Sad end for Rodney King
Lewis DiuguidIt is sad that just when Rodney King was poised to settle into a good life that he ended up dying young Sunday at age 47.
Rodney King rocketed from obscurity to fame in 1991 after a high speed chase and then a police stop. He was mercilessly beaten by Los Angeles police, which happened all too frequently to blacks in that and many cities throughout America.
Unfortunately for the cops, the beat down felt around the world was captured on video, leading to the trial and then acquittal of the officers 20 years ago. That set off angry rioting nationwide of people questioning whether justice was possible for blacks in America.
King, who has been in and out of trouble with the law since 1991, famously asked after the rioting, “Can we all get along?” The question still hangs in the discordant air of America like a bad odor.
Federal indictments on civil rights charges led to convictions of the police officers. King also was awarded $3.8 million in damages.
King should have been well-fixed to enjoy life and age gracefully. But death tragically ended that possibility.
RIP, Mr. King. You showed a nobility of character under most trying conditions. When LA erupted in violence, you valiantly went on TV to plead for peace with your famous comment: “Why can’t we all just get along?” Your public statements forgiving the officers who hurt you also inspired people. You are gone from us, but you will not be forgotten. Sincerely, Respectfully and In Christ, Ernest Evans
Betty Smith
1 year agoVery sad.
Jon Dough
1 year ago“all too frequently to blacks in that and many cities throughout America” —I went on Youtube—can’t find anything. I DO find in KC media reports of shots fired, knives pulled, clubs, fist fights, and spitting on cops by African Americans. So I think your “data” is a bit off
How silly of me to get an advanced degree, work all my life, save my money to buy a home–just to have the Section 8 program busloads of the people I thought I left behind—move in near me. And all I had to do was be a convicted felon, run from the cops at high speed–and it coulda been ME that had a home with a swimming pool!
Poor Rodney..his hard skull brought him more prosperity than it’s contents ever could have
Phil Cardarella
1 year agoActually, the reality of the King episode is that his beating probablywas NOT racially motivated.
Cops are human. When someone runs from them — especially for a traffic stop — the human in that uniform gets scared. Why is the guy running— getting everyone in danger over a TRAFFIC ticket? Is this guy a murderer/crack dealer with a severed head/kiloin his back seat? Is he going to shoot me when I stop him (OK a small chance, but it happens!) Do I get to go home tonight or to the morgue?
That human in the uniform is scared. His adrenalin is pumping. He’s sweating. then the guy stops — and the fear and sweat and adrenolin are still there, so the guy gets pummelled. No one like to get the … cool…scared out of him.
Not right, but not racial. I’ve had white and black KC cops do the same to blond, blue-eyed rednecks from Olathe. The Civil Rights cases against the cops were nothing more than human sacrifices on the alter of political correctness.
Was the LAPD a bastion of macho and racism? Maybe so. But, Rodney King the human may have had a better understanding of what happened that night — and could be more forgiving of those other scared humans — than all the politicians and political pundits.
George Hunsucker
Northland
1 year agoWrong phil…. ever action to our resident victimhood columnist is racial…
you need to get with the earth to lewis program…
Steven Fetter
66223
1 year agoBack in the day…Had I taken police on a 100 MPH chase while under the influence and then resisted arrest, my father would have given me a beat-down similar in nature to the Rodney King episode.
Brandon Lewis
1 year agoIn his death, Rodney King will be linked with the violent history of police brutality, racial profiling, and racialized injustice.
Dear Mr. Cardarella: You make some very valid points. Yes, fear makes all of us human beings do things we are ashamed of later when we are aware from the “danger zone.” And that is one of the reasons Christ told us not to be judgmental—there but for the grace of God go I. I agree that Mr King was forgiving because I think he knew in his heart that he too had not acted well that night, and so could extend understanding to the others involved. As for the hyper-critical, self-righteous “talking heads” the less said the better: I work with soldiers for a living, and there is a saying among soldiers: “Those who have never seen it have no understanding of it.” I see this phrase as a rephrasing of Christ’s statement: “He who amongst you is without sin let him cast the first stone.” Sincerely, Respectfully and In Christ, Ernest Evans
Phil Cardarella
12 months agoFoxxy:
Yes, any that could be ID’d. The rioting was not really about King, but about a history of uncontroled violence and lying by the LAPD and its impact on the black community.
Brad:
The thing about Rodney King was that he rose above his past and was far more understanding and forgiving than those who claimed to support him.
Consider praying to St. Dismas — the thief who was crucified with Christ, and is the ONLY person we know He promised heaven to. A criminal is the only sure saint.