McMusing: What Does Not Surprise Me
What does the O.J. Simpson trial have to do with this?
This post includes content on domestic violence as it relates to the topic. October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. Please see resources at the end of the article if you need support.
The year was 1995. For anyone calculating this, that was nearly thirty years ago. It was the year I knew we were headed for trouble, though, at the time, it seemed a tad dramatic. This McMusing relates the story of the day I recognized the writing on the wall.
It was October 3, 1995. I was teaching a tests and measurements course at a conservative Bible college. It was a sunny fall day and I could see the leaves in full color outside the classroom window. The class was abuzz with pre-class conversations. I usually acted busy while listening to gauge the degree to which I would need to work to keep their attention. It did not look good.
It happened to be the day when the verdict would be handed down in the O.J. Simpson trial—right in the middle of me trying to teach the difference between the mean and the median or some similarly fascinating topic. It was hopeless.
I caught a student’s eye, motioned to the large cabinet in the corner, and said, “I wonder if that TV will get a signal.” Instantly all eyes were on me. I could sense the disbelief. Really? A Bible college professor is going to let us watch the trial? Their eyes encouraged me to continue to be the professor who did unexpected things. They clapped when the trail appeared on the screen. The judge was preparing to read the verdict.
At 10:07 a.m. on October 3, 1995, Simpson was acquitted on both counts of murder.
The classroom erupted in cheers.
I stood staring at an entire room of white Bible college students, most of whom had been raised in conservative churches and Christian schools in the Bible Belt and South. I was surprised by their support of a black man since teaching them had shown me that they had very minimal understanding of why the Civil Rights movement was necessary. The cheers surprised me but I was looking at a room full of good kids who truly believed the gospel was for all people groups and would leave college to be involved in churches that supported worldwide missions. To their credit, they cheered for a Black man.
Note: This post is not intended to address the racial issues involved in the trial and the societal climate that surrounded it. I would do disservice to the issues by trying. It is far beyond the scope of this McMusing and any mention of this at all is only important in expressing how confused I was by the cheers.
I have no idea how closely those students followed the trial. It was 1995 after all. No TVs were allowed in the dorms. Social media did not exist. I can’t imagine college students going to the student center and watching the news of the trial. What did they know? Probably very little. But they did know OJ Simpson as a sports star.
Quickly considering all this as they cheered, I asked, “Why are you cheering?” They looked at me in surprise. Someone said, “Because it is OJ Simpson.”
“And?” I queried.
“Well, he is a sports star,” someone responded. Others murmured agreement.
I wasn’t sure where to go from there. The mean and median—or whatever topic I had for the day—seemed irrelevant. I asked, “The jury decided, and whether they were correct or not, are you aware of how abusive a man he was to Nicole? You are cheering for a man that no one questions was abusive to a woman.”
Thirty years later, this article summarizes how this trial impacted our nation’s views on domestic violence.
“Before Nicole’s murder, advocates had been tirelessly working to pass legislation to protect victims of domestic violence. The awareness generated by the murders helped Congress pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), aimed at stopping battery, sexual assault, and other forms of violence against women.”
I was correct in what I said to the class that day. Sadly, the jurors thought the information about the previous domestic violence was "a waste of time." Domestic Violence (DV) was not on many people’s radar in 1995.
It did feel relevant to me as the students stared at me. A few shrugged. I dismissed class for the day. No one talked to me on the way out the door. None of us brought it up again. They were likely thrilled to get out of class early. I have no idea if that day impacted them. I know it impacted me.
Almost three decades later, I decided to search for perspectives on why this group of white Christian young people cheered—because it went against what the polls would have indicated. “After Simpson was acquitted of the criminal charges, 16% of Black Americans and 69% of white Americans said he was probably or definitely guilty.” Did I just happen to see a room full of the 31% who believed he was innocent, or was something else going on? It is unlikely that the polls included college students.
