I was in grad school when the OJ trial was taking place. A bunch of planning students got together in the student lounge when the verdict was read.
The collective reaction of ALL of the white students was “HUH?”
The collective reaction of ALL of the black students was “YES!”, followed by high-fives.
I talked about the experience with my thesis advisor, who was black. He believed that OJ was innocent. In the following weeks, I didn’t meet ANY black people that thought he was guilty. None.
I am a mix of lazy and clueless. I secretly hoped someone would dig something up for me. Otherwise, I was willing to concede. Cause I know I am in for a spanking on this topic. Didn’t want to sweat for cites and still get a spanking anyways. Thanks for the cite. Reading.
Although I agree with the foolishness of Furman trying to frame OJ, Vincent Bugliosi has balls as big as all outdoors to run his mouth after the stupidity he spouted about the prosecution. He took them to task for not moving the trial from downtown to a more “white” part of L.A. County. All long term murder cases in LA County (at least at the time) were required to be downtown and they had no choice in the matter.
Even if you ignore his implication that a black jury couldn’t be fair, he should find out the rules of the district attorney’s office before he spouts stupidity.
As a black man, I’d also like to endorse this particular edition of Nzinga’s “Myth Bustin’”…
The best way to explain the black reaction to whites (as I often tried to after the trial), is that it was comprised of 50% morbid comfort in the fact that finally, at least in this ONE instance, it was a black person that was effectively above the law due to his position/wealth, as opposed to the usual disenfranchisement we associate with blacks navigating the legal system; and 50% racial schadenfraude at the white reaction to this travesty of justice, which seemed extremely excessive in comparison to the white NON-reaction to the countless travesties of justice that blacks had endured in this country until then.
In any case, yes, I too don’t know a single black person that actually thinks he was innocent…
And as to Furman, I disagree with Bugliosi. I believe that there was a broad conspiracy to convict OJ, and Furman and Van Atta were in on it, as well as the sick nurse who reported taking 8cc of blood, but only had 6cc when it was turned in. Furman and Van Atta testified under oath that the only reasons they went over the fence were because they thought OJ was in danger because Furman knew that the victim was his ex from having been called to a previous domestic problem. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. 80 percent of female victim murders are by the ex-husband or boyfriend and Furman knew that. His willingness to lie under oath was established at the time that he went over the wall to “protect” OJ, rather than to admit to what he was doing.
Yes, it was a huge mistake to not get the flight evidence introduced, and blame should be cast to the prosecutors for that. But not as much as the lying cops and missing blood.
Around the time or just after the civil trial, I met a black woman who told me that she thought that he didn’t do it but he knew who did. I didn’t know what to make of that.
A black woman who was a co-worker of mine at the time of the original verdict drove 100 miles from Santa Barbara to L.A. to protest for OJ. I think that she really did think that he was innocent and framed. It would have fit into her worldview. She was a very unpleasant lady and I was one of the few people who she liked so I wasn’t going to ruin that by discussing the subject with her.
The few other black people who I have known and the subject came up with them thought that he was guilty.
Just to introduce some actual data on the theoretical point of the OP, at the time it was principally a black versus white thing. Black people did, in surveys, report back that they didn’t believe him to be guilty. For instance, here’s a British article from 1995, which says that 77% of whites believed him guilty and about 72% of blacks believed him innocent. But of course that’s 14 years ago, and quite a bit can change in that time.
'I don’t have any real position on this, but I want to mention that what people think NOW and what they thought THEN may be very different–and what they remember thinking then may also be inaccurate (there is plenty of evidence that people are lousy about remembering things).
In hindsight, it seems really obvious that OJ did it. At the height of the trial, it was a bit more ambiguous. I suspect that some of the people that now say “oh yeah, I knew he did it” may not have been as sure at the time–hell, I know I wasn’t. Time makes memories more absolute for everyone, so perhaps if a particular black person felt the evidence was ambiguous at the time, they may remember themselves as sure he was guilty (conforming to their current view) and their white friends at the time may remember that the black person was sure OJ was innocent (which confirms a prejudice and is a more interesting memory).
I pretty much agree with the OP. I never thought that most black people actually believed Simpson was innocent; they just saw it as an opportunity for some payback for the numerous cases of injustice that black people have experienced in the American legal system over the centuries.
Which is why white people are upset by it. Simpson is the equvalent of Byron De La Beckwith, Thomas Blanton, Sam Bowers, Roy Bryant, Bob Chambliss, Bobby Cherry, Edgar Ray Killen, and J.W. Milam - somebody who was able to get away with murder because of his race.
It’s ugly that so many white people never got upset about racial injustice until it favored a black man and it’s ugly that so many black people were willing to embrace racial injustice when it favored a black man.
Doesn’t this imply that it isn’t a black/white thing but a rich/poor thing. Had OJ been a poor white man, he would have been convicted. A rich white man, not. Black, no different. He could afford great lawyers and experts.
The funniest comment I heard was “The jury listened to 6 months of the trial, went back to their hotel, and dropped off a verdict in court on their way home”