Analysis Of The OJ Simpson Trial

During the seventies and sixties Heisman Trophy winner Orenthal James Simpson captivated the nation as the charismatic record setting running back for the USC Trojans, New York Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers. Many people regarded him as a man who transcended race such as Hertz CEO Frank Olson a company were Simpson was the face of the company throughout the seventies. However, the events of June twelfth 1994 changed that image when Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found murdered in her apartment. After a major pieces of evidence were found against Simpson such as the victims’ and his blood in his Bronco and his injury to the left side where police determined the killer must have injured, Simpson was arrested.

Douglas and Shawn Holley. In the trial that lasted three hundred seventy two days, numerous pieces of evidence were presented against Simpson which the prosecution led by Maria Clark believed proved Simpson’s guilt indubitably. Yet after less than 4 hours the jury came to the conclusion that Simpson was not guilty. Outside the Courtroom the trial polarized the nation with opinions on Simpson’s guilt or innocence being split down racial lines. While O.J. Simpson's acquittal was not based on race or gender concerns, his murder trial nonetheless highlighted racism within the Los Angeles Police Department, while outraging white women who felt that the verdict was a step back for women's rights.
The O.J. Simpson trial’s verdict and proceedings divided African Americans and Caucasian Americans by highlighting the racism

Simpson trial’s verdict and percidings was not based on race would be to ignore the cultural significance of the trial. After all of the evidence against O.J. Simpson was shown, seventy percent of Caucasian Americans believed O.J. Simpson was guilty yet seventy four percent of African Americans believed that O.J. Simpson was guilty (Gregory 1). Americans were completely spilt based on race and it is because the meaning of the trial varied between the races. To white Americans this was a double homicide were two murders must be brought to justice to black Americans this was this conspiracy for the character assassination of O.J. Simpson and way to bring down someone who was symbol of black success in America. When the jurors were a majority black they ruled not guilty and when the jurors were a majority black they convicted Simpson(Enomoto). These contrasting rulings showed how the biases the jurors had based on their race was major factor in their decision in their respective trial. In a 1996 study done by Rosen, it is shown that black women polled had a negative view of both Marcia Clark and Nicole Brown,