Happy #BlackHistoryMonth !
I'm still not onto Black history. I'm still on white US history.
Q: Why were Black folk so happy when OJ was acquitted? To be honest, it feels disgusting. Why does it seem like you're happy he got away with murder?
A: Racism. Black folk did not like OJ that much. In fact, many Black people think he did it. Black folk didn't "celebrate OJ." Black folk celebrated the hope that a brutally unjust, evil, and racist system, could be defeated at all.
1/N
Let me repeat something for folks that didn't hear it the first time: Black people did not love OJ.
OJ was basically the Kanye West of the 80s. He even hung out with the Kardashians! He was one of those anti-Black, pro-Reagan, Black Republican type celebrities.
This is not about OJ. At all.
It's entirely possible to show empathy for the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, dislike OJ and suspect his guilt, and be against systemic racism, all at the same time.
The advent of smartphones and body worn police cameras has changed white folks' perception of how often the police lie, brutalize Black people, and plant evidence. It hasn't changed Black people's opinions, because we already knew the truth. We didn't need smartphones. We got the Augmented Reality interactive experience.
You have to understand that at the time of the OJ trial, most of the United States still believed that Black folk were making all of the stories of police brutality up. 🤷🏿♂️
With George Floyd, the world witnessed just one police officer cruelly asphyxiate one Black man in cold blood. The star witness in the OJ trial, the cop that found most of the evidence, was a racist that boasted about LA cops strangling about a dozen Black men to death.
"We stopped the choke because a bunch of [N-words] have a bunch of these organizations in the south end, and because all [N-words] are choked out and killed -- twelve in ten years. Really is extraordinary, isn't it?"
And he bragged that he's better than most cops because he has the "courage" to just kill suspects he doesn't like by shooting them in the back, and shooting to kill, not just to stop, and working with a partner to cover up the murder.
And he talked about a particular suspect that he plans to kill if he is ever alone with that person. That would be premeditated murder.
This "highly decorated cop" also bragged about planting evidence against Black people to secure guilty verdicts in the past.
When OJ was arrested, a sample of blood was drawn from him, to compare DNA against crime scene samples. Let's say they withdrew X units of blood. Makes sense.
But instead of that blood being taken from where it was drawn from OJ, directly to the lab, that blood was taken *to the crime scene* by the same racist officer that has admitted to planting evidence in the past. 🤦🏿♂️
When the blood eventually did show up at the lab, some of it was "missing." Only Y units showed up at the lab. Y < X.🤦🏿♂️
After the blood took this little detour, a bunch of OJ's blood was found at the scene.🤔
But the LAPD's own blood splatter expert testified that this blood was placed there *after the crime*, and was almost certainly blood *from a medical collection tube*.
Because it did not spatter like real normal blood would have, it didn't separate, and because the blood contained the chemical anti-coagulant found at the bottom of blood sample tubes.🤡
When that star witness police officer was asked point blank if he had planted the evidence, he invoked the 5th amendment.
For folks outside the US: The 5th amendment is invoked when a person feels that saying anything further could incriminate themselves.
Instead of saying, "No, I did not plant evidence at the OJ Simpson crime scene," he said, "I'm not answering any more questions, because I might incriminate myself."
That star witness was also caught lying under oath during the OJ trial, committing perjury. Specifically, he lied about his racism.
Most people that are convinced that OJ did it, believe that based on evidence found by this one police officer. It really comes down to if you believe that a cop that has admitted to planting evidence in the past, is caught lying under oath during this trial, and pleads the 5th rather than saying "I did not plant evidence here again," could have planted evidence.
It was a referendum on the fairness of Los Angeles policing.
Many Black people's views on OJ:
* He probably did it
* Had motive and opportunity
* It's often the husband
* OJ is a bad person anyway
* I don't want a murderer to go free. I want people to see how evil LA policing is.
* Johnny Cochran exposed what we've been saying all along
* OJ may have killed 2 innocent people, but cops kill dozens of innocent Black people
* Cops lie in court. They plant false evidence.
* I like Johnny Cochran!
If OJ was the Kanye of the '80s, then Johnny Cochran was the Ben Crump of the '90s.
Only a fantastically racist system could get a conviction under the circumstances of the OJ trial, with the defense that Johnny Cochran put together. Cochran proved that yes, the system is racist, but with enough money and a smart enough lawyer, that racism could be exposed.
If OJ was convicted, that would be incredibly demoralizing for Black folk. It would show that justice just does not apply for Black folk.
