I am watching "OJ: Made in America." I'm surprised at how much my opinion hasn't changed since I was a teenager. It was always crystal clear in my mind: he probably did it and there was no way he was going to get convicted. And it sucked, and there were no winners, and only highlighted what I experienced as a teenage blk back then and what millions of blk people experience and it's an heinous existence that white people don't care about but then turn around and expect everyone else to leave their own experience behind and be objectively fair. (which, by the way, everyone should be able to do but few accomplish in their daily lives). Pretty much the pre-existing paradigm walking into the case was that black ppl (specifically in LA from which the jury pool was selected) were systemically abused, murdered, kept in poverty by a comprehensively evil system of apartheid for generations.
Despite video evidence, time and time again police got away with murdering black people, the government allowed riots to rip apart the city, and -as a result- blacks were shoved deeper into apartheid. And then....one of the most famous and idolized black people is arrested for murdering 2 white ppl and the key evidence is found by a competent but well-documented racist detective who wanted to be put on medical leave for how much he hated 'niggers and Mexicans' (in his own words) and happens to look like an evil Nazi. Prosecutors said 'sure he looks and acts like a Nazi and you have all these awful experiences as blk ppl but...I mean, come on...the guy is under a lot of stress as a police officer.' And you have a jury of mostly middle-aged black women sitting there -probably boiling with hundreds of yrs of rage- and white faces standing there saying 'let's murder this handsome black hero' and -surprise- jurors were like 'FUCK THAT SHIT. FUCK YOU, FUCK THIS COUNTRY.'
And no, it wasn't a victory of black people. It was a middle finger to a white system and YES it's not fair that it was at the expense of two innocent white victims. And even in high school after football practice when someone jokingly shouted 'free OJ' another black teen shouted back just as quickly 'fuck that nigga! He ain't do shit for me and doesn't care about us.' And it's all true. And no one won. And a murderer got away with it b/c of a murderous unjust system kills millions of blacks and oppresses just as many on a daily basis, but this same system has a tiny loophole for 'token celebrity heroes.' And it encapsulates this nation even today as we have elected a 'racist celebrity rapist' as president on the backs of angry white voters. And the cherry on top of it all that the documentary highlights is a picture of OJ and Trump smiling together...and OJ is a villain in prison and the other guy is in the White House.
Despite video evidence, time and time again police got away with murdering black people, the government allowed riots to rip apart the city, and -as a result- blacks were shoved deeper into apartheid. And then....one of the most famous and idolized black people is arrested for murdering 2 white ppl and the key evidence is found by a competent but well-documented racist detective who wanted to be put on medical leave for how much he hated 'niggers and Mexicans' (in his own words) and happens to look like an evil Nazi. Prosecutors said 'sure he looks and acts like a Nazi and you have all these awful experiences as blk ppl but...I mean, come on...the guy is under a lot of stress as a police officer.' And you have a jury of mostly middle-aged black women sitting there -probably boiling with hundreds of yrs of rage- and white faces standing there saying 'let's murder this handsome black hero' and -surprise- jurors were like 'FUCK THAT SHIT. FUCK YOU, FUCK THIS COUNTRY.'
And no, it wasn't a victory of black people. It was a middle finger to a white system and YES it's not fair that it was at the expense of two innocent white victims. And even in high school after football practice when someone jokingly shouted 'free OJ' another black teen shouted back just as quickly 'fuck that nigga! He ain't do shit for me and doesn't care about us.' And it's all true. And no one won. And a murderer got away with it b/c of a murderous unjust system kills millions of blacks and oppresses just as many on a daily basis, but this same system has a tiny loophole for 'token celebrity heroes.' And it encapsulates this nation even today as we have elected a 'racist celebrity rapist' as president on the backs of angry white voters. And the cherry on top of it all that the documentary highlights is a picture of OJ and Trump smiling together...and OJ is a villain in prison and the other guy is in the White House.
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