# Rodney King Wannabee's **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 13, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775 "2002-07-13T13:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Zahn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@John\_Zahn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Zahn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/21 "2002-07-14T21:33:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chula \* > \*\*OH. MY. GOD. Black people bring police brutality upon themselves by having bad manners? Is that really being said?! \*\* My statements are not singling out black people, it’s for any family. If you’re not sure of my statements before hand, just ask, and I’ll clarify. I do think there are some children who haven’t got the proper guidance needed in the home, and while bad manners alone may not get themselves in situations like these, throwing punches to a police officer or grabbing his testicles ought to do it. I dunno, maybe it’s me but if I see five cops on one person, I generally think it wasn’t because he was breaking wind in public John ---
**Author:** ![John\_Zahn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@John\_Zahn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Zahn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/22 "2002-07-14T21:36:05Z")
Honesty, I did some checking on Donovan Jackson’s police record. If this one cite is correct, then you’re right, he didn’t have any criminal background prior to this. John ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/23 "2002-07-14T21:37:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John Zahn \* > **I dunno, maybe it’s me but if I see five cops on one person, I generally think it wasn’t because he was breaking wind in public** When I see five grown men on one child I find it hard to believe that they considered the child a threat. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Zahn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@John\_Zahn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Zahn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/24 "2002-07-14T21:45:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grendel72 \* > When I see five grown men on one child I find it hard to believe that they considered the child a threat. He’s hardly a child. And I doubt you could have restrained him by yourself. John ---
**Author:** ![John\_Zahn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@John\_Zahn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Zahn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/25 "2002-07-14T22:16:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grendel72 \* > > On a different note I find it highly unlikely that anyone wants to be like Rodney King. I think there may be many who want there to never be another Rodney King, but there is a big difference. To claim that anyone set out to be beaten, hoping that it would be videotaped so they could sue is, to use your phrase “developmentally disabled”. I don’t care to go looking for a particular cite, but I do know of some civil rights activists who do just that. The show that I believe did a segment on this was Dateline some years ago, and I particularly remember one piece which had one man hidden with a camera in a car, while he filmed his black friend walking down the street. A cop comes by to question him. The black man had an attitude with the cop, but didn’t do anything physical towards him. The cop pushes him a bit harder than I think even he anticipated when he pushed him against a plate glass window, and it comes crashes down. Don’t know what they settled for, but you’re mistaken if you don’t think certain groups are not doing this. John ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/26 "2002-07-14T23:11:15Z")
I don’t doubt that some groups are monitoring the police, but I _do_ doubt that it is in hopes of getting a payout. I would assume the intention is to get bad cops off the street, or at least get them to consider that they can’t get away with beating civilians. Were the news photographers who captured “bull” Connor in action hoping to get a payout? > [@](#): > > He’s hardly a child. And I doubt you could have restrained him by yourself. The tape I saw showed a kid who was chest high to the cops, who was picked up one-armed by the cop who slammed him into the car. If I was in the shape those cops are in I could’ve restrained a kid without beating him when he’s already in handcuffs. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/27 "2002-07-14T23:24:39Z")
> [@](#): > > The show that I believe did a segment on this was Dateline some years ago, and I particularly remember one piece which had one man hidden with a camera in a car, while he filmed his black friend walking down the street. A cop comes by to question him. The black man had an attitude with the cop, but didn’t do anything physical towards him. The cop pushes him a bit harder than I think even he anticipated when he pushed him against a plate glass window, and it comes crashes down. I vaguely remember the same incident, it was on several news shows but like you I don’t feel like finding a site. I will point out that “Attitude” is not against the law, while assault and battery is. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/28 "2002-07-15T00:40:40Z")
Ok, I found a [cite](http://pages.sbcglobal.net/louiswalker_1999/youarethere.html) for the case you mentioned. I couldn’t find any actual news reports since this is an old story, so you may take this with a grain of salt if you wish. > [@](#): > > Another incident shows the profound effects that amateur tapes can have when aired. For instance, footage of a man apparently being pushed head-first into a plate glass window by a Long Beach officer, shown by a Los Angeles NBC affiliate in January 1989, caused off-duty police to march on NBC studios demanding that the entire tape be shown. The victim, Don Jackson, was a black police sergeant on leave, and he was driving around the Los Angeles area with a hidden camera in his car trying to solicit and film incidences of police brutality and racism. He suceeded. The protesting officers demanded that Jackson interfered with the questioning, (he was stopped for weaving in traffic), and ran into the window himself. The affiliate, KNBC, later showed the entire tape, though it’s not clear even from the footage, who was at fault. But, as with the Rodney King video, the tape prompted investigations by the police department, the district attourney and the FBI. You may notice that the “black man” who was pushed into the window was himself a police officer. How about I mention a couple of cases where there were no cameras running: [Amadou Diallo](http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/diallo/), [Abner Louima](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/torture/torture.shtml)… Apparently having a camera crew follow you around might be a good safety measure. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Zahn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@John\_Zahn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Zahn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/29 "2002-07-15T00:44:19Z")
