 The news of that OJ Simpson had died of cancer hit the news this week. Many young people don't know much about him, only remembering that he was a ball player of some kind and an actor. Of course, those of us who were adults in the 1990s well remember his lengthy, public trial for the brutal murder of his estranged wife and another man, and the immense cultural impact the murder trial had during the mid-1990s. Anyone of Generation X and older cannot help but remember the farcical “trial” monopolizing the news for over a year. It's hard for anyone much younger to understand how, in an era with no internet and far fewer TV channels, the major media controllers could choose to bombard the public with a 24/7, 360-degree wall of media coverage that was completely ubiquitous and inescapable. The entirety of America was subjected to trial coverage that amounted to sleazy, brainless, and racially-charged tabloid television all day, every day for a year. Every public space had a television tuned to CNN, which featured self-important, half-wit “news” people micro analyzing and sensationalizing each day's developments in granular detail. Everyone involved with the trial became a household name - the victims, lawyers, police officers, and witnesses. One witness, Simpson's long-term house guest Kato Kaelin, who had flowing blond hair and surfer's countenance, was deemed the "hunk" of the trial. Jay Leno's Tonight Show regularly featured a dance troupe dubbed the “Dancing Itos," all with glasses, beards, and robes to mimic trial Judge Lance Ito. Simpson's attorney Johnnie Cochran, notable for his unique cadence and oft-rhyming courtroom quips (“If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit,”) became a cultural icon and was later the inspiration for the Seinfeld character "Jackie Chiles". (Youngsters, you can imagine it as a bit like today's meme culture, but completely inorganic and top-down, and you can't unfollow the content creators.) We mustn't neglect to mention the ingn0nimity of the police officer Mark Fuhrman. While on the stand, he was questioned at length about his use of racial slurs and other derogatory terms. He insisted he had never uttered the offensive terms presented. Can you guess the plot twist that took place next? The defense produced old audio tapes in which Fuhrman tossed out n-words like candy at a parade, completely discrediting himself. This orchestrated "gotcha" was not directly relevant to the question of Simpson's guilt or innocence, but it was very relevant to the level of racial animosity among members of the general public who were transfixed to the trial.
The day the "not guilty" verdict was broadcast live to the nation, racial divisions in the reactions were obvious. White people were stone-faced, stunned, and dismayed. Blacks were ecstatic, celebrating as if their favorite team had just won the Superbowl. A charitable interpretation of the celebration might be that they believed an innocent man had been spared injustice. However, at least some were forthcoming about the fact that they viewed the acquittal of a black murderer as vengeance for perceived mistreatment by whites. As news of Simpson's death spread online, a video clip began circulating of an recent interview with a juror in which she admits she believed Simpson was guilty, as did the majority of the other black jurors. She explains that they chose to declare him "not guilty" as retribution for the well-publicized beating of felon Rodney King by a group of white police officers who were subsequently exonerated. The fanfare surrounding the trial was particularly pointless considering that its outcome was a foregone conclusion. The trial was decided before it began when the defense secured a change of venue, relocating the trial to a more black jurisdiction rather than Simpson's affluent area where the crime had occurred. There was no real chance a heavily black jury was going to find him guilty under any circumstances. In the several decades that have passed since the trial, much has changed, but there are elements of the episode which make up a familiar pattern: The media creates a national obsession surrounding what might otherwise be an unknown or page 2 crime story to push a racial narrative. They manufacture a culture of celebrity surrounding unremarkable and undeserving individuals. They spend weeks or months of fanning the flames, gaslighting, promoting the most inflammatory possible racial narrative. The entire sordid phenomenon had been mostly forgotten, but the cultural damage remains.
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