I feel empathy for Reginald Denny, an innocent truck driver who happened to be driving in the wrong place at the wrong time and got hit on his head by a brick by a black man who didn't give a damn if he killed Denny or not.
Rodney King Dead at 47: Icon or Agitator?
SodaHead News
2012/06/18 18:26:37
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Rodney King, the victim of an infamous incident of police brutality in 1991, was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool Sunday morning. According to police, there are no signs of foul play, and the death is being ruled as accidental. It will take six to eight weeks for toxicology reports to come through. He was 47 years old at the time of his death.
The 1991 brutality incident made national headlines when a bystander sent in video footage, and the aquittal of three of the officers contributed to the beginning of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Earlier this year, King told The Times, "I sometimes feel like I'm caught in a vise. Some people feel like I'm some kind of hero. Others hate me. They say I deserved it. Other people, I can hear them mocking me for when I called for an end to the destruction, like I'm a fool for believing in peace." Do you think King was an civil rights icon?
The 1991 brutality incident made national headlines when a bystander sent in video footage, and the aquittal of three of the officers contributed to the beginning of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Earlier this year, King told The Times, "I sometimes feel like I'm caught in a vise. Some people feel like I'm some kind of hero. Others hate me. They say I deserved it. Other people, I can hear them mocking me for when I called for an end to the destruction, like I'm a fool for believing in peace." Do you think King was an civil rights icon?
Top Opinion
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Agitator
+33King started a dangerous high speed car chase because he was intoxicated and didn't want to violate his parole for a 1989 store robbery. I'm not making excuses for the police brutality. That was uncalled for.
I feel empathy for Reginald Denny, an innocent truck driver who happened to be driving in the wrong place at the wrong time and got hit on his head by a brick by a black man who didn't give a damn if he killed Denny or not.
When you see the video of him saying "Can we just get along" it makes me cry because he is telling it from his heart. That is what sets him apart from most people who have taken the wrong road. In my opinion he was a good man who just could not get it together.
"On the night of March 2, 1991, King and two passengers, Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms, were driving west on the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Prior to driving on the Foothill Freeway, the three men had spent the night watching a basketball game and drinking at a friend's house in Los Angeles. After being tested five hours AFTER the incident, King's blood-alcohol level was found to be just under the legal limit. This meant that his blood alcohol level was approximately 0.19 —almost two and a half times the legal limit in California— when he was actually driving. At 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, a husband-and-wife duo of the California Highway Patrol, spotted King's car speeding down the freeway. The officers then pursued King at high speeds as King would not pull over...
"On the night of March 2, 1991, King and two passengers, Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms, were driving west on the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Prior to driving on the Foothill Freeway, the three men had spent the night watching a basketball game and drinking at a friend's house in Los Angeles. After being tested five hours AFTER the incident, King's blood-alcohol level was found to be just under the legal limit. This meant that his blood alcohol level was approximately 0.19 —almost two and a half times the legal limit in California— when he was actually driving. At 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, a husband-and-wife duo of the California Highway Patrol, spotted King's car speeding down the freeway. The officers then pursued King at high speeds as King would not pull over. King would later say that he didn't pull over and tried to outrun the police in dangerously high vehicle speeds because HE KNEW driving under the influence would VIOLATE HIS PAROLE for a previous ROBBERY CONVICTION on his record."
Icon? Not a chance.
Just like the jackass that hit trucker Reginald Denny in the head with a brick.
Yes. yes, some "Cop or Security" types are psychopaths but that's a separate argument.
Here's a little example to show you how absurd your assertion is.
The only reason you don't agree with what I'm saying is because I'm white! Admit it! Stop hiding behind all your blubbering!
Keep on fueling the racial bonfire, but when you get burned, like king did, have some integrity and be a MAN, not a black man, and show some respect for those with the power to teach you respect if you forget!
DROP THE BLACK MAN PITY PARTY! EVERYBODY ELSE HAS!! HERE'S YOUR RACE CARD BACK... IT HAS NO POWER WITH ME!
