After I heard that O.J. Simpson died, a number of ideas crossed my thoughts. Principally, I wanted to write down about it: I’ve a simultaneous fascination with and disdain for soccer and the way the sport is an amalgamation of American tradition—the dichotomous great thing about the sport and the target destruction of primarily Black our bodies for white revenue and leisure. I’ve at all times been enthusiastic about social activism and the way high-profile individuals, from actors to athletes, use their platforms to advertise causes they care about.
I used to be born after Simpson’s 1995 homicide trial, so I missed all the things when it was truly occurring: the white Bronco, the notorious glove becoming, and, in fact, the decision. I perceive the overwhelming pleasure many Black Individuals felt when Simpson was discovered not responsible. He was on trial, in entrance of the complete nation, for brutally murdering a white lady: only for a second, take into consideration what number of instances in American historical past Black males and boys have been lynched, overwhelmed and tortured due to their perceived menace to white womanhood. O.J. escaped that destiny. It was certainly cathartic to see what *seemed like* a Black man lastly being handled pretty by the prison justice system.
Black America’s celebration and white America’s bewilderment at the results of Simpson’s trial was one of many first instances that white Individuals have been pressured to reckon with the actual fact the justice system usually doesn’t ship on its promise of integrity and due course of for all. One thing beforehand invisible to white individuals—the best way American police and the prison justice system grind down Black individuals—was all of the sudden thrust onto the nationwide stage, and everyone needed to course of it.
However once more—I wasn’t alive for this groundbreaking cultural second. Earlier than watching each O.J.: Made in America and The Individuals v. O.J. Simpson in 2016, I merely considered O.J. as “that man who individuals struggle about whether or not he’s a assassin or not.” Watching these two collection was the primary time I understood the depth of what his trial meant for America.
Nevertheless, what didn’t appear to be clear to individuals on the time was how Simpson’s authorized workforce painted him to be a Black man railroaded by the justice system, however in actuality, earlier than his trial, O.J. by no means publicly spoke on Black points. In actual fact, individuals in his shut circles comment how he usually mentioned “(he’s) not Black. (He’s) O.J.” For his whole skilled profession, he actively distanced himself from all issues Black: when Rodney King was overwhelmed in L.A. and when Muhammad Ali refused the Vietnam draft, O.J. was staunchly silent. He had shut ties with the LAPD and his authorized workforce poured all the things into emphasizing his Blackness to make their story of a person framed by police extra believable to the jury.
To me, he seemed responsible. And I don’t know the place this leaves us: his trial uncovered a deeply flawed justice system entrenched in antiBlack racism. On the identical time, O.J. solely embraced his Blackness when it got here time to avoid wasting his personal pores and skin and to consider it that method looks like a slap within the face to the Black neighborhood. Is his legacy as a legendary athlete sufficient that we really feel snug sitting in that disappointment? Is it tarnishing Simpson’s reminiscence if each time we converse of him, we convey up his homicide trial?
I consider we as a society can assume critically about what to do when celebrities disappoint us. It will get more durable when there are the added layers of race and fandom—in the end, we aren’t buddies with well-known individuals and placing apart our ardour as followers is commonly troublesome. But it surely’s doable to acknowledge O.J.’s athletic prowess and the truth that he completely encountered racism in his life, whereas additionally not excusing the brutality he inflicted on the individuals round him. If we’re going to recollect O.J. Simpson, let’s keep in mind all of him and what his story taught us about race in America.
