[The following brief review of a highly polarizing historical event is not presented for any political or negative purpose. It is discussed merely as a backdrop for the title of this blog and as a means to introduce some principles. Each person is free to have their own interpretation of facts surrounding the Rodney King beating and riots.]
In 1991, a man unknown to the public, Rodney King, was stopped after allegedly leading the Los Angeles Police Department on a high speed chase. In the process of being arrested, Mr. King was beaten by a group of officers. The beating was captured on video. The historic video shows the officers hitting or kicking King at least 60 times and appears to show King resisting arrest at several points. When the video of the beating was released to the world, emotions sored sky high across the country and world amidst claims of racism, corruption, and social inequality. Aside from social and political questions, the legal issue was ultimately whether the force used by the officers was justified under the circumstances or whether the conduct by the officers was criminal. Eventually, four officers were charged for crimes against Mr. King.
In 1992, following an emotional trial, the jury acquitted the police officers who had been charged with assaulting and using excessive force against Mr. King a year earlier, widespread rioting erupted across Los Angeles, California. Over a series of about five days of literal warfare, more than 50 people were killed, thousands of fires were set, over a thousand buildings were destroyed, and Los Angeles suffered as much as $2 billion in property damage. If you are old enough to remember watching the events unfold on television, it was a scary to helplessly watch from a distance as hundreds of fires burned across Los Angeles and mobs of angry people went on a rampage of revenge for the verdicts they viewed as unjust. We even saw Reginald Denny, one of the tragic victims of the riots who ended up being a household name, get viciously assaulted on live television and then be rescued by the heroic Bobby Green, Jr. who, after watching the beating on television, ran outside to protect Denny and rush him to the hospital to save he is life. (For an excellent documentary on Rodney King beating and riots, see this CNN report made 20 years after the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWhYmb1sANM&feature=related.)
It was during the third day of the rioting when Rodney King, the man the world had seen get beaten by officers in the landmark video, nervously and bravely said these memorable words in order to try to help stop the chaos: "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids?" (See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sONfxPCTU0.). Fortunately, through the combined efforts of all sides involved in the riots, relative peace was restored and Los Angeles and the nation got to work assessing and addressing the issues raised in the beatings and riots, such as race relations, police and government tactics, and crime in America.
Though the King incident is now a distant memory, debate about it is ongoing. More importantly, so are the efforts of people to learn how to successfully "get along" with each other. In many respects the people do a good job of getting along with their families, friends, and coworkers. There is a lot of evidence in the world of people working together to help the poor, to assist those who suffer catastrophes, and to lift others facing great burdens. I think most people genuinely want to live the Golden Rule and do to others what they would have done to themselves. It is heartwarming to see examples of people helping other people. We all have reason to celebrate the overall goodness in humanity and cause to hope for an even better world.
I believe there is always room for improvement. Starting with myself, I know there is much more I can do to get along with those who act, believe, or think differently than I do. I can be more accepting, more tolerant, more caring, and more giving to all people. I can work harder to make sure I don't let political, religious, lifestyle or cultural differences become the wedges that break down or destroy relationships or that shut down communication. I, in my view, cannot resort to throwing stones of judgment at others, especially when I have not walked in the other persons' shoes and do not know their story. I simply am unqualified to make a just and respectful evaluation of another person's complex life so I prefer to not go down the judgment path and, instead, seek to embrace and celebrate diversity.
Can't we all do a little more to get along better with each other? The media and special interest groups or organizations seem to thrive most when they can divide and conquer. If the media or special interest groups can get us to hate, distrust, or mock each other for our differences--Republicans vs. Democrats, liberals vs. conservatives, Christians vs. Muslims, gays vs. straights, men vs. women, one race vs. another, and on and on, then the ratings, memberships, and donations go up but our ability to treat each of them with dignity and respect goes down. Life is simply too short to let our lives be manipulated by sound bites and be distorted by one-sided story-lines with a lopsided agenda. If we believe everything we hear or read and fail to see that often we are only getting one side of any given story, then we give the story-teller the power to control our thoughts and actions based on that person's agenda rather than our own intelligence and conscience. The end result is that when we are under the influence of hate or division-mongering we will not get along because we will only see the differences not our human commonalities. We will tragically spend our time mistrusting, misjudging, and mistreating those who don't fit into our distorted box. The result will be virtual or literal rioting and looting in our neighborhoods and communities because of the hate and discontent such behavior endears.
You and me, let's work to get along better with people we don't understand or who are just different than we are. We don't have to agree with each other on anything other than that as humans we are all entitled to be treated with decency. There is no room for hate. Let's be respectful of other's points of view. At least listen and try to empathize. Let's give others the benefit of the doubt. Let's treat all people with dignity and respect. Let's accept that people have different ideas, beliefs, and lifestyles and learn to embrace and value those differences. Let's treat all people as though we are children of a loving God who, as much as anything else, wants us to get along with each other (love) as brothers and sisters. Can we all get along? I think we can if we make it a priority and see the value in it. When we do, we will find our hearts and communities full of love and peace like we have never seen. Only then, I think, can we begin to find anything close to heaven on earth.
