Quote:
Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Well, lots of us white people don't have it staring us in the face too much -- especially if (like me) we grew up in areas that were de facto segregated or had a tiny minority population. [But then I joined the Army, moved South, etc.]
I was also struck by the split reaction to the verdict -- reflecting very different perceptions on that "reality." I too was at work when it was announced. TV on in the conference room, crowded with people. Every black person in the room (at that firm, in that office, at that time -- they were all staff) cheered, celebrated, or otherwise expressed satisfaction. Every white person in the room (lawyers and staff) just turned around and left.
If that verdict was useful for anything, it was for the lesson that the quality of "justice" you receive is even more about money than race.
S_A_M
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Interesting. I guess you didn't watch the riots sparked by the Rodney King beating and verdict? Guess your tv was at the shop.
What amazes me is that so many white people still think that black people were happy for OJ. When really, most black people I know thought that OJ was an asshole who wanted to leap back into the arms of a community he had rejected, once he got into trouble. (Hard to blame him for that when every white person he wasn't paying ran in the exact opposite direction of him when for so long he was considered "one of the good ones,"* but I digress.)
Black people were expressing satisfaction over the fact that the system was finally worked by a black man in his favor. Not too many examples of that throughout history. I must admit that it was somewhat satisfying watching white people react and say shit like, "Where's the justice?!?" between tears. As I've said over and over again, where were these tears for all times a black man has been falsely accused? Where was the outrage over the woman who drowned her kids, said a black man took them and subjected a whole community to an overzealous police force? Since we had to suck up the old, "the system isn't perfect" crap for so many years, it was nice seeing those words shoved right back down their throats. That really has nothing to do with the fact that OJ got away with it. It's a "I guess you see what we've been dealing with" moment.
To this day, I don't understand why so many people were so upset about this particular murder and verdict. No one gave a shit about her before she was killed. Why is she more important than anyone else that gets murdered by an ex? But again, that is neither here nor there, I guess.
And I take your point about money, but that only applies when people have money. When you don't have money (and sometimes, even when you do), you are at the mercy of a panel of people with internalized stereotypes, fears and assumptions that influence the outcomes of trials all the time.
TM
*If you didn't know anything about his football career, he was that black guy who ran after Mr. Johnson at the airport bringing his bag to him, smiling the whole way.
