oakland. We need to stop building prisons and start building communities.

Really, the likely hood of this happening is slim. The most realistic way of elevating the cities we already have is by building up morale from the inside out. Oakland and other inner-city communities need youth leaders, mentors, and grassroots organizations run by leaders of the community they are trying to help "What it will take is an entire community pulling together, no just people of like mind but also people at opposite ends of the philosophical, socioeconomic, and political spectrum," stated the Oakland Tribune.

The problems in our inner cities stem from a history of social upheaval throughout the country. Poverty, ghettos, and crime have taken its toll in urban communities all across America. The gap between the rich and poor continues to expand. Public services, jobs, and capital are all taken away to suburban outlets. It leaves a gray isolated inner city with few resources. I personally blame this on the white-middle class fear of crime and all those other "urban legends." Who says a white middle class person can't live in

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)