Sunday, June 17, 2012

Rodney King will never see if we can get along.





Rodney King passed away today. Most of us who saw that horrific video believe that he got a 21 year rain check from the Grim Reaper. He should have died that night. In a way it is only fitting that the man who begged for us to get along has died. Because, in America, any hope of us getting along has pretty much died as well.
Black and white Americans are actually getting along less now. It’s as if the beating caught on tape, and the riots that subsequently followed, divided the country even more. (Of course O.J. didn't help)
Before his ass whopping, thanks to Los Angeles’s most notorious street gang at the time, most Americans didn’t know that this was how big city police departments handled their crime problems. (Thank you George Holliday) This was before camera phones and You Tube exploded on the scene. Even now, with so many eyes watching, the po po will still administer their own brand of justice before a Judge or jury has a chance to.
Still, some Americans saw the tape and thought that he (King) got what he deserved. -The folks who sat on the first jury clearly did. - Those same Americans are angrier now than they ever were before. They see America as going to the lawless, and, to them, more not less Rodney King style ass whippings are needed. "Let them burn their cities, they are already going to hell in a hand basket. They can't be any worse than they are now" .
It's a shame to see King die so young. He seemed to have been getting his life together and had recently written a book which I promised myself that I would read one day. It's funny, but when folks in the hood struggle from addiction it is totally different from folks in suburbia. There are no fancy treatment centers or 24/7 hot- lines for them. Police officers won't call your parents and tell them to come and get you because you are acting funny. In the hood they will shoot you first and ask questions later. Or, if you are driving a Hyundai at a high rate of speed, they will track you down and beat you like a dog.
It's ironic that Rodney King died in his own swimming pool some 21 years after getting a violent beat down that should have killed him before our eyes. It's still too early to tell what caused King's death, but I think that we all know what caused the death of the peace and harmony that he hoped for.




45 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:20 PM

    RIP Rodney, though peace eluded you most your troubled life. And yet God listened & gave you a peaceful exit and your own terms. The filmed beating of you (though you were not a perfect man) was a mirror of our own shame and guilt (things we said and failed to say). Your simple, but humble message is still resonant and will live on.

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  2. I was shocked to hear of Rodney's death while watching "Reliable Sources" this morning. When watching the video this morning of the beating he took back in 1991, I had almost forgotten how horrific it was. Sadly, the Rodney King beating showed just how divided we still are along racial lines. Just like the O.J. trial and the presidency of Barack Obama did too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous5:45 PM

    Mr King was one of my heroes. I'll miss his voice of reason, his smile and his dedication to getting along with others.

    Just an ordinary guy who stood out like a beacon in these extraordinary times we live in now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6:14 PM

    Rodney was a Hero for the Black community and a perfect representative that still stands to this day.

    "In November 1989, King robbed a store in Monterey Park, California. He threatened to hit the Korean store owner with an iron bar he was carrying, then hit him with a pole. King stole US$200 in the robbery. He was convicted, sentenced to two years imprisonment and released after serving a year

    At 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, a husband-and-wife duo of the California Highway Patrol, spotted King's car speeding. The officers then pursued King at high speeds.

    According to King's own statements, he refused to pull the car over because he thought a driving under the influence test would violate his parole for a previous robbery conviction.

    King exited the freeway, and the chase continued through residential streets at speeds allegedly ranging from 55 to 80 mph. By this point, several police cars and a helicopter had joined in the pursuit.


    King initially remained in the car. When he finally did emerge, he acted bizarrely: giggling; patting the ground; and waving to the police helicopter overhead. King then grabbed his buttocks. Officer Melanie Singer momentarily thought he was reaching for a gun. She drew her gun and pointed it at King, ordering him to lie on the ground. King complied. Singer approached King with her gun drawn, preparing to make the arrest.

    As the officers attempted to do so, King physically resisted. King rose up, tossing Officers Powell and Briseno off his back. King then struck Officer Briseno in the chest.

    Sergeant Koon then ordered the officers to "stand clear." King was standing and was not responding to Koon's commands. Koon then fired a Taser into King's back. King groaned; momentarily fell to his knees; then stood back and yelled for almost five seconds".

