Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict

Introduction: Silke Hansen talks about the delicate nature of naming an event in the context of her work with the Community Relations Service during the Rodney King "event."

This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).

Terminology
Silke Hansen
Senior Conciliation Specialist, Community Relations Service

Interviewed by
Julian Portilla
2003

What became interesting was what terminology you used became critical in this mediation. If you went into the African American community and called it a "riot," they would say it wasn't a riot, it was a revolution or it was a disturbance. So I have come to call it the Rodney King event, and responses to that and consequences of that "event" because just how you define something becomes an issue in different communities.

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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