O.J. Simpson case 20 years on: Views in black and white

I wouldn't say its a black or white thing. It is more like you either have a good defense attorney or you don't. Wealthy defendants are better off. Poor defendants are not. Quite simple! Not racial at all.

Initial arrests may have some racial tones. However many police forces have many black officers and the same arrest tendencies apply for them. Not as racial as some would like us to believe.

OJ is guilty. OJ is in prison now. OJ should some day man up!

But for many African-Americans, his likely guilt remains overwhelmed by a potent mix: the racism of the lead detective and the history of black mistreatment by the justice system.

I have a bit of understanding of where they are coming from. Reading the latest Atlantic magazine's cover article by Ta'Nehisi Coates helped to solidify that understanding, as did the work to research and analyze the evidence and trial of George Zimmerman.

His money and fame placed him far from the poor, black men languishing in the criminal justice system.

But not today as he languishes in prison.

Not racial at all.

MarkG - you obviously weren't around like i was during the trial and I can assure you it was extremely racial. The jury were predominantly black and the LAPD at the time had a very bad relationship with LAs minorities. They were seen as the enemy in Las Angeles. OJ's defence played the race card from day one to a sympathetic jury and the outcome was inevitable.

sonnycorleona - More I was referring to the black-white climate at that time and today in USA. Not specific to the OJ trial.

OJ with a good ($$$) defense attorney, found not guilty. OJ with a free public defender likely would have been fount guilty.

“It represented something bigger than the case, the battle between good and evil, the battle between the white man and the black man. It was at that level.”

But that wasn't what it was about. It was about a man with a violent past who was a well known wife beater who killed his ex and her friend. Black and male means more power than white and female. Why is THAT never discussed? The race card was indeed played and I remember the day he was found innocent - white and black male football fans cheering, white and black women in shock. You can kill a woman and her make friend but since you're a rich football hero, you can get away with it. Disgusting then, disgusting now.

It wasn't a case of black and white. It was a case of green.

tmarie - the Jury consisted of 10 women, 2 men. By race, 9 black, 1 Hispanic, 1 white. I don't think gender played a role at all. Even in the NFL, there were racial tensions between white and black players on many teams when OJs guilt was discussed.

Gender played a huge role in this. The fact that a man can kill a women in cold blood and get away with it speaks volumes. The fact that a known spouse beater who had been stalking and bothering her and nothing was done speaks volumes. The jury didn't really have much choice considering the prosecution's numerous screw ups. I'm not saying there weren't racial tensons - I stated that the race card was played. My point is that this man, like many others, can kill a women and rather than focus on that, the men will all focus on race rather than look at the main issue - male pride, ego and the treatment of women. OJ didn't killer Nicole because she was white. He killed her because he couldn't control her.

If you are, quite rightly, opposed to the abuse of the criminal justice system, how does acquitting a guilty man, whatever his skin colour, help to make things right?

It's some of the poor guys on death row who never had a proper defence and had corrupt, racist or incompetent police handling their cases that people should be concerned about.

This is the non-liberal, arguement for strong action to prevent police abuse of power: because it makes law and order break down. O.J. was so obviously guilty, it was embarassing. But due to the overt racism present on the LAPD (remember, this is only 2 years after the LA riots caused by the videotaped beating of Rodney King), conviction by a competent laywer was a virtual certainty (I also recall that the prosecutors were total morons.....)

The Jury wanted to send the LAPD a message and were willing to cut a guilty man loose to do so.

On a related note, how stupid is OJ? He literally gets away with murder, escapes civil judgement by living in Florida, and what does he do? He invades a hotel room with a gun and holds people against their will to get "his stuff" back. Rot, OJ, you moron.