    In 1993, King entered an alcohol rehabilitation program and was placed on probation after crashing his vehicle into a block wall in downtown Los Angeles. In July 1995, he was arrested by Alhambra police, who alleged that he hit his wife with his car, knocking her to the ground. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of hit and run.
    On August 27, 2003, King was arrested again for speeding and running a red light while under the influence of alcohol. He failed to yield to police officers and slammed his vehicle into a house, breaking his pelvis. On November 29, 2007, while riding home on his bicycle, King was shot in the face, arms, and back with pellets from a shotgun. He reported that it was done by a man and a woman who demanded his bicycle and shot him when he rode away.

    On September 9, 2010, it was confirmed that King was to marry Cynthia Kelley, who was a juror in the civil suit he brought against the City of Los Angeles.

    On March 3, 2011, King was stopped by Los Angeles police for driving erratically. He was issued a citation for driving with an expired license. This arrest led to his February 2012 misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving.

    The news of acquittal triggered the Los Angeles riots of 1992. By the time the police, the U.S. Army, Marines and National Guard restored order, the casualties included 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, damages to 3,100 businesses, and nearly $1 billion in financial losses. Smaller riots occurred in other cities such as San Francisco, Las Vegas in neighboring Nevada and as far east as Atlanta, Georgia.

    A true testament to Black Culture and priorities by true heroes of Black society.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anon @ 6:14 PM, Rodney King wasn't necessarily a hero to me. Do you know why? Because he wanted to get along with bigots like you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. NSangoma8:33 PM

    ~
    ...
    The nation first saw King as a black man curled up on the ground by his car, being beaten by four white police officers. On parole for a robbery conviction, he had been drinking, then speeding, and had refused to pull over. Police finally pulled King from his car, then struck him more than 50 times with batons and boots.
    ...
    There were no blacks on the jury in the predominantly white suburb of Simi Valley, Calif. After the police were acquitted — one got a mistrial — Los Angeles was engulfed in a fiery uprising that lasted three days, killed 55 people and injured more than 2,000.
    ...
    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/17/rodney-king-plea-measures-his-lasting-meaning/

    Drunk driving?? That showed a low regard and respect for his fellow human beings. The police were supposed kick, no stomp!!, Rodney King's punk-ssa, MotherFcuking-ssa, ssa!!

    My memory of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots: news videos of poor women, minority women, Black women, Mexican women, et alia, walking, and walking, looking, and looking for somewhere to buy milk and food for there children.

    Some Negroes, do not have common punk-MotherFcuking gawd-damn sense. Burn down your own gawd-damn neighborhoods and destroy the logistical systems and depots that bring sustenance to your families.

    What's that Chris Rock?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4

    `

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous8:38 PM

    field negro said...
    Anon @ 6:14 PM, Rodney King wasn't necessarily a hero to me. Do you know why? Because he wanted to get along with bigots like you.

    You seem to use bigot at the drop of a hat. Being the first and frequent user of this particular invective I am sure you know precisely what it means don't you?

    Bigot: A person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.

    You clear up the fog on that mirror yet? Need a light to see better?

    Now, what precisely was incorrect and inflammatory that caused your bigoted response?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous8:42 PM

    Anonymous 6:14 is not displaying bigotry; why do "progressives" use "bigot" and "racist" to describe people who are simply speaking the truth? Rodney King's words are a farce; he couldn't even "get along" with himself, let alone the people he hurt and could have possibly killed.

    ReplyDelete
  9. NSangoma8:45 PM

    ~

    FCUK NGGIERS:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39J0alpEgeQ

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39J0alpEgeQ

    `

    ReplyDelete
  10. "in America, any hope of us getting along has pretty much died as well."

    ---------------

    I disagree Field, I think we're in midst of a generational change on it. But then, I remember my grampa saying the same thing about my generation in the 60s and 70s.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Field, don't you just love all these "anonymous" One says call King a "hero" and the other attacks all Black people because of it. It appears that they are one in the same person to me.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:17 PM

    Funny how bush gets a pass for his familiarity of long standing with alcohol and cocaine.
    And even odder that so many vdarians are totally without sin.
    Oh, they might also wish to read real History.

    As bad as it now seems...they were called the Bad Old Days for a reason.
    And we, the citizenry of the United States of America elected Barak Obama...by choice.

    Mold

    ReplyDelete
  13. Malcolm X Bacon11:48 PM

    Rodney King was good man. He admitted he deserved to get his ass beat by the police that night.

    That ass beating was the best thing that ever happened to Rodney King. It made him famous and rich. In the end, he got to die in his swimming pool instead of under a bridge.

    That's not just rich, that's nigger-rich.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I don't think hope of us all getting along has died. Call me an optimist.

