That phrase was attributed to Rodney King, but what he actually said was, “Can we get along?” He also didn’t say it in a high-pitched voice, nor did he say it in Ebonics.
It was neither the first time nor the last that someone was misquoted and the misquote became accepted as the accurate one. But I wonder how the misquote got started. Is it possible that a comedian, Chris Rock or one of the Wayans brothers, or someone else, used the phrase that’s in the title of this thread in a routine? Not accusing anyone, just wondering.
or is it “Can we all just post in the right forum?”
Do you have a source for that? I recall watching that, he did say it in a quavering, somewhat high pitched voice, but I recall it something to the effect of “Can… Can we all just get along” ?
Fuck no, Rodney, I want a big screen TV!! The man’s keepin me down.
Where do you get that? I remeber sitting in Journalism class watching the fires blaze and King coming on saying “Can’t we all…?” I’m willing to accept that my memory has been clouded by10 years of time and alcohol.
Mahaloth: I wasn’t sure where to post this. I settled on Cafe Society because of my speculation that it was a comedian who perpetuated the phrase. If anyone had remembered someone working it into their routine, it would have become CS material.
Tedster: I just saw a clip of it on TV. His speech was somewhat uncertain, but not quavery, and his voice was pitched low.
kuroashi: I hate to accuse anyone of remembering something wrongly. (It makes me feel presumptuous; I don’t mean to be.) But the soundbite itself wasn’t broadcast much: it didn’t play as well as flames and demolished stores and people being beaten. RK’s entreaty got around more by word of mouth than through the media. Maybe it was a comedian who paraphrased it, or maybe it got corrupted the way “I couldn’t care less” became “I could care less.”
A hesitant “Can we…Can we get along?” doesn’t stick in the mind the way a whining “Can’t-we-all-just-get-a-long” does. That’s telling, I think. Seems like it was a very short time before the phrase started being used for comic effect. Some punchline, man.
Yeah, I DO remember Chris Rock using it that same year. I remember King’s voice that day too. It wasn’t squeaky, but it was not said sternly either. He looked like he was waiting for a bullet to the back of the head. It was the first time I’d seen him in front of a camera being interviewed, and I thought, “What an unlikely hero…”
That’s about it, kuroashi.
My memory of how he said it is pretty much in sync with Tedster. I seem to remember the clip getting quite a lot of play, especially in montages and year-end and decade-end retrospectives. But I’m a news junkie anyway, so maybe it just seems like it got played more to me.
As for a comedian who popularized it, David Alan Grier on In Living Color used that line a lot, and still does IIRC.
Rilch seems too laid-back in the OP for this to go to the Pit, so I’ll send it to MPSIMS.