The Banality of Cruelty.

It was a hardly-noticed event on December 3rd in Oakland, CA - amidst the aftermath of the San Berandino massacre and a San Francsico police execution by firing squad of Mario Woods.

It came two days after the Berkeley, CA City Council voted 6-3 to criminalize homeless behavior on the streets of Berkeley; during public comment an eloquent speaker referenced the ”Banality of Evil" in citing what was being done to the homeless by the privileged that evening. (Beyond that, this senseless act of cruelty was not directly — or indirectly that I know of - a consequence of that vote or what was said that night.)

What was this cruel act? 

The California Department of Transportation and the California Highway Patrol evicted a homeless camp from underneath the 880 Freeway bridge in downtown Oakland today in the middle of a rainstorm. x

Caltrans and CHP Oust Homeless from Camp in Pouring Rain in Oakland https://t.co/oACzTm4NWSpic.twitter.com/AL2Dwfpd4t

— Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) December 3, 2015

  I’m sure stuff like this happens all the time, all across the country.  But I'd like you to think about this particular act for a minute in all its senslessness. Contemplate, if you would, the banality of cruelty behind this statement...

"This is our property," said a Caltrans supervisor at the scene who did not give his name. "They're trespassing."

and contrast it, if you would, with

We got nowhere else to go, and it's raining," said a man who identified himself as Kevin. Kevin has been living under the bridge for several months along with at least a dozen other people.

It's the space under a fucking bridge. There's nothing there anyone could possibly want, let alone covet. It's only useful function, beyond it's donut-hole like purpose, is that it can serve as a roof when it's raining. And it was raining; and it was cold.

AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN JUST TURN AROUND AND WALK AWAY; YOU COULDN'T SEE AS FAR AS TO JUST COME BACK ANOTHER DAY.

Just Fuck You. Whomever you are.

Oh, and to pile futility upon cruelty upon senselessness...

x

It's the day after CalTrans/CHP rousted a dozen homeless from under 880/Webster bridge in Oakland, but residents have moved back already.

— Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) December 4, 2015