rodney king was not an exemplary citizen, but he was a rabble rouser. he became a figurehead for a movement. he didn’t find trouble as much as trouble found him. yeah, he was found several times driving drunk & once even charged for a hit & run on his wife. but he also got a severe beatdown by seven l.a. cops, of which two ended up with short prison sentences only after a white suburban jury had found them not guilty. king later got shot when someone tried to bike-jack him. there were some sweet ironies, such as when he won a celebrity boxing match against a former cop & that he was engaged the last two years to a woman who had been a juror on his civil trial agasint the l.a.p.d. but, for the most part, king’s life could not have been an envious one to live.
what really makes rodney king a great rabble rouser was that he helps us see inside ourselves. how many people can truly say they have never driven under the influence? just because you may not have been caught doing something wrong, doesn’t afford you the right to judge someone who has. and how many people can say they have never thought ill of someone because that person was different from them? it happens all the time, everyday in every town. king famously begged the question “can’t we all just get along?” but 20 years later, trayvon martin still isn’t allowed to live as a black man.
it takes a rabble rouser to stir up politcal tsunamis. pundits won’t allow president obama to market hoodies because it was supposedly capitalizing on the tragedy of trayvon martin (nevermind that obama sold hoodies in 08 as well & every race of people wear them). it scares me to think what would happen if obama were to even mention rodney king’s name.
whether it is rodney king, abner louima, amadou diallo, sean bell, or the countless other victims of police brutality, they allow us to examine our own fears & what society should or shouldn’t think unacceptable. drunk driving may be a bad thing, but it’s not nearly as bad as a police officer ramming a plunger up someone’s anus. yes, that really happened. so, don’t cast stones. don’t hate. make yourself a better person.
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