Several weeks ago, a white woman called police on a black family barbecuing at Lake Merritt Park in Oakland, echoing recent incidents that involved police being called on black people engaging in seemingly normal, everyday activity.
After black artists were accused of robbing a home as they left an Airbnb with their luggage, and two young entrepreneurs were accused of trespassing while seated in a Starbucks, Oakland folks who heard about the Lake Merritt “BBQing-While-Black” incident responded in force – with a massive over-the-top cookout less than 24 hours later in the same exact spot.
On Thursday, a woman named Michelle Snider captured video of another white woman berating the barbecuing family and threatening to call the police on them for allegedly barbecuing with a charcoal grill in a non-designated area. Snider can be heard saying, “This is exactly what is the problem with Oakland today. This lady wants to sit here and call the police on them for having a barbecue at the lake as if this is not normal.”
Well, Oakland locals weren’t about to take this sitting down. Instead, hundreds gathered there the next day for an old-fashioned cookout, compete with kids frolicking, R&B classics like BBD’s “Poison” and, of course, a big ol’ electric slide.
Footage of the revenge cookout quickly went viral:
Tariq Nasheed✔@tariqnasheed
The other day in Oakland, a white supremacist female called the police on a group of Black ppl BBQing in the park. So in response, the whole town of Oakland came to the park and said “F you” in the form of the Electric Slide
Soledad O’Brien✔@soledadobrien
I can’t even think of something to say about this angry white lady, calling the cops on a longtime resident who’s BBQ-ing by the lake. https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/994963592238780417 …
The Black Politico@TheBlkPoliticoHere’s what happened yesterday at that park in Oakland…a mixed (mainly black) crowd of people went in protest to party and bbq. They played music, the kids played & jumped rope and everyone had a great time. Best revenge ever. pic.twitter.com/Ulkvp4actz
The internets have had even more fun with Snider, creating some amusing memes:
READ MORE STORIES ON BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM:
