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O.J. Simpson Commentary
• • e •
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The State Vs. Simpson: The Racist LAPD Is The Issue
b \ M onica M ooreiiead
W orkers W orld N ew s S erx k i
It took the jury less than four
hours to come back with a ruling o f
not guilty on two counts o f murder
against O J. Simpson. Coming from
apanelthat included lOwomen,eight
African American and two white,
this ruling is widely seen as a stun
ning rejection o f racism-especially
the racist role o f the Los Angeles
Police Department (LAPD) in their
handling o f the evidence presented
to the jury.
In particular, the testimony o f
fo rm er LA PD D e te c tiv e M ark
Fuhrman, a key prosecution witness,
feel apart when the defense played
tapes showing him to be a violent
racist.
The verdict is a fairly accurate
barometer o f how racism in the U.S.
has impacted on the mass attitude,
particularly o f African American and
other oppressed peoples, toward the
cops and the courts.
In this case, especially after the
public heard the outrageous parts of
the Fuhrman tapes not played to the
jury, racism eclipsed the other criti
cal social issue in the spotlight-do
mestic violence. Had Simpson not
been a wealthy person with the means
to afford an aggressive team o f law
yers, it is unlikely that the racist
conduct o f the police would ever
have been exposed.
Racism Of LAPD Put On Trial
It was the false testimony o f
Fuhrman that ultim ately put the
LAPD and its racism on trial The
defense presented recorded state
ments by Fuhrman that exposed his
hatred o f both African American and _
w om en-he is the founder o f a group
called Men Against Women. This
was used by the Simpson defense
team to show how the LAPD was
more than capable o f manufacturing
evidence to frame O.J. Simpson or
by
R on P ani ei
s
a
n v person
n p rc n n o
n f f
any
color.
Fuhrman's remarks had to have
impacted on the jury, even though
Judge Lance Ito did not allow them
to hear the entire Fuhrman tapes. The
capitalist courts have complete juris
diction over what is and is not sub
mitted as evidence.
Ihe big-business media could
not hide their discomfort that so much
attention was focused on the racism
of the LAPD. They were also irritat
ed to no end when Defense Attorney
Johnnie Cochran referred to Fuhrman
as another Hitler in his closing argu
ments. Why should they be so upset?
Fuhrman certainly hasa Hitlerite ide
ology and promotes violence against
people o f color, women, gays and
Jewish people.
Media, Courts And Cops
Work Hand In Hand:
at first acquitted in the beating o f
Rodney King.
Historically, the crimes o f the
police and especially white police
are exonerated by the media and the
courts because they are all part and
parcel ofthe same repressive capital
ist state apparatus.
Issue Of Domestic Violence:
In the early stages o f this case,
the brutal murder o f Nicole Brown
Simpson brought widespread atten
tion to the issue ofdom estic violence
_
For instance, why isn't it man
datory for batterers likeO.J. Simpson
to get the necessary therapy and treat
ment they need? What recourse is
there when women-hating judges
acquit or give light sentences tom aie
batterers? What about indicting cops
who either ignore or belittle those
battered women who cal I for help, as
Nicole Simpson did? The LAPD has
proven time and again that it is no
friend o f battered women. The same
cops and judges also usually side
f t ------------------------
The verdict is a fairly accurate
barometer of how racism in the U.S.
has impacted on the mass attitude,
particularly of African American and
other oppressed peoples, toward the
cops and the courts.
The last thing the media wanted
to cover was the LAPD. They didn’t
want to reinforce the view, prevalent
among the workers and oppressed,
that the cops play such a repressive
role in society.
I he cops exist to keep the op
pressed masses down and to protect
the private property o f the rich and
against women in the U. S. Survey
confirmed that 3 million women are
battered annually by their spouses
super-rich. The LAPD in particular
has gained an infamous reputation
for brutality since the 1960s and the
Watts rebellion. More recently, the
whole world saw how they behave
when the savage beating o f Rodney
King was recorded on videotape.
The Fuhrman testim ony also
helped to reconfirm that the cops and
the courts work hand in hand, doling
out unequal treatment to those o f
color. Usually their victims are poor
and the police get away with it.
