This was a speech Rodney King gave during the third day of riots, which he had asked, “Can we all get along?” Despite being the catalyst of the LA riots, Rodney King does not advocate violence or the riots. He understands the rage, but he does not like how long it’s going on for. Fighting fire with fire does nothing except for making more destruction. In the end, he tells people to think about “the security guard shot on the ground” who will “never go home to their family again”. We’re all human, and although society has taken the low road, the people must take the high road because eventually “we will have our day in court”. What stood out for me was the fact that Rodney King was physically beaten and probably had to endure the emotional trauma of seeing the system fail, yet still managed to see through the rage and advocate for peace.
What I found interesting about this were the implications of the motivations of the rioters. This speech was given on the third day and the riots continued for five days. The riots were not simply responding to the acquittal of the four policemen, but rather all of the injustice they have endured for who knows how long. While I’m sure some rioters were just concerned with the verdict of the Rodney King case, the mere fact the riot continued shows some rioters were motivated beyond Rodney King. I personally can’t imagine myself participating in a riot, so I can’t fathom the rage and pain necessary to start a riot, let alone continue the riot despite a plea of peace.
I think the main thing to get from Rodney King’s speech is that responding with aggression is simply destructive for society and the community. Your rage is justified, but don’t let that justify your actions.
-Herman Wu
You are definitely right about it being beyond Rodney King, it was the system that they were in which they were actively protesting, it is just sad that they had to resort to violence to get anyone important enough to create change to know about the inherent racist roots in L.A.
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