Marc Watts, who covered the so-called 'Trial of the Century' as a correspondent for CNN made an interesting observation that might apply:
Unlike some of his fellow Black athletes, Simpson was not a strong advocate for civil rights and continued to distance himself from the Black community as he gained commercial success as a Hertz spokesperson and movie and television star, reportedly telling friends, ‘I'm not Black, I'm O.J." (Source)
In the same article, Katheryn Russell-Brown, a professor at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law, noted there were, "‘Substantial numbers’ of Black people who thought Simpson was guilty, just as there were white people who thought he was innocent.” My experience in the classroom proved this was true. For me, race or celebrity had little to do with what I felt. There was no doubt he was abusive to Nicole. Being a celebrity had no meaning to me, but it clearly did for many others.
Celebrity is a strong drawing card. Without deep reflection, humans are easily drawn to the most beautiful, most athletic, the strongest, the loudest, or most eloquent “stars.” Social media has only increased this tendency—in and out of religious circles. Character is seldom (never?) a primary criterion for following a celebrity. That classroom full of good kids ignored or were oblivious to the character flaws, abusiveness, and moral failures of O.J. Simpson. They are now fifty-year-old adults and my old age has blessed me with—mostly—not remembering who was in the room.
At the end of the trial, guilty or not guilty (the polls have shifted somewhat over the decades) there was ample evidence that O.J. Simpson had previously inflicted serious physical abuse on a woman.
“While the nation debated Simpson’s guilt or innocence, it overlooked the signs of intimate partner violence that Nicole had reported before her murder.” (Source)
Despite ample evidence of Simpson’s abusive treatment of Nicole, his celebrity status won the day. The passage of time would make the lack of character more obvious, but I am not sure it would have mattered.
I have seen popular pastors who confessed to sexual abuse cheered by congregations for their vulnerability in confessing when caught. I have seen a political candidate with celebrity status who bragged about abusively grabbing women receive over 50% of the vote. I have listened to stories of women told by pastors to stay in marriages where they were being physically abused. I have seen what happens to women who report sexual abuse. Again and again, it is “good” people who really do not seem to care about what had happens to women. This is especially true if celebrity status is involved.
I have never forgotten that day and it may have been the day that I began to observe trends in society and the church. It does not surprise me that for so many, character doesn’t matter when held up against the lure of celebrity1 (or power). It also doesn’t surprise me that the harm done to women—or any other marginalized part of the population—seems irrelevant to the choices so many are currently making.
Thirty years after that day in the classroom, the parallels with the current world I live in haunted me as I took a deep dive to write this McMusing. Deep in the dozens upon dozens of pages that I researched was the following quote about how so many got something so very wrong. I ended my search here because I realized that I am not the only one who feels this way. It felt far less lonely.
“While we can and should seek to understand why whole segments of society get things terribly wrong or take on bad ideas or excuse atrocious acts, we should move forward by treating adults like adults with the agency and ability to see the facts in front of them, and emphasize the necessity of reason over suspicion or sectarianism. (Today, in a media environment where people can and do overwhelmingly seek out that which confirms their preexisting views and affirms their sense of rightness and righteousness, this is perhaps harder than ever.)” Source
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Please reach out if you need support. Help is available.
Caring, supportive and well-trained advocates at the National Domestic Violence Hotline can provide safety tips and referrals to services and resources in your community. Please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or TTY 1-800-787-3224, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. No matter where you are in the country, the Hotline can put you in touch with an advocate in your local area. Calls are free and confidential, and the Hotline has access to interpreters who speak over 200 different languages.
Shortly after writing this article Heather Cox Richardson posted the following thoughts on celebrity in her October 17 Newsletter:
In an article in US News and World Report yesterday, NBC’s former chief marketer John D. Miller apologized to America for helping to “create a monster.” Miller led the team that marketed The Apprentice, the reality TV show that made Trump a household name. “To sell the show,” Miller wrote, “we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty.” But the truth was that he declared bankruptcy six times, and “[t]he imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV,” Miller wrote. While Trump loved the attention the show provided, “more successful CEOs were too busy to get involved in reality TV.”
Miller says they “promoted the show relentlessly,” blanketing the country with a “highly exaggerated” image of Trump as a successful businessman “like a heavy snowstorm.” “[W]e…did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader,” Miller wrote. “I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public.”
Speaking as a “born-and-bred Republican,” Miller warned: “If you believe that Trump will be better for you or better for the country, that is an illusion, much like The Apprentice was.” He strongly urged people to vote for Kamala Harris. “The country will be better off and so will you.”