O.J. Simpson Civil Trial
After reading a recent article concerning the O.J. Simpson civil trial (“Simpson Trial: Deja Vu With a Difference,” Sept. 15), I was filled with despair. As an African American, I feel this way because I realize that the new trial has the potential to rekindle racial tension between blacks and whites.
Many white Americans, who condemn O.J. Simpson for spousal abuse even while grudgingly accepting his acquittal of murder, sincerely wonder why black people have embraced him with such conviction.
Simply stated, African Americans generally believe that before, during and since the trial, Simpson had been lynched by the media. To make their point, many black people compare the media’s treatment of Simpson to coverage of defendants Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh. The latter are accused of having bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City in April 1995.
In spite of the fact that the Oklahoma bombing was the worst terrorist act in this nation’s history, few Americans know the defendants’ names, fewer still have read or heard anything from the victims’ families and the attorneys in the case are rarely mentioned in the media. In contrast to this, every American knows of defendant Simpson, the Browns and Goldmans are household names and the attorneys for all sides are now the most famous lawyers in the world.
The media justify this glaring discrepancy by citing Simpson’s wealth and fame. Black people, on the other hand, see it as just one in a million ways that the media incite racial tensions and perpetuate white bigotry and injustice.
OMEGA SEWARD SHEPHERD
Carson
* The outcome of the Simpson civil trial will be decided not on the skill of evidence presentation but on the skill of jury selection.
SHIRLEY TIPTON
La Mesa
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