Two Americas
On Thursday, O.J. Simpson could get paroled for his various felonies related to a sports memorabilia robbery.
Of course, most people identify him with a very different crime.
I remember being shocked and depressed when the jury voted the way they did.
I was with a Black friend and co-worker at the Reading Terminal when it happened, and a group (including us) gathered around a tv at the Beer Garden to hear the verdict. She was joyous, as were all the Blacks there. I was depressed. Race was what permeated that verdict and facts weren't material, I said. Justice should be more important than race.
She tried to explain to me as we wended our way back to work why she believed OJ was framed by Furhman. I heard about how policemen had, over the years, harassed her hard-working, straight arrow father. Some more stories of how the police had gone after her, based on race. And how everyone she knew had similar stories.
That still didn't really get through to me. Each case should stand on its own, not be shadowed by other experiences.
I have come to understand her point of view more. It's two Americas. So of course, it's two different points of view. And we're all of us impacted by our personal histories with the police. Our culture. Our upbringing.
I learned a lot about America from watching the O.J. case play out on television. But I have never wavered from my belief that OJ is guilty of killing his wife and Ron Goldman, no matter what the verdict.
So when people say, "The policeman who killed __________ (insert unarmed Black person's name here) was cleared of all charges" by a jury, I am not overly moved by that decision.
Funny, though--how those same people who didn't believe the jury's decision about O.J. Simpson feel the White cops have been vindicated by their trial results.
And few White people want Simpson to get parole for the petty crime of which he was convicted. They want him to pay for his real crime of a double murder through that case.
It is two Americas.
Of course, most people identify him with a very different crime.
I remember being shocked and depressed when the jury voted the way they did.
I was with a Black friend and co-worker at the Reading Terminal when it happened, and a group (including us) gathered around a tv at the Beer Garden to hear the verdict. She was joyous, as were all the Blacks there. I was depressed. Race was what permeated that verdict and facts weren't material, I said. Justice should be more important than race.
She tried to explain to me as we wended our way back to work why she believed OJ was framed by Furhman. I heard about how policemen had, over the years, harassed her hard-working, straight arrow father. Some more stories of how the police had gone after her, based on race. And how everyone she knew had similar stories.
That still didn't really get through to me. Each case should stand on its own, not be shadowed by other experiences.
I have come to understand her point of view more. It's two Americas. So of course, it's two different points of view. And we're all of us impacted by our personal histories with the police. Our culture. Our upbringing.
I learned a lot about America from watching the O.J. case play out on television. But I have never wavered from my belief that OJ is guilty of killing his wife and Ron Goldman, no matter what the verdict.
So when people say, "The policeman who killed __________ (insert unarmed Black person's name here) was cleared of all charges" by a jury, I am not overly moved by that decision.
Funny, though--how those same people who didn't believe the jury's decision about O.J. Simpson feel the White cops have been vindicated by their trial results.
And few White people want Simpson to get parole for the petty crime of which he was convicted. They want him to pay for his real crime of a double murder through that case.
It is two Americas.