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Originally Posted by pbradley
I don't see how any of this justifies the idea that a black man has never been tried fairly under the law until the highly publicized OJ Simpson trial. It is no new news to me that you have a severely selective view of history but to deny the progress the black community has made within the American courts is remarkable.
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I think you have given to much credit for black progress within the legal system, and there are thousands of black men in prison right now who might agree.
Its not that a single black man has not been tried fairly, sure people get fair trials, but there is still a methodical injustice against black men in the legal system today
The racialization of the OJ murder trial was incredible. Most people did not look into the details at all, they just said HE DID IT, which happens in many murders, the spouse takes the blaim, this is not racial by itself. HOWEVER, the fervency of people's conviction that he did it, is revealing. They cared a lot more about it, and racism played a big part in that, and when he was exonerated, they called foul, because after all, it is not the norm, in America when black men go to court they go to jail, often for excessive amounts of time compared to white counterparts, and this robbery trial definitely attests to that fact.
People held a grudge against OJ because they perceived it as a black man killing a white woman, which historically will get you into some shit, and OJ proved innocent until proven guilty, which is the supposed premise of our entire society.
Now, that he is convicted of a crime, they throw the book at him, which they often do to black men, but especially because of the baggage of simpson personally.