grendel72, I don’t see much to disagree with on your last two posts. I want to go back to a previous one in which you commented on my OP with the following: \*\* Every single mention of the victim was preceded by the word “black”. Yep, them darkies is gettin’ out of line, thank god you have such fine upstanding police to protect you… \*\* What is offensive about calling a black man black? How would you refer to Jackson or the cop then? One can’t mention the fact that Jackson was black, nor the cop white, and that his lawyer is probably going to pursue this attack as racist? There’s also been quite a few spokesman for Jackson that claim race was a motivating factor too. John ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/30 "2002-07-15T00:52:05Z")
Well,I was a bit of a jerk there. It just rubbed me the wrong way, I guess you didn’t mean anything by it. It annoys me when the news reports police brutality as a “black issue” as well, it effects all of us when we have bad cops on the street. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/31 "2002-07-15T02:13:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Honesty \* > Actually its not funny, as an African-American male, it just ticks me off that White America has yet to remove the metaphorical blindfold from their eyes. Hmm, negative stereotyping of a class of persons based upon the color of their skin. :: **Sua** shuffles off to look up “racist” in the dictionary.:: ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/32 "2002-07-15T06:37:54Z")
**J.Z.** , if “they” doesn’t refer to “black people,” who does it refer to? Keep in mind the context in which your statement was made. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/33 "2002-07-15T14:29:49Z")
First of all, people sure are quick to call other people racists around here. (Just for saying “black”? When the hell did that become a non-PC description?) Second, I’m reserving judgment on this case until I see the _full_ videotape, having learned my lesson from the Rodney King debacle. With the King tape, all anyone saw for years was a helpless black man being savagely beaten by four white cops. Needless to say, when I heard the cops were acquitted, I was in a total rage…I mean, HOW can you look at that video, and NOT find them guilty? I was mad enough to riot, unfortunately I’m white and probably would have gotten killed. 😃 It wasn’t until many years later that I saw the first 20 seconds of the video, which clearly shows Rodney King LUNGING at the cops like a dusted freak. Followed by 10 seconds of total blur as the cameraman forgets how to focus. (Which, I assume, is why the news stations edited it out. Nothing to do with manipulating public opinion, of course. Yeah, that’s the ticket.) Which doesn’t excuse the cops’ actions 100%, but does make them more understandable. I dunno, I think this case is too damn weird to form a solid opinion on yet. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Zahn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@John\_Zahn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Zahn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/34 "2002-07-16T02:25:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chula \* > \*\*\*\*J.Z.\*\*, if “they” doesn’t refer to “black people,” who does it refer to? Keep in mind the context in which your statement was made. \*\* Okay, let’s take the sentence in context, not just pick one word out of it. **More than likely, if some had the proper upbringing to begin with, they wouldn’t be continually finding themselves in situations like these.** To this you responded: **Black people bring police brutality upon themselves by having bad manners? Is that really being said?!** If I had substituted the word “some” and used “they” twice in that statement, I could see where there probably would be a misunderstanding, but I didn’t. Do you see the word **some** before the word **they**? Not sure how you can make a question like that with what I said, nor am I sure how you can assume black people in my statement with the word “they” when you take the sentence in context with the word “some”. And you did address it as questions to me, so I assumed you wanted further clarification, but my further post didn’t seem to work for you either, so I‘m afraid I can‘t explain any clearer than what I have if this doesn‘t work either. Nobody else seemed to misunderstand me. John ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/35 "2002-07-20T05:55:04Z")
**John** , by context I believe **chula** meant not just the sentence you wrote, but in the context of this debate. Any reasonable person reading through this thread would have drawn the conclusion that the “they” you meant would be blacks since they were the group being discussed in connection with police officers. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Zahn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@John\_Zahn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Zahn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775/36 "2002-07-20T17:17:47Z")
**John, by context I believe chula meant not just the sentence you wrote, but in the context of this debate.** I think both of you are picking nits. News coverage seem to seek out the black suspects and white officers more than others, but I know good and well, it isn’t limited to just blacks, and if one took it in the entire context of the debate then, I think when I clarified I wasn’t singling out black people, and it was for any family that should have pretty much done it after she asked for further clarification. “They” includes anyone that finds themselves in handcuffs, and in a situation where the officer is having to use more force than what he normally would have to be using. This makes the third or fourth post, for this one sentence, but for further edification, I’ll put in for “white, black, Asian, Mexican, purple each and every time for those that think “they” and “some” are only limited to black people every time it gets written by me. Some of you, know how to make a board go lame. John [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wannabees/118775.md?page=1)