Why can’t we all just get along?

Opinion

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September 2, 2010

by Deb Saine Pharos-Tribune Thu Sep 02, 2010, 02:19 PM EDT

Remember Rodney King?

He’s the guy who said, “Can we all get along?”

He’s the black man four white police officers beat mercilessly with their batons on March 3, 1991, in Los Angeles.

The entire beat down was captured on tape by a man who lived in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, YouTube wasn’t an option at that time. So, the tape was distributed to local news outlets. The officers claimed that King was resisting arrest. They were frustrated after two shots from a taser failed to subdue King. So they got out their batons and started whaling on him. A year or so later, those officers went on trial for their barbaric actions. Despite the evidence, a predominantly white jury exonerated the officers. People were repelled by the verdict. The black community was outraged. What happened next, Time magazine reported, was that “all that rage turned into the worst single episode of urban unrest in American history.” King’s plea after the trial was a simple one, “Can we all get along?” But his words had fallen on deaf ears. In the aftermath of the riots, 53 people were dead.

I thought of King and his simple plea while I was scrolling through the headlines on msnbc.com the other day. Like King, I wondered why we all can’t just get along.

Simple acceptance of all that is different might go a long way. Wishful thinking, I know. The world is in such a mess. It’s absolutely depressing.

I try to steer clear of the news because it can be so overwhelming. I skim some of the more disturbing headlines on my way to the sports and entertainment sections.

Then again, those sections can be just as upsetting. Multi-millionaire athletes complaining about their salaries. Athletes who once were revered for their accomplishments are scorned for lying and cheating. Other athletes who are arrested because of their actions — domestic disputes, driving under the influence and barroom brawls, just to name a few.

Something that’s been bugging me for quite some time is the forgiveness so easily bestowed on top athletes who are supposed to be role models whether they like it or not.

Take Ben Roethlisberger. He’s gotten into some serious trouble during the off-season. So bad, in fact, that he’s been suspended by the commissioner of the NFL. Initially, he was out for six games. Now, that might drop to four.

And what about Tiger? There are some people who think what he does off the course is his business and his business alone. All that they’re waiting for is for the old Tiger to show up and start playing like a No. 1 athlete should play.

I’m sorry, but I learned a long time ago that you can tell volumes about people and their character by how they behave on the basketball court, the soccer field, the tennis courts or the golf course.

Tiger’s true colors have been exposed, on and off the course. Golf has long been thought of as a gentleman’s game. But as I’ve watched him play for more than a decade, I’ve never thought of Tiger as a gentleman.

He throws his clubs — once hitting a woman in the gallery near a tee box. His favorite words begin with either an “f” or a “g.” If he hasn’t played well, he’s quite a snot when it comes to speaking with the media — which is as much a part of the game as keeping the ball on the fairways. As the Wicked Witch of the West would say, “What a world. What a world.”

• Deb Saine is a columnist for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached through the newspaper at ptnews@pharostribune.com.

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