We can all get along if …

Back in the early ’90s when I was teaching at Urbana High School and still publishing the cultural journalism project, Tales from the general store, the acquittal of the four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of Rodney King resulted in him asking the age-old question, “Can we all get along?” at a subsequent press conference.

Apparently not then, not before and certainly not today. Some things never change in spite of the reasons why they should.

But at the time of all the violence, destruction and division in the 1992 Los Angeles riots, exacerbated since then and made increasingly worse with the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, some of the students in my English classes came up with the idea of asking people to finish the sentence, “We can all get along if. …”

When the idea first came up in a class discussion, I thought it was interesting and had possibilities but limited in scope. How many ways, I wondered, can you respond and finish the sentence with any degree of real possibility? But when the young people I was working with seemed taken with the idea, I thought it worthwhile because it would make people think about how we really can all get along.

The question King posed then is still important long after the emotions of the moment erupted in that situation, particularly with all the violence and destruction still prevalent in this country. In a rapidly changing world, many people cling to their racial and cultural identities and refuse to tolerate and accept differences in others.

In the unstable climate back in 1992, the project was born and circulated by mail, email, personal contact and the media. Students in the project were interviewed by newspaper, radio and TV reporters about what they were doing and why.

It became apparent from the early responses to the question that the possibilities weren’t so limited after all. Each submitted answer reflected a unique individual who cared enough about the question to give it some thought and share it. And while we were learning about the unique perspective of others, the people connected with the project learned about themselves and the world around them. Some of the responses were surprising.

One request was sent out over the Internet—which was new to us—asking for “responses from all over the country.” We got them. But we also got a response from an annoyed young man in Sydney, Australia.

“We could all get along,” he responded, “if you bloody Americans would quit thinking that you’re the only people with Internet access. Think before you post.”

Good advice then and good advice now.

We selected many different and interesting responses throughout the United States and around the world. The answers obviously didn’t change anything, given that nearly 30 years later conditions are even worse. But there was much common sense from a wide range of people that was worth taking a few minutes to consider and think about from time to time, so we decided to publish a small book titled, “We can all get along if. …”

While we were getting the book together and trying to find a publisher, we received an anonymous letter we decided to include:

“People have questioned using Rodney King’s plea, ‘Can we all get along?’ as the impetus for Project Get Along. Questioning that merit symbolizes what is wrong with this country. We are quick to judge, condemn, categorize, criticize and put people down instead of offering a hand and accepting, understanding and trying to help people.

“I believe it all goes back to how we were treated as children. Those of us who have been involved in drugs, drinking too much, violence, breaking the law, eating too much, arrogant behavior and stepping on other people, among many other abusive, compulsive behaviors, have something in common: In one way or another, we were mistreated as children. The statistics related to child abuse are unbelievable. Too many of us were physically and/or sexually abused.

“But many more of us suffered a more subtle form of emotional or psychological abuse. The abuser often didn’t even know what he/she was doing. In trying to help us, they criticized us, told us what was wrong or bad about us instead of what was good, and paid careful attention to our negative behavior while they ignored any positive behaviors. But they didn’t help us. They made us feel insecure, self-destructive and bad about ourselves. We carried on the cycle. We looked for love in all the wrong places. We looked for comfort in drugs, alcohol, food, gangs and the wrong crowd.

“Instead of criticizing and judging Rodney King, let’s congratulate him for trying to make a bad situation better by asking, ‘Can we all get along?’ Let’s start looking for the good in people, regardless of how hard we have to look. Let’s focus on the positive. Let’s try to understand and look past the negative.”

Unable to find a publisher right away, I decided to publish the book through the cultural journalism project. Just as we were ready to go to press, another Urbana High School student, 17-year-old Adria (Glende) Dawn, now an actor, filmmaker and educator, provided us with the crowning answer: “We can all get along if … love fills the air/And we’re treated like equals, fair and square/In a place where respect reigns/And dignity is gained/Where we have no wars/Or crack stores/No AIDS/Hand grenades/No colors/Just shades.”

How ‘bout that from a 17-year-old high school student for all the world leaders, politicians, parents, teachers, preachers and all of humanity to digest?

Well, it was a good exercise anyway.