Because of racism, Johnny Cochran's accomplishment of bringing all of this racism to light was reduced to the jury being gullible, and him being a fast-talking minstrel. All of the work uncovering this corruption was reduced to "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!"
In the wake of the disaster that was the failure to get a conviction, the government proposed all types of changes. None of the changes involved ridding the police force of remaining cops like the one that tanked this case.🤦🏿♂️
Most of the world was not ready to even begin to understand why Black folk celebrated the OJ verdict.
Now that the world has seen George Floyd, and understands what Ben Crump does for the families of George Floyd and so many others, we might be able to understand.
Read the entire transcript of that star officer, in his own words:
https://www.mdcbowen.org/p2/bh/fuhrman.htm
Please don't try to talk to any Black people, (especially me!), about the OJ trial, if you have not read this transcript in its entirety.
Also, shout out to Laura Hart McKinny, screenwriter, professor, author, and most importantly, good human being. ♥️👍🏿
She watched this racist, murdering cop lie on the stand after probably planting evidence, and said, "Nope. Not on my watch. I have receipts!"
That horrific transcript is from taped interviews that she conducted. If it weren't for her, the truth might not be known.
Warning: Audio of that cop talking during McKinny CNN interview:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7O1SBXRjOR8
Yep.
US media works hard to give the impression that US Black folk have a child-like and simplistic view complex systems like voting or criminal justice. It's presented as if Black folk have less knowledge about how things should work. "We lost the King verdict, so we should win this one to come out even!🤡" Or Johnny said "If it don't fit, you must acquit!🤡"
The reality is that necessity forces US Black folk to have a much more complete and accurate picture of these systems.🤷🏿♂️
I haven't presented any new evidence in this thread. Nothing that wasn't known to every single journalist covering crime and the OJ trial at the time that it was happening. All of them.
Any newspaper could have lead with the Fuhrman tapes, or the evidence tampering, or the other forms of racism.
But they didn't.
Derek Chauvin killed one person. LA cops laughed about killing over a dozen. 80s Black film and rap is filled with references to these intentional murders. No one cared.
I could totally see my parents (The "Greatest" Generation) buying into the exceptionalist thesis.
But then, they also fought WWII, had 3 whole broadcast channels to choose from, & lived through the Eisenhower era & John Wayne, so the mainstream cultural narrative was much more thoroughly laundered than what we have today.
I just don't understand how it costs so much more to say,
"I think I'm missing something with the Black community's response to the OJ trial. What's your understanding of it?"
(and don't get me wrong, that's not appropriate in all situations, but the leading questions you posted have no space in any conversation ever - but they're also accurate to the questions people ask and then demand to be treated seriously)
@jonathanpeterson @mekkaokereke
i was young, but your response completely misses my point. i listened to radio coverage primarily, though, not TV.
firstly, that question could not have been on the lips of white progressives if there wasn't a lot of searching for common ground - searching for common ground is baked into it.
secondly, it's not about discussing it at the time although it could have been.
if you are holding two sets of facts that seem conflicting (Black folks celebrated the OJ verdict) and (OJ got away with murder) and your response is to not try to reach common ground, that's racist. because the potential answers to this conflict are either projecting some pretty racist shit on black people or your understanding of the full picture is lacking.
so, rather than trying to splain the OJ trial at Black folks, pointing out that you're confused and not asking a single Black person to speak for the community is the only reasonable approach
@jonathanpeterson @mekkaokereke
i was confused at the time and my response was to assume i was missing something.
a few years later, it came up in a political discussion between two family friends who were arguing while cooking. they were discussing it from a shared point of understanding despite one being Black and one white, so i admitted my lack of understanding and asked them how they saw the verdict.
and they broke it down for me.
when i'm not part of a demographic and i see that demographic's response to something (either as represented by the media or personally witnessed) differs from what seems to make sense i generally assume i'm missing something. because i usually am.
that's the nature of perspective. and it'd be really bigoted of me to think i know better or more.
@deilann @mekkaokereke I assume you're aware that there was no significant American conversation about police framing black people for crimes as a result of the OJ verdict? The conversation was about what the prosecution may have done wrong. What Cocheran did.
Maybe you should read contemporaneous reporting analysis of the trial. https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1260&context=mjrl. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/highlights/toobin.html
The google article has a ton of links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_to_the_verdict_in_the_O._J._Simpson_criminal_trial
@jonathanpeterson @mekkaokereke
Yes, I was aware. I'm not sure why you think that takes away from my point, rather than bolstering it.