    R.I.P. Rodney King

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous1:40 AM

    So blacks were outraged because Rodney King got beatten down by the cops. Yet 2 years later in Crown Heights NY a Jewish man caused a car accident in which a black child died. The Jewish man was not drunk, driving reckless or evading police, unlike King. He had actually saved a black woman from a fire a week earlier. A black mob tried to murder him and when police removed him from the scene to stop it blacks targetted Jews left and right. 2 hours later a visiting Australian man was killed by a mob who screamed "kill the kike". A mob also attacked Issac Bitton (former bassist for Jimi Hendrix!) and his 6 year old son while the police stood by and did nothing. The only paper to run photos showing this was the NY Daily News. Only one person was ever charged, Lemrick Nelson. Nelson had a long history of violent crime and said he did it because he was "drunk and excited". But his supporters tried to frame the car accident as a huge injustice and Nelson as someone mourning the dead child. He was aquiited although he admitted doing it and the dying man pointed to him as the murdered. Not a peep of outrage by any black person in this country. All those so upset about the Rodney King verdict had no problem committing a similar injustice against another group.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous1:45 AM

    Whitey, "I disagree Field, I think we're in midst of a generational change on it. But then, I remember my grampa saying the same thing about my generation in the 60s and 70s."

    No we are NOT in the midst of a generational change on racism. Every generation proves racism is alive and well in the national psyche. That WON'T change no matter how many generations to follow. Racism is not something you can cure, it is worse than cancer.

    The Gallup polls show a continued increase in racial animosity against Obama because he is Black. Romney is going to win easily in November and I am no fan of the GOP.

    ReplyDelete
  17. rk was so beautiful and kind...

    what a grave loss

    and what profound proof that addiction is even more brutal and fatal than kkkiller kkkops

    shame!!!!!!!

    &

    cc this post to hobama's ndaa???

    that blackish racist globalist bankster kkkop/PIC/dna arrest loving hobama has made racism and kkkiller cops far worse than that obsolete court jester oj...

    bet

    cc this to that killer gz

    rip tm and rk

    http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=FL2OFfSyqFMfqIPU_BexopXg&feature=plcp

    http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/733030853/racism-is-no-relic---remember-the-lynching-of-james-byrd/



    http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/732760564/public-executions-by-police---remember-tyisha-miller-and-countless-other-corpses/


    http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/732758705/o-j--obsolete-jester/

    ReplyDelete
  18. NSangoma7:07 AM

    ~

    field you Negroe, I'm picking up your bad habits:
    ...
    walking, and walking, looking, and looking for somewhere to buy milk and food for there children.
    ...

    walking, and walking, looking, and looking for somewhere to buy milk and food for their children.

    `

    ReplyDelete
  19. driving while rodney8:35 AM

    Unfortunately, Rodney King's death, likely as it was, came too soon for him to impart the karmic justice the US deserves.

    By drowning in his swimming pool after pumping himself full of alcohol, smoking dope, and possibly injesting other illicit substances, King is no longer around the drive his car into OJ Simpson.

    What a headline that would make!

    Rodney kills OJ, running him over at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine.

    ReplyDelete
  20. rodney ain't got no brains8:44 AM

    Though Rodney took some hits from the LAPD, the follow-up medical reports showed his injuries were far from life-threatening.

    He fully recovered. But then he resumed his pattern of foolish behavior that led to a recurring stream of accidents and injuries until the last one killed him.

    What a moron. He wins a $3.8 million judgment and dies drunk and stoned in his pool. Moreover, he recently said he was broke.

    So apparently he left nothing behind for his daughters. Hardly a surprise.

    Had he gotten some sensible advice from a white money-manager, he could have lived off the dividends and capital gains forever, enjoying the same low tax-rate the benefits Mitt Romney and every black athlete and entertainer who accepts sound financial advice.

    Instead, the moron blew it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. BARBBF9:22 AM

    Sad news.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous11:01 AM

    CC this to that Alica Banks

    http://www.justanswer.com/sip/mental-health?r=ppc|ga|1|Health|Mental+Health&JPKW=help%20mental%20health&JPDC=S&JPST=&JPAD=9837777123&JPMT=b&JPNW=g&JPAF=txt&JPCD=20120207&JPRC=1&JPOP=Darren_Andrew9sec_Trans&gclid=CMaQ096G2LACFYhM4Aod43lg3A

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yankel Tallywhacker11:04 AM

    The Crown Heights riots happened during the time David Dinkins was mayor. Since then, New York has never seriously considered electing a black mayor. New York became much safer after the policies established by Giuliani took effect, and the Jews of New York will never let blacks run the city again.

