Tue 31 Mar 2020, 08:18 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour Party member.
It’s 25 years since the controversy of OJ Simpson’s acquittal for the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Storyville, a BBC4 production, entitled OJ made in America, interviewed schoolboy friends and those involved in OJ’s rise to fame. Regarded as one of American football greats who after retirement had a brief career as an actor, his rise to fame began at the height of the civil rights movement.
He was brought up in a poor district of Los Angeles and friends described him as someone who learnt the art of self preservation at an early age. From a single parent family, poverty was never far away. Like many black people, his family moved from the south to escape the poverty and racism. However, as one commenter points out, the experience in the north was the same, minus the dogs used to attack black protesters.
Civil rights movement of 1960s
A number of black sporting stars, including American footballers, joined the civil rights movement. Ali’s refusal of the draft to fight in Vietnam and the black power salutes of Tommy Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympic games are among the most famous acts of defiance. They were made to pay a price for their stand. OJ never participated and stated that he didn’t define himself as black but as OJ Simpson. A schoolboy friend stated that their heroes were not those like Martin Luther king, but local pimps and gangsters, because they clearly had money.
OJ was described as a man who was self-assured and was he was to become an iconic sports star. Nick-named the ‘Juice’ was among the first to endorse a range of commercial products. The advert for the Hertz Rental company was his most famous. After retirement from the sport, he become a movie star and a ‘celebrity’.
Trial became headline news
However, another side of his character emerged after his second marriage, to a white woman, Nicole Brown Simpson. Police were called on a number of occasions regarding disturbances at his home. The couple divorced but remained in contact because they had children.
One evening, police were called and discovered that she and a friend had been stabbed to death. The subsequent flight, police chase and then the arrest and trial of Simpson became international news. The trial was televised and was the main news item for a long time. It was also recorded daily on British TV. It soon emerged that the majority of black people supported OJ, while the majority of whites believed he was guilty.
Support for Simpson among black people is a product of decades of police brutally and bias shown by the legal system in general. The acquittal was seen as payback for the licence given to the LA police Department’s treatment of Black people, the brutal beating of Rodney King being but one of many examples. As a black women juror stated, the prosecution didn’t do a good job in proving his guilt. Forensic evidence was contaminated and a detective who had made racial slurs in the past and other errors were gifts to Simpson’s defence team.
Families of murdered took legal action
The trial revealed the deep fault lines within American society. Simpson, who refused to be defined by the colour of his skin, was using it for all its worth during the trial. During the 1980s, he was part of Corporate America. His reputation was severely damaged and former wealthy friends parted company. The families of the two murdered took legal action and won compensation. His celebrity had faded and later, he was jailed for alleged kidnapping and armed robbery. This had an element of farce over it. One commentator thought that the armed robbery sentence of 13 years was a ‘payback’ for the acquittal in the murder case.
Divide and rule has always been a weapon in controlling and derailing any movement to change society along socialist lines. Only a society that ends poverty and poor social conditions can heal the wounds caused by institutionalized racism in the USA.
