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YOCK "WHITE" WASH -by Ciaron O'Reilly ----------------- I was in a Texas jail when the Rodney King verdict came down. An all white jury vindicating the Los Angles police who beat their black prisoner senseless. Nothing out of the ordinary for the L.A.P.D.--except there was a home video rolling. For the next year America saw the images of the helpless king on his knees as the white boys of the L.A.P.D. swung their batons like baseball bats. At the trial of the four police officer, the legal technicians kicked in pushing the buttons of racism and fear and the 12 jurors affirmed the brutalisation of Rodney King. The verdict came down in conflict with both image and reality and L.A. burned--55 dead, 2,500 injured, 12,000 arrested and $4 billion damage. There was no video rolling last November 7th, when Daniel Yock was tackled to the ground, knocked unconscious, cuffed behind the back, thrown into the back of a police van and left to die. what was rolling immediately after his death was the Labor Party/Police consensus machine to market the killing of Daniel Yock. A machine to combat the Roma Street demonstration of grief and rage within 24 hours of killing and the 4,000 strong silent march and exorcism of the watchhouse a week later. To head off this mass demonstration, Minister Warner was dispatched to Roma Street Forum to collect petitions and save us (or them?) the march to Parliament House. Goss, Wyvill, Plunkett and Associates--all who build their profiles and careers on the civil liberties movement of the seventies--swung into action to sell this death. The C.J.C. Inquiry proved to be an effective tool in damage control and managing dissent. The C.J.C. managed to keep intact the now internationally recognised perfect score of no charges laid in an aboriginal death in custody. As in the Rodney King case, the police managed to present themselves as "victims", threatening litigation and demanding an apology. These paranoid delusions were matched on the streets of West End and the Valley with stepped up patrols and harassment. What was most disappointing in the wake of the Inquiry whitewash was the minimal amount of solidarity forthcoming form the white community. This was evident at the South Brisbane Church I attend. Known as the most hip and liberal congregation in town, mass was in full swing there on November 7th , as Daniel Yock was being killed two streets away. This church's lack of response to the Inquiry whitewash was explained by the parish's social justice worker as "people are confused". There was no attempt to mobilise parishioners for the April 20th rally. I'm sure this moral parishioners was duplicated throughout the various white scenes in Brisbane. Vigilling outside the West End police station for an hour each day between the Inquiry's conclusion and the April 20th rally provided ample opportunity to reflect on naked racism and the "confusion" of white liberals. The marketing of Daniel Yock's death secured with the jingles of "He's dead because he was drunk!", "He was no angel!" and "There's been a lot of break-in West End recently!". The racism is as old an as intrinsic as white invasion of this country. The confusion is one of where we stand. Silently behind the security forces that ensure our status and privilege or with the broken body of Daniel Yock, the broken lives of the invaded, the historic price of our privilege. We are confused about where we stand. The April 20th rally was about one-third the size of November's march. The gathering was predominantly aboriginal, proving the community maintains the capacity to mobilise in the face of fear, racism, and white indifference. They know Daniel's arrest was another based on police harassment, his death one of criminal negligence. The whites who gathered were predominantly from the "fringe groups"--Democratic Socialists, Catholic Worker, Anarchist Squatters, West End Feminists. Love 'em or hate 'em, call them sects or call them communities, they were there, weren't confused and continue to struggle with their own racism. There was also some new faces of the untested young and the "same old faces" from the '60s and '70s who, like those Japanese soldiers found in the Pacific, just don't know the war is over or to cut their losses and sign on with the Goss government. Led by the emotions, rage and grief of Lionel Fogarty and the analytical clarity of Sam Watson we moved through the streets screaming truth to power. No Minister Warner to meet us this time--just heaps of cops. Mostly on hand and out of sight, some on foot, on bikes, in cars, on horses and even Water Police bobbin up and down under Victoria Bridge. The killing Daniel Yock is symbolic of a past, present and future. A recent past of over a hundred aboriginal deaths in police custody and subsequent cover-ups. A longer history of invasion, dispossession and genocide. A present low intensity conflict to secure the gentrification of the inner city. As Sam Watson put it, "blacks are bad for business"--the police are there to move them on, to deal with them. A future of a growing underclass set adrift from the economy and a militarised police force to deal with them. From Rodney King to Daniel Yock to the police assassinated children of Rio de Janiero--you ain't seen nothing yet. In such times confusion, ignorance and silence are cultivated luxuries the human family can ill afford.