Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a believer Star Chambers or judicial retribution for past sins left unpunished. However, I AM a big believer in Karma, in so far as you reap what you sew. Let me explain…
Like many sports figures, O. J. Simpson grew up being told by authority figures in his life that the rules did not apply to him. I’m sure it started small…he got to skate on passing tests, then curfews, then probably traffic laws, (I suspect) a couple of assaults or two. Then he got married to Nichole Brown.
I have a number of friends who happen to be of African descent. I say “happen to be” because their color doesn’t matter to me, any more than mine should to them. I like them because they’re great guys – not because they are black, or in spite of it. Color just doesn’t enter into it. I think that’s how it should be. When you don’t care about race, you really are “color-blind.” I was talking with one of them back before the first Simpson trial. Without prompting, they offered up that “Simpson had really married up.” I was intrigued. I asked what they meant. I was told that they had been taught by their mothers from an early age, that marrying a Caucasian woman was a big step up from marrying within their race.
Huh? If you believe the media, it’s WHITES that are racists, and blacks in this country Just Want All Of Us To Get Along.
Apparently, this particular cultural bias is not unique within the African-American culture. It’s pervasive. I don’t understand it. I would think that line of thought would be an anathema to those that believe in “Black Pride,” based on their publicly stated positions. Keep in mind, on my Dad’s side, both my grandparents were Czech-Americans. My mom’s side was English/Scottish/German. By anybody’s definition, I’d be either mutt or a serious blending of the WASP melting pot. Color me puzzled about this “marrying up” business, as well as the “Black Pride” thing – I think having an ancestry is cool, but I’m proud to be an AMERICAN. No need for hyphenates – I’m proud to be 100% American. Period.
Apparently, O. J. got this same bad wiring, and took it as a personal offence when Nichole Brown Simpson got tired of O. J.’s temper, and relinquished her role as his personal punching bag. That much is documented in court papers and 911 calls. Also documented is how much slack the police cut O. J., right up until the day his ex and a waiter from a nearby restaurant were murdered.
According to the law, O. J. was found “not guilty” in criminal court, but “liable” in civil court. That’s one Hell of a split decision. If you ask me, I think he either did it, or did one Hell of a job covering for whoever did it. My inner B.S. detector says he did it. But when the law says “not guilty” the rest of us have to accept that verdict and move on. Otherwise, we become a country of anarchy – not a country of laws.
Fast forward to today, and we learn that Simpson was found guilty for again thinking that the law does not apply to him. Color me not surprised. In a way, I think this was inevitable. When you train someone from birth to believe the rules don’t apply to them, this is the result.
Had I been on the jury, I would have convicted O. J., not as punishment for Nichole and Ron, but because he broke the law in Vegas. As to sentencing, I’d throw the book at him, again, not to right a judicial wrong, but to send a message to every other sports figure and star, that the rules DO apply to them.
We will never know for certain if O. J. killed his wife and a friend that night over a decade past. We do know from tape recordings that he most certainly is guilty as charged on the Vegas debacle. And for that, he should go to jail for a very long time. And if that means that, Karmically speaking, what goes around, comes around, then so be it.
Leave a Reply