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| Don’t let OJ Simpson blind us to black victims of injustice | Don’t let OJ Simpson blind us to black victims of injustice |
| (17 days later) | |
| It is the mid-1990s all over again in America. Drama interrupted daytime soap operas; viewers fixated on their television screens and a racial divide offered differing black and white points of view. OJ Simpson had struck again. | It is the mid-1990s all over again in America. Drama interrupted daytime soap operas; viewers fixated on their television screens and a racial divide offered differing black and white points of view. OJ Simpson had struck again. |
| Last week, a Nevada parole board freed Simpson. He had served nine years of a 33-year sentence for his role in a 2007 armed robbery, attempting to retrieve memorabilia he said belonged to him. As was the case with his murder trial in 1995, in which a jury acquitted him of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, cable and network television blasted wall-to-wall coverage. | Last week, a Nevada parole board freed Simpson. He had served nine years of a 33-year sentence for his role in a 2007 armed robbery, attempting to retrieve memorabilia he said belonged to him. As was the case with his murder trial in 1995, in which a jury acquitted him of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, cable and network television blasted wall-to-wall coverage. |
| That original trial, of a black man accused of murdering his white ex-wife, became a conduit for examining race in America. At first glance, not much seems to have changed. Once again, large swaths of white America feel the criminal justice system is broken when it comes to Simpson, this time because he didn’t serve all of his sentence. Much of black America gives white folks the side-eye on that. If only they offered the same indignation toward the injustice of police officers getting away with murdering black people. | That original trial, of a black man accused of murdering his white ex-wife, became a conduit for examining race in America. At first glance, not much seems to have changed. Once again, large swaths of white America feel the criminal justice system is broken when it comes to Simpson, this time because he didn’t serve all of his sentence. Much of black America gives white folks the side-eye on that. If only they offered the same indignation toward the injustice of police officers getting away with murdering black people. |
| Last month, a jury acquitted a Minnesota police officer for the killing of Philando Castile, a black school cafeteria worker. The officer said he thought Castile was reaching for a gun when he was reaching for his identification. A jury believed the officer. The acquittal is yet another example of a person avoiding jail in the killing of a black person. Black America is tired of the cycle. Black Lives Matter organisers have no shortages of causes and protests. So if criminal justice reform is what white folk want to talk about, Simpson is not the best provocation. | Last month, a jury acquitted a Minnesota police officer for the killing of Philando Castile, a black school cafeteria worker. The officer said he thought Castile was reaching for a gun when he was reaching for his identification. A jury believed the officer. The acquittal is yet another example of a person avoiding jail in the killing of a black person. Black America is tired of the cycle. Black Lives Matter organisers have no shortages of causes and protests. So if criminal justice reform is what white folk want to talk about, Simpson is not the best provocation. |
| Over the past year, a new generation has discovered Simpson and the rest of us who remember the spectacle rode a high wave of nostalgia. The epic documentary OJ: Made in America and the FX drama The People Vs OJ Simpson offered new insights, juicy tidbits and reminded us that Simpson once said: “I’m not black, I’m OJ.” | Over the past year, a new generation has discovered Simpson and the rest of us who remember the spectacle rode a high wave of nostalgia. The epic documentary OJ: Made in America and the FX drama The People Vs OJ Simpson offered new insights, juicy tidbits and reminded us that Simpson once said: “I’m not black, I’m OJ.” |
| My friends and I couldn’t get enough of defence lawyer Johnny Cochran’s finesse, the hamfisted tactics of the prosecutors and “the Juice’s” identity crisis and ultimate isolation after the not guilty verdict. In 1994, when the murders occurred, I had just graduated from high school and, like the rest of the nation, watched Simpson racing down the highway in his white Bronco. During the trial and verdict, I was at Howard University, a college established for African Americans after slavery. I wrote an essay for Howard’s student newspaper, the Hilltop, about how OJ represented every black man. He beat the system – for the Simpson case was never about specifics of the actual case. Police brutality was the subtext; a few years earlier, Los Angeles had smouldered from the riots after white officers who beat black Rodney King were acquitted. The beating was captured on video but that only validated what black people across the country already knew, especially in urban communities – police brutality as a regular practice. | My friends and I couldn’t get enough of defence lawyer Johnny Cochran’s finesse, the hamfisted tactics of the prosecutors and “the Juice’s” identity crisis and ultimate isolation after the not guilty verdict. In 1994, when the murders occurred, I had just graduated from high school and, like the rest of the nation, watched Simpson racing down the highway in his white Bronco. During the trial and verdict, I was at Howard University, a college established for African Americans after slavery. I wrote an essay for Howard’s student newspaper, the Hilltop, about how OJ represented every black man. He beat the system – for the Simpson case was never about specifics of the actual case. Police brutality was the subtext; a few years earlier, Los Angeles had smouldered from the riots after white officers who beat black Rodney King were acquitted. The beating was captured on video but that only validated what black people across the country already knew, especially in urban communities – police brutality as a regular practice. |