@jonathanpeterson @mekkaokereke
Your argument keeps boiling down to "but people didn't have the information to understand why Black folks might have responded the way they did." Correct. I fully agree with that.
But that's also why the only non-racist response to the information "many Black folks celebrated the OJ verdict" is to assume they had good reason to do so and thus you must be missing something.
Because assuming what you know is the full story implies either "Black folks are stupid/uninformed" or "Black folks hate white folks so much they see a murderer getting away with it as something to celebrate."
Those are both pretty fucking racist.
@deilann @mekkaokereke Exactly. Which which is pretty much what the response was from most white folks and the national media at the time. Rodney King riots we understood. OJ, not so much. Partially because of coverage ignoring LA police history.
I'm the 58 year old child of white, southern, civil rights activists. I knew how racist the judicial system was in Mississippi, where I grew up. I assumed northeastern cities and the west coast were far better. I was very wrong.
@jonathanpeterson @mekkaokereke
you say "exactly" but nothing you've said demonstrates understanding.
your focus on making a case for white ignorance is making me incredibly uncomfortable at this point, especially in the context of this being a Black man's thread talking about the OJ trial
you keep implying that i don't know the extent of white ignorance at the time as if it matters
but it doesn't
there are situations where a discussion of white ignorance can make sense
this is not one of them.
I knew bits of this — but not all of it, and not the full context you’ve described.
<click> <ah!>
Thanks.
And now i will go read the *whole* transcript.
@mekkaokereke thanks for asking me to read this. Made me sick. Had to scroll at the end.
CW #Police Violence
"You choke him out until he tells you the truth. You know it is kind of funny, but a lot of policemen will get a kick out of it."
I am afraid I believe that it is like this in other police forces as well. White straight people don't believe me. Unless they have been to a climate protest and see it happening themselves.
@mekkaokereke Has anyone credited the Ryan Murphy show, "The People vs OJ Simpson?"
I'll admit it -- the show changed my mind on the matter.
@jonathanpeterson @mekkaokereke
Yes. This was similar to my thinking at the time.
I did not know about the "problems" with their "star witness."
But the rest of the trial, like "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit." just made me think that the prosecution was fundamentally botched in more ways than I could know or understand at the time.
Yes, this improves my understanding.
Sincere thanks.
@mekkaokereke
Thank you for the history lesson. I was in college at the time. Too busy to watch, and I didn't think I'd see the real story from news reports. (It's only entertainment, after all.)
I had a couple black friends who described the police corruption to me. But I was a farm boy & knew a couple of local cops who were more like Andy Griffin. It seemed unreal.
Living in the city over the years has shown me a bit of what the black community experiences.
@mekkaokereke read the whole thing - woah
I remember the bronco, the glove, and Kato, but had no recollection of the racism part of the trial
internet search tells me nothing happened from his taped confessions of police brutality
@armando Well, something happened, just not what you'd think.
He got a job as a regular contributor on Fox news. 🤡
He is one of their main "Crime and Justice" experts. 🤷🏿♂️
@mekkaokereke I can't get through that. It's worse than I knew, but pretty much what I expected.
I laughed when he was acquitted, because LAPD was embarrassed.
@mekkaokereke Thank you for all of this. I was a young teen when it all happened, and living on the other side of the world. I knew it was happening but didn't have nearly enough experience or awareness to understand.
Still, I have my opinions about his acquittal...but I respect your exhortation not to engage with a Black person on the subject unless I have all available information. I just honestly don't know if I can stomach reading that transcript. Yes, that's my privilege talking.... contd
@mekkaokereke ... I am keenly aware that my ability *not* to expose my heart to such vileness is a white luxury most Black people cannot access. It's also my anxiety and depression talking. So I vacillate between responsibility toward my fellow humans and responsibility toward my mental health.
Words and thoughts and phrases like that corrupt cop's are hard to process when depression wants to turn it all into despair.
I will read if I can. 🙏
You don't have to read it! Exposing yourself to that trauma will not improve your life. You can just believe what I say that it says.
Of course, if someone thinks OJ did it and got away with it, and that angers them, that is an appropriate response… and they should keep in mind that the right party to blame for that situation is the police.
If the police are so thoroughly corrupted and biased that none of their ‘evidence’ or testimony can be trusted, subsequent failures of justice are on them.
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