Monday, June 18, 2012

"Can't We All Just Get Along?"

Closing the Racial Divide
Hearing about the death of Rodney King brought back memories of his brutal beating, including the tee-shirts I saw not long afterward when I visited my sister in L. A.

Underneath a photo of King being bludgeoned was the caption, "Welcome to Los Angeles, Where We'll Treat You Like a King."  For a complete breakdown of the King case, click here.

Rodney King was by no means an upstanding citizen, but the beating took things to the extreme.  Despite this, and the resulting race riots and strained racial relations, King asked, "Can't we all just get along?"

I love to see anything that helps close the racial divide in our country, and I hope the books I write contribute to this in some small way.

With that being said, please enjoy these videos that put a funny spin on racism, as well as racial reconciliation!

Warning, my kids introduced me to these!  All videos by Rhett and Link, and Julian Smith, are highly addictive!  Happy laughing!

Are you old enough to remember the Rodney King case? Also, had you ever heard of Rhett and Link or Julian Smith?

Thanks for visiting!

10 comments:

Intangible Hearts said...

Maria, you are a sweet angel but Rodney was a bad person. He did not deserve to be beaten--no one does--but he wasn't a good boy. Relations are easier between people who are good. The oldest fight is the one between good and evil.

Maria McKenzie said...

Eve, you are absolutely right! It always boils down to good vs. evil.

Old Kitty said...

I truly feel Mr King was put on this earth to highlight what was (and probably still is) an evil so insidious it needed to be exposed in such a way.

Thanks Maria for this post, take care
x

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I vaguely remember it. What troubled me at the time was that people in LA used it as an excuse to loot and vandalize and generally act like they no longer needed to obey the laws of the land.

Intangible Hearts said...

Love the coffee video!

Maria McKenzie said...

@Old Kitty: I remember wondering at the time if there were any other cases of people being beaten like that, that hadn't been caught on video.

@Karen G: I remember that too! It seemed like a free for all, as people looted and vandalized, and that LA was like a war zone.

Maria McKenzie said...

@Desert/Eve: Isn't it hilarious!

Norma said...

Regardless of whether Rodney king was a devil or a saint, the beating was uncalled for. What I find inexcusable was that the policemen who beat him were not disciplined for their actions. I have an old friend who was beaten for not "putting out" for the two cops who pulled her over on the road late one night.

William Kendall said...

It's not that much of a surprise that he died relatively young; he'd been in one form of trouble or another most of his life.

What happened to him was an abomination. The trial that followed made it worse, and so did the riots.

Maria McKenzie said...

@Norma: It's disgraceful how some really bad people hide behind the badge. I hope your friend was able to take some legalaction against those "cops."

@William: It was an abomination.

On dying young, it's sad that some don't realize how bad chioces will ultimately affect their lives.