| Simpson was clearly an imperfect representative for black men wronged by prosecutors, police and judges. Comedian Chris Rock touched on those emotions in a 1990s standup routine about black glee: “We won, we won! Yo, what the fuck did we win? Every day I look in the mail for my OJ prize? Nothing.” | Simpson was clearly an imperfect representative for black men wronged by prosecutors, police and judges. Comedian Chris Rock touched on those emotions in a 1990s standup routine about black glee: “We won, we won! Yo, what the fuck did we win? Every day I look in the mail for my OJ prize? Nothing.” |
| He was spot on. | He was spot on. |
| Conspiracy theories about how the police framed Simpson became easy bait. I admit that I was one of those people who took it. I missed the clear evidence against domestic abuser Simpson, while the LA police officer involved in the case had pure, documented racist bona fides. | Conspiracy theories about how the police framed Simpson became easy bait. I admit that I was one of those people who took it. I missed the clear evidence against domestic abuser Simpson, while the LA police officer involved in the case had pure, documented racist bona fides. |
| On the day of the 1995 verdict, news cameras blanketed various communities around the US for reaction. My college campus was one of them. Students cheered after the acquittal. Howard law students were on the news. We were able to forgive him for immersing in a “white” world, shunning his blackness because we knew white America saw him as a “nigger”. His money and status mattered little. | On the day of the 1995 verdict, news cameras blanketed various communities around the US for reaction. My college campus was one of them. Students cheered after the acquittal. Howard law students were on the news. We were able to forgive him for immersing in a “white” world, shunning his blackness because we knew white America saw him as a “nigger”. His money and status mattered little. |
| The following year, Simpson did an informal tour of black America to show his gratitude. Howard University, where his daughter graduated years before me, was one of his stops. He came to the Hilltop so I could interview him and I boldly asked a question about whether he was black enough or did enough for the black community. He said something along the lines of people not knowing his contributions. Later that night, he spoke at a black church. | The following year, Simpson did an informal tour of black America to show his gratitude. Howard University, where his daughter graduated years before me, was one of his stops. He came to the Hilltop so I could interview him and I boldly asked a question about whether he was black enough or did enough for the black community. He said something along the lines of people not knowing his contributions. Later that night, he spoke at a black church. |
| There’s an added layer of complication with Simpson’s early release. Many black Americans who believe he committed the 1994 murders don’t think he should be in prison for stealing his own possessions. We know the danger of over-criminalisation in black communities. Should he be in prison for the murders? Yes. Should another conviction be a substitution for the one he beat? Nope. I’m not now rooting for OJ, except that I’d like him to be low key in his senior citizen years. | There’s an added layer of complication with Simpson’s early release. Many black Americans who believe he committed the 1994 murders don’t think he should be in prison for stealing his own possessions. We know the danger of over-criminalisation in black communities. Should he be in prison for the murders? Yes. Should another conviction be a substitution for the one he beat? Nope. I’m not now rooting for OJ, except that I’d like him to be low key in his senior citizen years. |
| Black America has a bad habit of closing ranks around black men of dubious repute in the name of racial solidarity. See Bill Cosby. Most recently, last week, allegations against R&B crooner R Kelly and a cult-like cabal of women surfaced. He’s long been a predator of black girls. But he, too, has a long list of staunch defenders. We can’t continue to protect wrongdoers or criminals in the name of thumbing our noses at a racist criminal justice system. | Black America has a bad habit of closing ranks around black men of dubious repute in the name of racial solidarity. See Bill Cosby. Most recently, last week, allegations against R&B crooner R Kelly and a cult-like cabal of women surfaced. He’s long been a predator of black girls. But he, too, has a long list of staunch defenders. We can’t continue to protect wrongdoers or criminals in the name of thumbing our noses at a racist criminal justice system. |
| That said, white Americans need to understand deep black frustration about policing and the court system. Don’t let Simpson’s forthcoming release be a spur for criminal justice frustration. Think, instead, about the lost lives from driving while black, pulling out identification while black, from simply being black. | That said, white Americans need to understand deep black frustration about policing and the court system. Don’t let Simpson’s forthcoming release be a spur for criminal justice frustration. Think, instead, about the lost lives from driving while black, pulling out identification while black, from simply being black. |
| Natalie Y Moore is a reporter for WBEZ Chicago and author of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation | Natalie Y Moore is a reporter for WBEZ Chicago and author of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation |