Hypothetically, of course.....
On October 3, 1995, when the jury came back with their verdict, I was at work. I worked as an accounting clerk for a gasoline tanker trucking company with many African American staff, and of course, the O.J. trial was constant fodder for jokes, and the overwhelming consensus was "yah, he's a murderer".
Nevertheless, when the verdict was read "not guilty", ALL of the Black people present were hooting and cheering and clapping. ALL of the White/Asian/Latino people present gasped and groaned. One half-black / half-white lady shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and I did feel really bad for her.
Aside from the innappropriateness of hooting and clapping and cheering in an office setting, I was struck by the reaction. Obviously, the perpetrators of the beating of Reginald Denny and the burnings of Korean American stores in 1992 had gotten off scot-free, and that shocked me, but this was even worse. It had been a very long trial and surely there had been time to cool down, I reasoned, unlike the riots. Surely Johnnie Cochran's antics were revolting; hadn't the jury come back quickly?
How could they cheer an obviously guilty man? How could they be full of such pathological hate? If my African American co-workers had said, "Sorry, we know he's guilty, but that Mark Fuhrman guy REALLY blew it, and you know that jury was made up of the 12 dumbest people they could get...." I could have understood.
Perhaps they were actually thinking that. I don't know. But it made a lasting impression on me. (See earlier post). Until that day, I assumed that my Black co-workers, some of whom I had worked with long enough to start calling friends, were still, despite whatever cultural and political differences we had, more or less "the same", in terms of their hopes and dreams and wants and desires, as I was.
I found a much better job a few months later, thank goodness.
What I have always wondered is: Isn't there some terminally ill person who could go "pull a Jack Ruby" on O.J.?
As I understand it, Jack Ruby ostensibly shot Oswald because he was terminally ill and wanted to die a hero. I know, the conspiracy theories will never end, but for the purpose of the O.J. Simpson case, let's just say that we need a terminally ill person who wants to go out with a bang, like Jack Ruby ostensibly was.
I think, should I one day discover I am terminally ill with an inoperable cancer, that I shall go stalk and kill O.J. It would bring meaning to my then ending life.
Anyone else with me?
What needs to happen to O.J. Simpson:
We need a modern-day Jack Ruby:
On October 3, 1995, when the jury came back with their verdict, I was at work. I worked as an accounting clerk for a gasoline tanker trucking company with many African American staff, and of course, the O.J. trial was constant fodder for jokes, and the overwhelming consensus was "yah, he's a murderer".
Nevertheless, when the verdict was read "not guilty", ALL of the Black people present were hooting and cheering and clapping. ALL of the White/Asian/Latino people present gasped and groaned. One half-black / half-white lady shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and I did feel really bad for her.
Aside from the innappropriateness of hooting and clapping and cheering in an office setting, I was struck by the reaction. Obviously, the perpetrators of the beating of Reginald Denny and the burnings of Korean American stores in 1992 had gotten off scot-free, and that shocked me, but this was even worse. It had been a very long trial and surely there had been time to cool down, I reasoned, unlike the riots. Surely Johnnie Cochran's antics were revolting; hadn't the jury come back quickly?
How could they cheer an obviously guilty man? How could they be full of such pathological hate? If my African American co-workers had said, "Sorry, we know he's guilty, but that Mark Fuhrman guy REALLY blew it, and you know that jury was made up of the 12 dumbest people they could get...." I could have understood.
Perhaps they were actually thinking that. I don't know. But it made a lasting impression on me. (See earlier post). Until that day, I assumed that my Black co-workers, some of whom I had worked with long enough to start calling friends, were still, despite whatever cultural and political differences we had, more or less "the same", in terms of their hopes and dreams and wants and desires, as I was.
I found a much better job a few months later, thank goodness.
What I have always wondered is: Isn't there some terminally ill person who could go "pull a Jack Ruby" on O.J.?
As I understand it, Jack Ruby ostensibly shot Oswald because he was terminally ill and wanted to die a hero. I know, the conspiracy theories will never end, but for the purpose of the O.J. Simpson case, let's just say that we need a terminally ill person who wants to go out with a bang, like Jack Ruby ostensibly was.
I think, should I one day discover I am terminally ill with an inoperable cancer, that I shall go stalk and kill O.J. It would bring meaning to my then ending life.
Anyone else with me?
What needs to happen to O.J. Simpson:
We need a modern-day Jack Ruby:
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