That’s right Orenthal James Simpson changed the world. Well he did change the conversation around the office break room and that says a lot. Who can forget that 16 yrs ago, 1994, O.J. was involved in a slow speed chase. It was on every TV station. Believe it or not, no one could look away. If the IPhone was invented back then, AT&T’s network would crash from so many people watching. But O.J. changed the interracial world in a lot of ways.
Hindsight is always 20/20. And looking back I can truthfully say that things changed after O.J. It didn’t matter if you believe he is innocent or guilty, things changed. In case you weren’t on the planet… in a coma or locked away in a prison in Siberia, I’ll give you the scoop. O.J.’s white ex-wife and friend was found dead. Being that it was O.J.’s ex and an overwhelming amount of forensic evidence that pointed towards O.J. he ran with the determination of Forest Gump. Every channel on the planet showed images of the infamous white Bronco winding through the streets & highways of L.A.
And the evidence & criminal case has been scrutinized every day since then. Why is this important? There are certain events that happen when you realize what people’s true feelings are. This was one of them. It was the event that made our society split down racial lines. White Americans proclaimed he was guilty. Black Americans proclaimed his innocence. As a black man, I’ll admit that I even wanted to see O.J. found innocent. In some strange way I wanted to see the white loving man innocent. I can’t explain if it was a racial reaction, but it appeared the pressure of the perceived coolest white people turning against interracial relationships because of O.J.
At the time, O.J. represented wealthy black men. He was a national celebrity and TV pitchman. He had white women in area codes. And that image crashed and burned. I remember being shocked when co-workers, teammates & neighbors voiced their disapproval of interracial relationships and they used O.J. as an example of why white women should run. The best way for me to explain the shock of this double murder would be to compare it to Tiger Woods killing his wife Elin. Wow, that’s huge.
If you want to stir up a racial discussion, just mention O.J. and Nicole Brown Simpson.
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