In a recent ABC poll, three out
o f four African Americans stated that
if O.J. were found guilty, it would
confirm their view he was railroaded
by a corrupt system. They must have
remembered that four racist cops were
and boyfriends, and thousands lose
their lives.
For a brief time, there was a
national discussion on the epidemic
proportions o f domestic violence and
how to prevent it. But the big-busi
ness media soon lost interest in rais
ing domestic violence as a general
phenomenon, even though it remains
a big crisis.
As we wrote shortly after the
murders, the racist and sexist charac
ter o f the state makes it virtually
impossible for justice to be served.
So the tragic m urderofN icole Brow n
Simpson has done very little to gen
erate any effective laws to prevent
domestic violence or strengthen those
laws already on the books.
W
with gay bashers.
But it is not only the state that’s
at fault. The capitalist economic sys
tem itself perpetuates all kinds o f
violence against women. Neither rac
ism nor domestic violence can be
eliminated, root and branch, under
capitalism.
Media Driven By Profits:
For over a year now, no other
news story has come close to the
Simpson murder trail in terms ofthe
Simpson murder trial in terms o f the
sheer magnitude o f media scrutiny.
Ih e capitalist media has attempted
to turn this tragic event into a sensa
tional soap opera in hopes o f enticing
and seducing the masses. And it has
succeeded.
When enormous profits are at
stake, nothing is sacred to the media-
-all the more when a famous « person
2*1
O.J. “beat the system." It’s a system..* *>
that keeps down people o f color and ’ •
sends to jail every day poor people
who can’t afford a team o f rich, expe- ' *•
rienced lawyers such as O.J had at
his disposal.
But no matter the extent o f this
accumulated wealth and fame, O.J.
Simpson, like millions o f other Afri
can Americans, was subject to na
tional oppression. At least one cor
poration paid $1 million to help the
prosecution finance its case against
him.
How can the damage to mass
consciousness done by the racism
and sexism surrounding this trial be
undone?
A start could be made by launch
ing a people’s investigation into the
crimes o f the LAPD. They not only
harbored a fascist but tried to cover ‘ ‘
up for him after he committed perju
ry. They should be in the dock.
What kinds o f information would
come out if the masses in L.A.--
Black, Latino, Asian and white, wom
en and men, lesbian, gay and straight,
immigrant and native born-saw that
a serious effort was being made by
people from their own communities * 1‘
to expose the years o f police terror
and repression?
The first step would be to review 1'
all the cases o f poor and oppressed
peoples who may have been put in
jail because o f bogus testimony and ' ■
the planting o f phony evidence by 1
the police.
The biggest problem with the
Simpson case is that it helped the '
ruling class sow deeper divisions
between whites and people o f color. ' -
The challenge for progressives is to
find ways and means to advance a
united class struggle against ra c ism ,'
police brutality, sexism, lesbian and
gay oppression-that are all part and
parcel ofthe capitalist assault against
iiiv the
iia u national
u iirti vv working class.
ality is involved. With millions o f
viewers watching the daily coverage
of the trial, corporate sponsors paid
hundreds o f thousands o f dollars for
30-second ads
At least 30 books have been
published so far since the murders of
Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald
G oldm an—the first less than two
weeks after the murders.
A TV m ovie based on the
Simpsons troubled relationship was
aired several months ago. There will
be more publications and movies
flooding the market focusing on the
trial and its outcome. But once the
focus o f the trial shifted to the noto
rious LAPD, the profit-driven media
frenzy exploded in the face o f the
system.
For progressives, it is a relief to
see this tra i I come to an end. 11 turned
into a big distraction from those is
sues that the masses need to be orga
nizing around-cutbacks in social
services, layoffs, attacks on health
care, union busting, reproductive
rights and other right-wing initiated
assaults.
But under capitalism, everything
is political and the Simpson trial was
no exception. It became a public
forum that exposed some o fth e ine
qualities and injustices inherent with
in class society. But the capitalist
state and media have attempted to pit
one against another. If you’re for
acquittal, you must be insensitive to
women. Ifyou think O.J. was guilty,
you're racist. T hat’s how the media
are presenting the response to the
verdict, along with attempts to ma
lign the jury and the jury system
itself.
