THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Warnings of Unrest Bring Angry Reaction

At the height of the Mark Fuhrman tapes furor, I received a phone call from an African American author, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, who felt black leaders were wrong when they warned of a tape-inspired riot.

“I’ve been simmering about it,” said Hutchinson, an independent, progressive voice in the black community.

His call followed a press conference late last month at the South Los Angeles headquarters of the Brotherhood Crusade. “This community is a powder keg . . . capable of repeating the actions of 1992,” said Danny Bakewell, who heads the group.

John Mack of the Urban League said there was a potential for trouble if black community residents feel the authorities are withholding the taped stories of the retired Los Angeles police detective. Excerpts were made public during the O.J. Simpson trial, but most of the contents remain undisclosed.

The group also included Geraldine Washington, acting president of the local NAACP branch, Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden and the Rev. Frank J. Higgins, president of the 400-church Baptist Ministers Conference.

Their appearance, said Hutchinson, “is a conscious effort by black leaders to misinterpret deliberately what many African Americans are thinking about the tapes.”

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Hutchinson is well known for his commentaries on KPFK, the liberal FM radio station, and his books, “The Assassination of the Black Male Image” and the forthcoming “Beyond O.J.: Race, Sex and Class.”

He’s a relentless campaigner against racism. In a commentary in The Times on affirmative action, for example, he scoffed at “the angry white male blues.” What’s important, he said, is: “Is the racism that continues to pervade the workplace fair?”

But he often sees things differently from the African American organizational leaders who make the news. For example, Hutchinson took a contrarian view of the opening of the new Magic Johnson theaters in the Crenshaw Baldwin Hills Mall. Amid widespread community praise for the project, Hutchinson wrote that while he was proud to be part of the opening day celebration, he was put off by the way Johnson repeatedly implored the community not to create any disturbances there.

“Magic apparently believes African Americans present a special security problem,” he said. “This is a myth. The majority of South-Central residents take pride in their homes, their jobs and their community. Most young blacks in the area do not join gangs or deal drugs. There is also no evidence that African Americans are more destructive toward property or present a greater security problem than young whites.”

In other words, Hutchinson doesn’t like stereotypes. And as we talked on the phone, I saw that what enraged him about the black leaders was the way they portrayed the world--black and white--in terms of stereotypes.

“If I can categorize one overriding reaction to the Fuhrman tapes [among blacks] it is that ‘What’s new? That the police have a different standard on how they police the black community and how they police the suburbs?’ ”

“To take a leap from that to we’re going to have a riot is stoking the sentiment, playing on the sentiments of some whites that the inner city is a tinderbox and anything could set it off.

“After the Rodney King beating, I don’t remember anyone running out in the street with rocks and bottles,” he said. “They felt that in the end, justice should be served, that they should let the justice system take its course. And even then it was a small minority [who were violent.] The overwhelming majority opposed the violence.”

By talking riot, he said, the leaders are scaring the town without reason. “What you are setting the [black] community up for is a huge increase in police presence because [whites] perceive there is going to be a riot.”

It doesn’t make sense, he said. “The Fuhrman tapes are going to benefit the defense,” he said. “If we accept that, why, if the defense is holding the cards on this issue, and it could create reasonable doubt, why would black people go out on the street and riot.”

Another good point raised by Hutchinson: “I don’t hear anyone running around saying we are going to have a riot in Westwood or the Palisades” if Simpson is acquitted.

I asked why all this was happening. “I think there is a lot of posturing going on,” he said. “I think it is posturing, or positioning for visibility or name recognition. It’s brought out the worst in posturing. It’s a golden opportunity to advance your name or agenda, if you have one.”

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The Fuhrman tapes furor has cooled off a bit as the prosecution moves into its rebuttal. Gloves and DNA occupied the stage on Tuesday. But the tapes won’t go away.

Laura Hart McKinny, the aspiring screenwriter who taped the conversations with Fuhrman, filed papers in court Tuesday declaring the tapes were her “intellectual property.” She asked for the return of all the tapes and transcripts Judge Lance A. Ito has ruled inadmissible in the Simpson case. That’s most of the material.

The defense is maneuvering furiously to get another crack at Fuhrman and the tapes. Politically, state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and 30 community leaders demanded action against the retired detective.

Next time the tapes issue heats up, it would be smart to remember Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s words.