On one level the trial of O.J. Simpson in Los Angeles can be considered only another sordid story about crime, but clearly the story was elevated to major proportions as millions of people around the world watched the trial and responded to the verdict. I observed an argument between two students during the hour after the verdict was given, and this argument followed the general response perceived in the public in the U.S. and Canada, with the white student indicating displeasure with the verdict and the black student indicating agreement with the verdict. This did not necessarily mean the latter held that Simpson had not committed the crime, however, only that he accepted the idea as expressed by pundits on television that under the American system the case had not been proven. The white student said it had been proven, though in his argument he often referred to evidence that was not presented to the jury but only to all of us watching television. This case and the arguments it has engendered do indeed say much about issues of power, culture, and group identities and show how powerful are certain differences dividing groups in society, especially with reference to questions of equity and justice.
It seems likely that the aftermath of the Simpson case will be a heightening of racial and class tensions, though it is also possible that it will become a springboard for analysis and mediation. In many ways this is a peculiar fact given that the case involves a celebrity who has never before been identified as a representative of the black community but who is now being viewed by many as a surrogate for that community. As demonstrated in the conflict observed, the black community now sees Simpson as suffering from the persecution of illegality on the part of the police and from a harassment because of race that he never experienced as a celebrity before this. Many of those supporting Simpson have themselves experienced such racis...