Put The System On Trial:
Because race and racism played
a central role in this case and its
outcome, many in the African-Amer
ican community across the country
are happy
-------
r r j with the
— acquittal because
Vantage Point: The “N-Word” Is All Negative
_______
The furor over the Furhman
tapes, including his use o f the N-
word 41 times has precipitated dis
cussions about the meaning o f the
word nigger and how it is used in the
W hite community and Black com
munity. The September 3 issue ofthe
Charlotte Observer ran a major fea
ture article entitled: The “N-word:”
History, continuing evolution. In the
article the author correctly asserts
that “ When whites use the word, its
meaning is almost always contem p
tuous, unmistakably conveying the
notion that blacks are second-class
citizens - and worse.” However, the
author goes on to point out that we as
Black people frequently use nigger
in our conversations and that it is
often used “positively.”
Citing the research o f Robin
Kelly, an African American history
professor at New York University, the
author notes that the N-word has be-
COI11C
rc v a lc u t in
iic ir a l Iv
rin c
come D prevalent
in thp
the m
musical
lyrics
and everyday language of the Hip Hop
generation. Kelly observes that it is
commonplace for young Blacks to
greet each other as “nigga.” and that
he has even heard “White youth in
NewYork’sGreenwich Villagecheer-
fully greeting their black friends in a
similar manner.” Kelly further ob
serves that, “white kids into rap and
Hip Hop music are known as wiggers’
(white niggers). I recall that not so
long ago one of the hottest rap groups
in the country was NWA, Niggers
With An Attitude. After having been
virtually banned from the Black vo
cabulary in the 60’s, young Blacks
have resurrected the N-word and it
flows from the lips o f many o f young
people without any sense that the term
is derogatory and self-defaming.
The argument advanced by some
rap and Hip Hop artists is that the N-
word now has a positive meaning.
F or example, Tupac Shakur claims
tin t
__ I
that nigga means “Never
Ignorant .
GettingG oals Accomplished." In my
view there is a better way to get our
goals accomplished than embracing
denigrating terms developed as an
outgrowth o f white supremacy. The
venerable Queen Mother Moore, has
devoted her life to teaching and
preaching that we must reject de
grading definitions and images o f
ourselves. Queen Mother has waged
a long and relentless struggle against
the term Negro, striving to “de-
N egroize” our people as a basis for
rescuing and restoring the race.
Negro, nigger, niggah, nigga,
the N-word is all negative. A princi
pal goal o f The Black Consciousness
Movement (BCM ) o f the 6 0 s was to
improve our selfesteem by affirming
our heritage and promoting positive
images o f our people. A critical as
pect ofthe BCM was the rejection o f
the European standard ofbeauty. I he
terms Negro and nigger were deemed
Simpson Trial Recalls Portland History
I was returning home from Los
Angles, when the Mark Fuhrman,
tapes were released.
When I got home and read the
Oregonian I was amazed, and some
what upset to hear a spokes person
for the Portland Police Department
stating what happen in Los Angles
could never happen in Portland:
Although Portland has changed
some what, I hate to be the bearer o f
bad new, but I feel as a citizen who
know that Portland isn't quite the
haven against police brutality we
would have the people o f Oregon
and the world to know that we are
guilty o f some o f the same things
that the L.A.P.D have done.
We forge, quickly but,he young
men and women, who have been the
victim of police haven't forgotten.
The reason the Black United
Front was organized in 1978 was
because a lot o f our black men were
being shot in unexplainablecircum-
stances
People were being shot, and
killed and beaten, openly harassed
3y police, and nothing was done
about it. They would investigate for
a few weeks and would come back
that’ what happen was justifiable.
I complained to previous may
ors that black men were being beaten
in the elevator when taken to jail, this
is before we organized the Black
United Front.
I also wrote a letter to the O b
server about police beating a man so
badly who lived next to me.