"The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is
knowing how to get along with people." Theodore Roosevelt
In 1991, a man unknown to the public, Rodney King, was stopped after allegedly leading the Los Angeles Police Department on a high speed chase. In the process of being arrested, Mr. King was beaten by a group of officers. The beating was captured on video. The historic video shows the officers hitting or kicking King at least 60 times and appears to show King resisting arrest at several points. When the video of the beating was released to the world, emotions sored sky high across the country and world amidst claims of racism, corruption, and social inequality. Aside from social and political questions, the legal issue was ultimately whether the force used by the officers was justified under the circumstances or whether the conduct by the officers was criminal. Eventually, four officers were charged for crimes against Mr. King.
In 1992, following an emotional trial, the jury acquitted the police officers who had been charged with assaulting and using excessive force against Mr. King a year earlier, widespread rioting erupted across Los Angeles, California. Over a series of about five days of literal warfare, more than 50 people were killed, thousands of fires were set, over a thousand buildings were destroyed, and Los Angeles suffered as much as $2 billion in property damage. If you are old enough to remember watching the events unfold on television, it was a scary to helplessly watch from a distance as hundreds of fires burned across Los Angeles and mobs of angry people went on a rampage of revenge for the verdicts they viewed as unjust. We even saw Reginald Denny, one of the tragic victims of the riots who ended up being a household name, get viciously assaulted on live television and then be rescued by the heroic Bobby Green, Jr. who, after watching the beating on television, ran outside to protect Denny and rush him to the hospital to save he is life. (For an excellent documentary on Rodney King beating and riots, see this CNN report made 20 years after the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWhYmb1sANM&feature=related.)
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| L.A. Riots 1992 |
Though the King incident is now a distant memory, debate about it is ongoing. More importantly, so are the efforts of people to learn how to successfully "get along" with each other. In many respects the people do a good job of getting along with their families, friends, and coworkers. There is a lot of evidence in the world of people working together to help the poor, to assist those who suffer catastrophes, and to lift others facing great burdens. I think most people genuinely want to live the Golden Rule and do to others what they would have done to themselves. It is heartwarming to see examples of people helping other people. We all have reason to celebrate the overall goodness in humanity and cause to hope for an even better world.
I believe there is always room for improvement. Starting with myself, I know there is much more I can do to get along with those who act, believe, or think differently than I do. I can be more accepting, more tolerant, more caring, and more giving to all people. I can work harder to make sure I don't let political, religious, lifestyle or cultural differences become the wedges that break down or destroy relationships or that shut down communication. I, in my view, cannot resort to throwing stones of judgment at others, especially when I have not walked in the other persons' shoes and do not know their story. I simply am unqualified to make a just and respectful evaluation of another person's complex life so I prefer to not go down the judgment path and, instead, seek to embrace and celebrate diversity.
Can't we all do a little more to get along better with each other? The media and special interest groups or organizations seem to thrive most when they can divide and conquer. If the media or special interest groups can get us to hate, distrust, or mock each other for our differences--Republicans vs. Democrats, liberals vs. conservatives, Christians vs. Muslims, gays vs. straights, men vs. women, one race vs. another, and on and on, then the ratings, memberships, and donations go up but our ability to treat each of them with dignity and respect goes down. Life is simply too short to let our lives be manipulated by sound bites and be distorted by one-sided story-lines with a lopsided agenda. If we believe everything we hear or read and fail to see that often we are only getting one side of any given story, then we give the story-teller the power to control our thoughts and actions based on that person's agenda rather than our own intelligence and conscience. The end result is that when we are under the influence of hate or division-mongering we will not get along because we will only see the differences not our human commonalities. We will tragically spend our time mistrusting, misjudging, and mistreating those who don't fit into our distorted box. The result will be virtual or literal rioting and looting in our neighborhoods and communities because of the hate and discontent such behavior endears.
You and me, let's work to get along better with people we don't understand or who are just different than we are. We don't have to agree with each other on anything other than that as humans we are all entitled to be treated with decency. There is no room for hate. Let's be respectful of other's points of view. At least listen and try to empathize. Let's give others the benefit of the doubt. Let's treat all people with dignity and respect. Let's accept that people have different ideas, beliefs, and lifestyles and learn to embrace and value those differences. Let's treat all people as though we are children of a loving God who, as much as anything else, wants us to get along with each other (love) as brothers and sisters. Can we all get along? I think we can if we make it a priority and see the value in it. When we do, we will find our hearts and communities full of love and peace like we have never seen. Only then, I think, can we begin to find anything close to heaven on earth.