    ReplyDelete
  24. agentX11:20 AM

    The Rodney King incident has happened again, this time in Philly!
    http://blog.blacknews.com/2012/06/video-philly-cops-savagely-beat-teen-to_11.html

    Being beaten over a skipped stop sign? It's too extreme Field!

    How does beating a kid bloody for a traffic violation make our streets safer, Field?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous11:22 AM

    "Or, if you are driving a Hyundai at a high rate of speed, they will track you down and beat you like a dog. "

    Damn the police did this to a guy just for speeding? Why didn't they just give him a ticket? Did something else happen?

    ReplyDelete
  26. RockFish11:34 AM

    Rodney King's fiancée is telling friends Rodney had been drinking all day Saturday ... and had smoked weed in the hours leading up to his death ... sources close to King tell TMZ. According to our sources, King's fiancée, Cynthia Kelley, is telling friends King was at the house all day drinking, and he smoked marijuana at some point, before she went to bed at 2:00 AM. We're told Kelley says she next saw King at around 5:00 AM when she was awoken by him screaming in the backyard. Our sources say Kelley found King naked, banging on the glass, and she called out to him, "What's wrong, Rodney?"Kelley is telling friends she then went to grab her phone when she heard a big splash. She then went to the backyard and discovered him in the bottom of the pool and called police. Paramedics attempted to revive King, but were unsuccessful.

    http://m.tmz.com/article_head.ftl?id=http://www.tmz.com/2012/06/17/rodney-king-dead-drowned-drinking-smoking/

    ReplyDelete
  27. i hope all real dads had a great fathers' day

    especially this real dad

    kudos!!!!!!!

    http://newsone.com/2021222/parents-kill-daughters-pimp/

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous11:59 AM

    rodney king was a real negro hero in the time honored tradition of the yard bird junki driving high on pcp and 45s.he led the cops on a 100mph chase then resisted arrest even after being tased.the beating he got was justified.rod was a typical negro acting like a negro and the only lynching was that of the police officers.i bet the bum o.d.as for james byrd who was murdered by yard birds who have been excecuted can you find another example of whitey murdering negroes this example is over 10yrs old.i don't have any problem finding negroes who have murdered whitey.negro doctor chimps out and murders mudshark last week.maybe you commie negroes should take a good look in the mirror and you will see what is wrong with negroes.it's all in the bell curve.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Phat Bastard12:42 PM

    Speaking of Father's Day (the most confusing day of the year for black america), how many kids did Rodney King have?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hey Phat Bastard,(love the name) you might want to get a new joke writer. This one was a bit old.:(

    ReplyDelete
  31. Tacitus12:57 PM

    And we, the citizenry of the United States of America elected Barak Obama...by choice.

    Mold

    ---------

    We chose the the image that was sold to us by the Media - the genius uniter who would lead us to a prosperous, post-racial paradise.

    What we really chose was an unexperienced, incompetent, "amateur" who has wrecked the economy by throwing trillions of dollars to his special interests, criminally abused the power of his office while spitting on the Constitution, turned over the Middle East to the Muslim Brotherhood, and done his best to dvide this country ever deeper along the lines of race, gender and class.

    It was huge mistake that will be corrected in November. I just hope the wound he has inflicted isn't fatal.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Phat Bastard12:58 PM

    field negro said...
    Hey Phat Bastard,(love the name) you might want to get a new joke writer. This one was a bit old.:(
    -----------

    Old yes, but truer today than ever. :(

    ReplyDelete
  33. LootAway12:59 PM

    agentX said...
    The Rodney King incident has happened again, this time in Philly!
    http://blog.blacknews.com/2012/06/video-philly-cops-savagely-beat-teen-to_11.html

    Being beaten over a skipped stop sign? It's too extreme Field!

    How does beating a kid bloody for a traffic violation make our streets safer, Field?


    Why do these idiots try to run from the cops and crash the car? Lucky he didnt kill no one when he took off and wasnt able to get the cops gun that he grabbed for or hurt them to much when he assaulted them. Why do they think that they wont get the shit kicked out of em when they do this?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous1:43 PM

    Blacks have 14.5% of the federal government jobs and are 12.5% of the population. Race card is old.