I HOPE ONE DAY YOU REALIZE YOU ARE ONLY THE VICTIM OF YOURSELF! TIME TO GROW UP AND MOVE PAST SKIN COLOR!
"I HAVE NOT SEEN WHITES NOR YELLOW PEOPLE BEATEN THIS WAY" -- SO MUCH FOR THAT ARGUMENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I never made any of it about me! You're a moron!
" IF YOU WAN'T BE BE AN ICON, GO OUT AND DO WHAT HE DID. Take your dumb ass out to a bar, get drunk, cause a riot and get beaten and make the news. "
Thats how one becomes an icon! I had it all wrong.
But you also say that,
"You need to learn how to respect other peoples positions and opinions."
NO, I DON'T. I RESPECT THE PERSON BEHIND THE OPINION, BUT IF THE OPINION IS ABSURD IT DESERVES NO RESPECT! ie, YOUR SELF DEFEATING OPINION AS STATED ABOVE.
" Considering your position on this, I wouldn't expect you have respect for anyone who insists on demanding fair treatment at the hands of law enforcement." ----------HOLD ON!!!
SO, TO GET RESPECT AND FAIR TREATMENT, WE NEED TO DISRESPECT AUTHORITY FIGURES, IGNORE THEIR DEMANDS OF US AND REUSE TO COMPLY WHILE AT THE SAME TIME RUNNING AWAY LIKE A 2YR OLD!
YOU SUPPORT KINGS BEHAVIOR AND DISRESPECT FOR POLICE AND YOU THINK YOU STAND IN A POSITION TO TELL ME ABOUT RESPECT!
GO PRETEND TO MAKE SENSE SOMEWHERE ELSE... THANKS TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU, THE POLICE WILL ALWAYS HAVE A JOB TO DO
-- All this tells us is that black men apparently often times reach for a gun, not their wallet. Maybe following commands would help! Hard to shoot someone who listens and has his hands in the air!
- a Genuine (1st Century) Agitator-Icon,
from a fragment of Luke that got stuck in John.
You are much more representative as you spread lies and false claims to stir up emotions! You picked the wrong guy (Jesus) to project your own short comings on!
Even the Reformation fell quite short.
I'm a Gnostic Presbyterian (Pentecostals put up with me too).
I got the Message, don't need the Medium.
You're correct that R. King was a similar 'medium' used by both sides.
The Gospels all tell the same historical events. They simply tell them from 4 different view points. Since they are all a record of the same events, how does one "steal" or "borrow" from another?
Out of curiosity and with all do respect, what makes you think the "dudes" ( inspired by God ) got it wrong and you are right?
I believe in God, just don't trust anybody working for Him.
The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name…
How vastly different God's thoughts are from ours! Here is what He thinks about our indifference to Him and about showing mercy and love to us…
Combine those with Jerry 17:5, every utterance by any sentient should be initially taken as suspect because Egos can't be fully impartial.
Use them as guidelines, not rules. Judeochristianity talks about Sin, Sufism talks about Ego & Buddhism talks about Desire, Anger, Doubt etc. Therefore I conclude they all promote CONDUCT through Good Work rather than Materialism &/or Ignorance
I've figured out (Deism) for Myself through working Mysticism & Natural Philosophy through Quantum Mechanics & Compatibilism.
Have a different concept of Determinism & Time than most Folk.
Doubt is not a pleasanat condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.
- Voltaire
I can live with doubt & uncertainty. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than than to have answers which might be wrong.
- Richard P. Feynman
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered.
Religion is answers that may never be questioned.
-anonymous via Dennett, Daniel C
he was beaten by armed police for being drunk....
are you perhaps confusing him with the other King... he was black too.
He's gotten what he deserved, (except the million$ that were stolen from US taxpayers.)
Icon seems to have more of a positive feel to it and I do not believe Rodney King represented anything like that.