Pitting black against white greatest crime that O.J. Simpson commited

Now that the O.J. Simpson saga has fulfilled its course, and the civil trials have drawn to a close, I want to say that the events that have transpired in this country since June 1994 have made me ashamed of the society which exists in the United States today. A society that has used this case as an example portraying the gap between African Americans and Whites.

Following the announcement of the verdict stating that Mr. Simpson was financially liable for the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, there have been many articles published discussing how the case has increased racial tensions in the United States. The only reason that Mr. Simpson's race became an issue in the case was due to the criminal defense strategy attempting to portray the Los Angeles Police Department as a group of bigots who were "jealous" of Mr. Simpson's fame, and decided before they even arrived at the crime scene who the murderer was. The "Dream Team" of Simpson's criminal case used the African American public to create a facade that their client was being persecuted due to the color of his skin rather than the huge amount of evidence that pointed directly to O.J. Now, after Mr. Simpson was found liable in the civil case, many African Americans who believed in his innocence are caught in a trap. Do they remain in denial and believe the testimony of Mr. Simpson, even after he stated, on the witness stand under oath that he never hit his wife, or wore those "Ugly-Ass" size 12 Bruno Magli shoes (despite photos proving the contrary)? Or, do African Americans admit that they were indeed used by the "Dream Team" and that Mr. Simpson was indeed guilty of the murders?

Yes, a primarily African American jury found Mr. Simpson not guilty, and a primarily white jury found him liable for the murders, but although the cases had the same defendant, they were two entirely different cases. In the civil case Mr. Simpson had to take the witness stand, and in the criminal case he did not. Many of the civil jurors have publicly stated that their key reason for finding Mr. Simpson liable for the murders was the belief that he was lying on the witness stand. Still there are those who believe in conspiracy against O.J., and that he is a martyr for the rift in race relations which exist in the country today. I think that a person who believes in Mr. Simpson's martyrdom directly insults anyone who fought for civil rights in the 1960s when there was a rift between African American and whites, and racial policies such as segregation existed. If you want to follow a martyr in the struggle against racism in this country, why not pick Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks rather than a man who was responsible for the deaths of two innocent people? I will say there is a gap between African Americans and whites in the United States today, but using these cases as an example of racism could be the greatest crime committed by O.J. Simpson.

By Adam Vickers (letter)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 20, 1997