The Atlantic - Latest Comments in About OJ...

Re: About OJ...

Ray Stoll — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:54:18 -0000

The Simpson phenom is right up there with Disneyland, Hula Hoops, Chevy's, Gerbers, Moon Landing, Grateful Dead, Patty Hearst, Rolex's BMW's, Challenger, Flight 777, Minivans, PC's, GPS, Michael Jackson, and OPEC!

His existance in our lifetime represents a benchmark of our society.

However sad, 'tis true.

Re: About OJ...

PG — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:33:46 -0000

He's going to have one hell of a time finding the real killer from jail.

Re: About OJ...

Chuck in Albany — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:59:05 -0000

At the time, my white wife refused to participate in the white resentment of the not-guilty verdict. She saw the prosecutor's failure as reason enough. When O.J. tried to profit from "If I did it?," she thought he was so morally bankrupt and despicable that his self-loathing was killing him. And now the relative silence all around seems evidence that we're all somewhat embarrassed by how low the guy has sunk.

Re: About OJ...

Norsecats — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:09:54 -0000

My mother was a district attorney in Baltimore County for a few years, so she knows criminal law very well. her take on the OJ murder trial was something on the order of "I think he's guilty but if I had been on that jury I would have voted to acquit. The prosecution did not prove its case at all, and botched the job."

Agree that the black community responded not so much because they thought OJ was innocent but because they liked seeing someone get one over on the racist LAPD. One common theme in just about every black person in my acquaintance is a (well-deserved) fear and distrust of the police.

Re: About OJ...

Watson — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:01:07 -0000

Unwarranted criticism of the Simpson verdict has served to reinforce our dominant culture's dogma that blacks, unlike whites, are irrational and dishonest about race and racism. This dogma imparts a mistaken sense of righteousness to whites, and a chilling effect on victims of racism. When a black person complains of racism he or she is virtually always accused of deceitfully ‘playing the race card’, as Cochran and the Simpson jury supposedly did.

As if complaints of racism are typically false. As if.

Re: About OJ...

John Henry — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:31:05 -0000

I've been on two jury cases. Both taught me how fickle justice can be, biased jurors, jurors just wanting to 'get it over with', etc. It also taught me that most people don't understand the standard. It is not 'Do I think he is guilty or not'. Its 'Has the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt'. In the OJ case the answer was no.

The reasonable doubt was Mark Furhman - a clear racist who found the most damning DNA evidence. I don't know about you but I've had crooked cops not only plant evidence on me, but get some guy to lie about witnessing me commit a crime when I was much younger living in NYC. I'm sure the incidence of this happening is higher among black people than among white people.

For many black people a crooked cop is all the reasonable doubt they need. Blacks have more experience with them. I think the whole he got off because he was black with a black jury insults black people's intelligence. Its unfortunate but that is the standard. The benefit of the reasonable doubt goes to the accused. Take Mark Fuhrman out of the equation and OJ would be in prison right now.

This new case I don't know what the evidence is, but if he is guilty, he should get the punishment he deserves. I don't think he deserves a life sentence though.

Re: About OJ...

Zack R. — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:58:46 -0000

Correction: *of a murder charge not decide*. A little early morning oops, there.

Re: About OJ...

Zack R. — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:54:31 -0000

The issue I'm interested in is not whether Orenthal James was/is guilty of murder but instead, how could this man, who was acquitted (if it doesn't fit...) of a murder charge not decided that it was time to live a somewhat quiet life, outside of the public eye. It would have been relatively easy, I imagine. Orenthal isn't Brad Pitt last I checked. He's been inching ever closer to disaster every few years. If I Did It was the last straw for me because I figured, he's asking for hatred. Then the, "You b*****s think you can steal from me?" incident screamed, I've had it with this not being in jail thing. You're on your own this time, Juice.

- Some black dude named Zack

Re: About OJ...

Sybil — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:44:23 -0000

I had an interesting conversation when the murder trial verdict came out. I was shocked that a respected (black) colleague was convinced he was innocent.

After talking with him it became clear that our differences growing up (me--"the policeman is your friend, if you get lost he'll find your mommy and give you a lollypop" and his--frightening advice from his Dad to drive home from away sporting events in the rural south via the long circuitous route to avoid getting pulled over by some sadistic smalltown cop) caused us to view the evidence presented in the case in a completely different frame.

So, I think the difference in public opinion after the first case (and an explanation of the jury's verdict) says as much or more about black Americans' experience with and trust of the police, especially the LAPD around that time, as about their unwaivering support of a black sports hero.

Re: About OJ...

Thomas R — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:25:00 -0000

I'm also white and even conservative so maybe this can be dismissed, but maybe not.

I think at the time many in the media were intrigued with "what the black community" says about OJ or "what it means for the black community." Even then I didn't see why it had to mean anything or why an entire community needed to say anything about it at all. However the media framed it that way and the lawyers emphasized misconduct of the LA police, which likely brought to mind several bad incidents for viewers. I do think I was probably disappointed by the racial dynamics of guilt/innocence in polls, but I can kind of understand why a black viewer at that time felt the case was "Black athlete vs the LAPD" and sided as they did. The element of "black perpretrator, white victims" may have also had a role on both sides. (I think a few whites may have been just a little too outraged he walked.)

