RODNEY KING'S DEATH & URBAN HALF-LIFE
Rodney King was a lodestone which drew out the poisons and promise of the American body politic. There was no middle ground about him- some loved him; others hated him with equal passion.
His case and turbulent life epitomized what Black men can become if we aren’t extraordinarily careful: victims of bad choices colliding with bad actors from the larger community. Conservative friends, mostly White, feel King deserved the near fatal lynching he received that epic night.
While also a supporter of good conduct and police I differ. If a California monster like Charles Manson wasn’t beaten within an inch of his life for ritual murder of a pregnant woman, how can King’s video taped beating be justified?
His absence of good decision making and lawful habits provided detractors with ample ammo to shoot holes in innocence claims. He suffered from what I call ” urban half-life ” where self-destructive behavior rises to the level of secular worship.
Rodney King was many things: criminal; addict; symbol. He didn’t deserve what the LAPD did to him in 1991.
He also deserved better than the urban half-life he condemned himself to.
Brothers should look long and hard at this man’s life and realize that fame and settlement money mean nothing if you still choose urban half-life.
I grew up with brothers like Rodney King. I know brothers like Rodney King.
I live in the same sometime-y country they do. The fairness they seek begins when they first be fair to themselves and stop undermining themselves with illegality and addiction.
Look at Rodney King brothers and learn where urban half-life ultimately ends up: spiritual death; followed by mental death; followed by slow motion decline and finally, physical death.
RIP Rodney King.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes creative crime prevention & actively supports BROTHERS AGAINST CRIME, Tim Washington, Spokes Person. TIM WASHINGTON (504) 274-6585
CAPT BLACK: (504) 214-3082