I also know that a black man
was b eaten so badly dow n tow n,
w here the o ffic e rs stam ped his
b la d d e r into a c o lla p sib le c o n d i
tio n , took him to ja il, luckily for
the man som e one c alled his fam
ily and she got an a tto rn e y to
have him pu, in the h o sp ital.
Also I got a lots o f complaints
about police congregation at and old
Safeway store where they wou Id beat
men.
Ovei eight years ago a black
man was beaten so bad that he is
mentality unable to care for himself.
And there are still complaints where
police have physically as well as
verbally abuse women as well as
men, by calling them whores and
bitches trying to make them angry, so
they could arrest them.
I am not writing this to cause
disruption but to le, people here in
Portland and this state know tha, our
laundry is not spotless.
The change came for Portland
when Mayor Clark was elected
Mayor and broke the yoke and bind
ofStan Peters and the Police Union
up, until that time they ran City
Hall.
Mayor K atz’s choice o f Chief
Tom Potter was also good for the
city. And follow ing him C hief
Charles Moose is a plus.
B ut the b a rre l o f ap p les
needs to be ch ecked on a regu
lar b asis because th ere are still
som e bad c o p ’s w ho are telling
th ese young o ffe n d e rs to plead
gu ilty to felony c h a rg e s when it
should be m isd e m e a n o rs, and
w ith the three strik e s you are
out m ore o f our y o ung men will
be put in p rison.
T he ju d ic ia l is also a place
w here black men have told they
have been called n ig g ers and
boy and o th e r nam es in the court
room .
Wake up Portland, ifyou don’t
won’t your city to become what
L.A. is.
I wrote this on behalf o f those
who can’t speak for them selves.
. ( ■
.
.
.
to be destructive designations/iden-
tifications imposed on our people by
white supremacy. We proclaimed that
"Black is Beautiful” and accepted
Black as a positive dimension o f our
identity.
However, Dr. Maulana Karenga,
in keeping with the teachings o f
Queen Mother Moore, advanced the
view that, “Black is necessary, but
not sufficient" in defining our identi
ty. All other people identify them
selves in terms o f culture, ethnicity
and nationality, not merely color.
We came to understand that our con
sciousness o f our identity had been
disrupted by the holocaust o f en
slavement and the systematic effort
o f the slavemasters to label our color,
culture and land o f origin a badge o f
degradation.
We rose up, as an act o f
Kujichagulia ( self-determination),
to declare that we are not niggers, we
are no, Negroes, and we are not just
Black. We are an African people,
Africans in America with a proud
history and heritage; a people who
gave the world its first civilizations,
produced the w orld’s first multi-ge
nius in the person o f Imhotep (the
real father o f medicine), built the
pyramids, bestowed upon the world
astronomy, the decimal system, high
er mathematics and developed Kemit/
Eygpt, the crown jew el ofthe ancient
world that influenced the evolution
o f human history for thousands o f
years. We are not negroes, niggers
niggas or niggahs. We are African
with an Aptitude.
As Dr. Romana Edelin, Presi
dent o f the National Urban Coalition
contends, we need a new cultural
offensive which will recapture the
vision and energy o f the ‘6 0 ’s in
terms o f what Dr. Karenga calls the
“ identity, purpose and direction” o f
our people. For whatever reason the
history o f what we attem pted to
achieve in the 6 0 ’s has not been
passed on to the younger generation,
or that history is dismissed as irrele-.
vant. In some instances negative lan
guage, images and symbo Is have been .
promoted by the White controlled
music industry via o f Gangsta Rap
and other forms o f self-defaming
“ Black” music.
We certainly do not need to sim
ply condemn Black youth and the ,
young generation for wha, might be.
considered their wayward ways. But
we should not patronize or capitulate
to the destructive promulgation of neg
ative popular culture either. Our task
is to teach, instruct and guide with
love, care and resolve On the question
ofour identity the lesson must be clear.
The N-word is all negative. We are an
African people, determined to be free,
proud and productive on the world
stage of history and humanity. “Up
you mighty race, you can accomplish
what you will.”
Join us in celebrating our
.' t
A
i '
A H M IV E H S A R V
Sincerely; Vesla Loving
I