Summary Of The Oscar Grant Case

The key issue of the Oscar Grant case is the argument that institutional racism was the reason behind the crime. This is “The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin.” (Macpherson 1999 pg. 350). It can be portrayed through the attitudes of individuals, which results in discrimination. This can be through racist stereotyping that leads to the disadvantage of ethnic minorities. (Macpherson 1999). Many new manifestations of racism could be cited as evidence due to the definition that was given by Macpherson. Purposely discriminating an individual on the grounds of “race” was not seen as basic evidence as discrimination was becoming more

Videos were made by the witnesses at the train station where Grant was killed. In the recordings, Grant is seen sitting on the platform in-between his companions. A police officer was guarding them from the front, and the supposed “fight” had been controlled. Suddenly two police officers approach Grant and throw him face down on the floor. (Martinot’ 2013). At 1:49am, an officer planted his knee on Grant’s neck, which caused him to struggle due to the pain. He was seen resisting arrest; however, Grants hand were pinned down in front of him and he could not move them. Whilst Grant was being restrained, officer Johannes Mehserle stood over him and shot him in the back, which resulted in the murder. The officers excuse was that he was reaching for his Taser. “His Taser was on the left side of his body and the gun on the right.” (Martinot’

The officer should not have used force on the victim, as this started the chain reaction of violence. As Derrida (2003, p.g.99) stated, this is the “law producing the exact same thing they are trying to repress”. There could have been many variables that could have effected Mehserle’s decision making in this situation. One extra-legal variable that can be applied to this case is the role of demeanour. It “focuses primarily on the effect of situational status characteristics.” (Bonner 2015, p.g.495). Westly (1954) had stated that respect is a very important norm for the police force. Officer Mehserle could have felt disrespected by Grant when he was trying to handcuff him. The officer most likely considered Grant’s act of ‘disrespect’ was simply an affront, which means that the officer felt that his authority was being taken as a joke by Grant and his peers. (Van Maanen