    ReplyDelete
  35. from here to paternity2:11 PM

    field puts his foot in his mouth:

    Hey Phat Bastard, you might want to get a new joke writer. This one was a bit old.

    Seems you're unaware that his comment is not a joke, nor is it funny. But it's true.

    ReplyDelete
  36. fn:

    ditto

    rk was a loving dad to 3 kids

    please pray for them

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/18/us-usa-king-idUSBRE85G0CZ20120618

    ReplyDelete
  37. Sailer3:51 PM

    Rodney King wasn't the best swimmer, but he was a tough guy. He could take a licking and keep on ticking. If you had just led two dozen policemen on a 100mph chase, and now the adrenaline-crazed cops were all over you, you'd probably stop fighting back and give in after the eighth or twelfth baton blow. Not Rodney King.

    One fact that isn't part of the standard narrative is that the cops who whomped on him had to be tried twice (the concept of double jeopardy not applying in this case), and the second jury only unanimously agreed that a single one of the scores of blows landed on King was unjustified beyond a reasonable doubt. From the L.A. Times on 4/23/1993:

    Jurors also played and replayed the best evidence in the case--the videotape of the beating that had been taken by an amateur and enhanced by the FBI.
    "We went through it frame by frame, slow-motion, fast-motion, God I don't know how many times we watched that thing," Juror No. 9 said.
    The tape, made by a bystander, could not answer all their questions. It was blurry at one crucial moment after King was struck and fell to the ground. Some jurors said they could see Powell using his baton to bash the fallen King in the head. But others had difficulty seeing head blows, even when the tape was viewed frame by frame.
    All could see a powerful blow that Powell later landed across King's chest. King was on the ground at the time, on his back.
    "That chest blow was unreasonable and we felt it was not to effect an arrest but just to hurt the guy," No. 9 said. "That convinced about a third of us."


    King was a battler.

    ReplyDelete
  38. the plot thickens

    maybe rk was not just drunk/high...

    rk was a great swimmer

    shame

    http://newsone.com/2021364/friends-dont-believe-fiancees-story-in-rodney-king-death/

    ReplyDelete
  39. more proof that hobama is 23 trillion times worse than gwb in every way

    shame!!!!!!!

    http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/18/tech/web/google-transparency-report/index.html


    http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/737785087/the-audacity-of-censorship----hobamas-internet-apartheid/


    http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/758055237/happy-2012/

    ReplyDelete
  40. I am so glad that we have Internet access for all of our citizens. Even Appalachia. That's a beutiful thing.

    ReplyDelete
  41. rodney kingfish5:46 PM

    field writes:

    It's ironic that Rodney King died in his own swimming pool some 21 years after getting a violent beat down that should have killed him before our eyes.

    Where's the irony?

    His death in a swimming pool would have been ironic if he'd once been a swimming coach.

    However, as we too often see, blacks can't swim. Al Campanis said blacks lack bouyancy. Could be.

    Anyway, there's no irony in play when a situation unfolds according to the stereotype.

    As far as claiming the beat-down might have killed him, well, no, his injuries were relatively minor. None were life-threatening.

    What looks bad on video is often remarkably harmless, like during car races when 200-mph crashes occur, after which the driver walks away.

    Anyway, whether Rodney had remained a poor, drunken moron, or a temporarily rich, drunken moron, you could have bet he was headed for an early death. A sure thing.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Thanks for those words about Mr. King. I think most people never appreciated his full story.

    Hope you don't mind, here's my eulogy for him:

    http://theghettolibertarian.com/index.php/14-sample-data-articles/147-rodney-king-is-dead-long-live-the-king

    ReplyDelete
  43. Anonymous6:07 PM

    field negro said...
    I am so glad that we have Internet access for all of our citizens. Even Appalachia. That's a beutiful thing.


    Yeah those poor folks in Appalachia. Hey, how come we never see flash mobs, murders, gang bangin in Appalachia? What's different in Appalachia than say Chicago (more murders than casualties in afghanistan) Detroit, Atlanta, Baltimore? What do these places have that Appalachia doesn't?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous5:27 AM

    Africans in America just admit it. You might be some treacherous mofos, but you can't beat these Europeans. You can't join 'em, they hate ya and have doctorates in sending you to eternal rest. They're some bad mutha shut-yo' mouths!!!!! Ain't nuttin' you can do about it!!!!!!! 400 years and counting.

    ReplyDelete
  45. 2 words

    Swimming

    Lessons


    Frank

    ReplyDelete