In 1991, a very intoxicated Rodney King drove two friends down the 210 freeway in Los Angeles. He was clocked speeding by the California Highway Patrol and fearing his probation for robbery would be revoked, he refused to stop, leading officers on a high-speed chase, eventually hitting 115 miles per hour.
He was caught by several L.A.P.D. squad cars, a struggle ensued, and some of the officers quickly decided that King was resisting arrest. Even though Sergeant Stacey Koon fired two shots from a taser into King, they still failed to subdue him. From that point the officers mobbed King and began to beat him mercilessly with their batons.
Standing nearby was George Holiday filming the whole terrible beating on video tape sending shock waves around the world and firing up an already suspicious Los Angeles African American community. When they saw the video, most assumed it was nothing more than racial profiling and unchecked abuse by the police. Another blatant example of racial injustice, they said.
A year later the four officers accused in the beating were acquitted of wrong doing in Simi Valley, and for some very ugly and hateful people it was a powder keg excuse to burn their city and go on a racist killing spree themselves. What followed on April 29, 1992, was the worst single episode of urban unrest in American history. 53 people were violently murdered and over $1 billion, with a B, in damage was done to Los Angeles.
Lets be friends
I remember a sober Rodney King, to his credit, standing up during the riots and saying anything he could, to stop the violence. “Cant we just all get along?” he said to the camera.
I also remembering answering his question verbally to a blind and dumb television set. “No, Rodney we cant.” And it had nothing to do with race.
Most people of every race cant get along with a guy who robs, drives drunk, picks up transvestite prostitutes and is arrested multiple times for beating up his wife and daughter. We cant get along with a guy who wins nearly four million dollars in his law suit against the police, and still gets arrested atleast 9 times more in several states after becoming a millionaire.
I want to get along with Rodney King but when you live a life and make decisions that endanger the public I tend to think we would all get along better with Rodney in a prison somewhere.
Though I do not have the privilege of being in the same race it does not make a me a racist if we cant get along because of behavior or the content of one’s character. Thats not to say there is not a racist issue in America there always has been. It is a spirit from hell that is manifest in every tone of skin where people are willing to cooperate with it.
The face of America is changing and if we are going to get along it is not going to be because of race, it is going to be because of shared values and respect for each other. God help us as a country to get past the curse of racism.
Let’s be Family
The church is world-famous for not getting along through the years. Even though the body of Christ transcends all racial and cultural barriers, the house of God has been riddled with domestic violence from the very beginning.
The book of Acts records Peter as a Jew who had a very real racist problem with gentiles and had to have a visit from Jesus himself. Turns out that Jesus is the cure for racism.
For those of us who claim to have our lives changed through the Power of the lord Jesus Christ, there is no room for racial hatred or even tension. There is not a black part of Heaven and a white part. There is no reservation or China town or barrio. There’s just God and His family. Let it be said of you and me as Christians, we stand with Justice, equality and a love for God and other people that make us different from every other people group on the planet.
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Revelation 7:9-10
Troy Brewer Pastors Open Door Ministries and can be found at Troybrewer.com
No comments:
Post a Comment