However then and now I don't think the black community was monolithic. I seem to recall many saying that OJ really had very little in common with themselves or the average black defendant. He had some of the best lawyers money could buy and had lived a fairly privileged life as an adult. Likewise the white community wasn't totally unified either. My staunchly Republican mother thought he was innocent. She didn't believe anyone could do what he did without obviously being riddled with guilt wherever he went unless he was a total sociopath. She didn't believe he was a sociopath for a variety of reasons. And of course Michael Moore sided with him.

Re: About OJ...

JT (Chicago) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:20:04 -0000

When will the picture of 15 year old Obama in a Simpson Buffalo Bills uniform start making the email rounds?

Re: About OJ...

KarenZ — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:59:40 -0000

No matter what one may think of OJ's murder trial, he has done absolutely nothing since then to reestablish himself as a responsible and productive member of society. His conduct has shown him to be a low-life, and I believe that's why nobody cares about his conviction for kidnapping.

Re: About OJ...

Watson — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:28:21 -0000

I agree with ty and blackink.

I believe that OJ got away with a double murder, but I also believe that it's important to defend the not-guilty verdict as rational given the circumstances.

A jury is supposed to decide based on the forensic presentation it sees in the courtroom. A jury that judges a rich defendant cannot be blamed because a poor defendant would have made a lesser presentation. The Simpson trial was one of those rare cases where the prosecution got out-lawyered and possibly out-spent.

The major theme of the Simpson defense was the contamination and questionable handling of the physical evidence. The possibility of a racist frame-up was a minor (and legitimate) theme. Cochran’s questions and arguments in advancing this theme were relevant, notwithstanding that the pundits found them racially inflammatory.

The outcome was because rich people can buy justice, not because Cochran or the jury were racist or unprincipled.

Re: About OJ...

blackink — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:47:10 -0000

I've always thought the verdict in the 1995 murder trial was more a reflection on shoddy prosecution than O.J.'s guilt or innocence.

I also think the reaction of a good many of black people at that time was more about the excellence of Johnnie Cochran and the long history of brown folks who were usually presumed guilty before the trial ever got started. I think to marginalize that reaction as "revenge" is a gross mischaracterization. But, of course, we're all free to our opinions.

As for Friday's verdict, well, I don't know what to think. Seems like quite a stiff penalty given the charges - but we all knew that O.J. was going to have a tough time if he ever went before a jury again. In many ways, that's on him. In other ways, it's a reminder that I don't ever want to go into a courtroom and not see a brown face on the jury.

Re: About OJ...

ty — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:53:42 -0000

I'm a twenty-five-year-old white boy, so I was eleven when OJ was charged with murder, and I actually have a weird amount of difficulty imagining OJ actually killed those people. When I read about his conviction a few days ago (and shrugged in response), it occurred to me that I actually don't think of OJ as a murderer.

Part of it is that I'm a lawyer, and naturally assume an acquitted defendant is not guilty. But I realize the state's failure to prove OJ's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt doesn't lead to the logical conclusion that he's actually innocent.

Instead, I think I've cognitively separated his bizarre trial from the crime that led to it. I just can't imagine something that horrific was left unpunished.

Re: About OJ...

scythia — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:30:22 -0000

I'm white, but when I think about OJ, or Nicole Simpson, or Ron Goldman, or the killings, or these new crimes, only one word pops into my mind:

Cocaine.

The only way any of it makes sense.

Re: About OJ...

Stacy — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:15:01 -0000

OJ definitely killed Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. But this latest trial feels like a make-up call. I don't like make-up calls in basketball, and I certainly don't like them in our legal system.

Re: About OJ...

DR — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:59:43 -0000

I think the real question is:

What does Billy Dee Williams think about this?

Re: About OJ...

jay — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:59:24 -0000

sick dude. just sick.

Re: About OJ...

Jordan Weber-Flink — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:59:15 -0000

I'm white, and grew up fairly sequestered from minority or diverse communities, so perhaps my view can be considered objective, or perhaps unqualified speculation.

It seems to me that in the aftermath of OJ, everyone from Chris Rock to Oprah basically came out over the space of a decade and said "Yeah, he did it." Black culture as a whole fessed up to defending Simpson for the very reason race relations are fucked so fucked up: they identified with the color of his skin, and wanted to get one over the "other" - in this case the White Man who had been perverting justice for 200 years.

I think a decade later, in retrospect, most of black America finds its own reaction to the trial and its aftermath fairly embarrassing. OJ used up his cultural get out of jail free card and then spent his time searching for the real killer on golf courses across the country. Between the time of his trial and now, I think black America stopped thinking of him as a maligned hero, framed by corrupt racist cops and worth defending, and started thinking of him as a term I won't type here, and which I wouldn't say out loud in mixed company.

So when OJ got busted on video for armed robbery, black America shrugged.