Rodney King Dead

[Max]

R.I.P. to a man whose life was filled with difficulties.

http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t1

[alphanguy74]

It turns out that even though he was horribly wronged, he turned out to the be the only adult in the room in the entire fiasco. Such a shame that people used his misfortune to act like a bunch of savages, instead of making change in a respectable and honorable way.... no instead it was like "Hey, this guy got beat by the cops unjustly!!! Let's go break out a storefront, I need a new TV!"

[Max]

+1

[VirginiaHamilton]

I'm not sure what savagery occurred after that bullshít acquittal or why such a term is being used to describe the just reaction to said acquittal.

[Max]

Perhaps you've forgotten about the beating of Reginald Denny. I fail to see how that rectified an unjust verdict or the long-time racism of the LAPD.

[alphanguy74]

That kind of reaction is just the thing that would have Dr. King rolling in his grave. He didn't give his life so people could beat the hell out of innocent bystanders or break storefronts and steal TV's in reaction to an unjust verdict.

[Wales2004]

"Rodney King was a symbol of civil rights and he represented the anti-police brutality and anti-racial profiling movement of our time," the Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement. "It was his beating that made America focus on the presence of profiling and police misconduct."

I've read this over a few times and I am still not sure where I stand on this--especially the anit-racial profiling part. Al Sharpton seems to be able to conveniently retroactively alter events as it suits his purpose. I heard him say that this was about civil rights. I'm not up on how racial profiling works because I thought it was when you were stopped for being black or the inaccurately newly defined race of Latino. Rodney King was pursued for speeding. His two passengers were taken into custody without incident. They also cooperated immediiately with the order to leave the car and place themselves face down on the ground. At what point did the profiling begin? He should never have been beaten despite the fact that he placed himself in an emotionally charged situation.

This is one of those grey area matters where what the police did was clearly an act of brutatlity but it's still hard to feel that good about the victim as well. He may have been troubled but for some people he probably was just seen as trouble since he never seemed to get it together. His fiancee' is questionable. She helped get him millions as a jury member and then she ended up becoming romantically involved with him. His family is now seeking donations:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/rodney-king-memorial.html

It's unfair to lump everyone together so those who reacted with violence and looting to the verdict, did not exhibit just reactions and it is fair to call the violence savage. In the end. those people destroyed their own neighborhoods which is usually how that works.