Rodney King died over the weekend.
Remember him? He became a symbol of the nation’s racial issues back in 1991 when his arrest was captured on videotape. King had been stopped for suspicion of DUI. In the pre-Internet era, the video was one of the first to “go viral.” It was everywhere. And it was ugly. It depicted a group of Los Angeles officers repeatedly beating and striking King with batons.
Eventually, several officers went on trial and were acquitted by an all-white jury.
The verdict touched off an explosion of violence.
Eventually, it was King himself who pleaded for an end to the unrest, uttering the now famous words, “Can’t we all just get along?”
Twenty years later, I think I can answer that question.
No.
I get a pretty good dose of race relations every day. I read many of the comments that are posted with stories that appear on our website. I field the phone calls, plow through the endless series of e-mail, voice mail, etc.
Can we all just get along?
Not yet.
I am always amazed at how quickly almost every story we do devolves into a racial issue.
In particular those stories that deal with the city of Chester.
Have we come a long way since the 1960s? Absolutely.
Have we come a long way since 1991? I’m not so sure.
Here’s our editorial on the issue of Rodney King and race in America.
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