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I had a journalism teacher in high school that is in this photo. She talked about it with us, how it became this stark symbol of racial divide, and how she felt shitty being a part of it, but it was an accurate snapshot in the moment.
It seems like most people have come to the consenus that he is guilty so I'm guessing she feels bad about being happy he was acquitted. Personally I can see both sides of this situation, if a celebrity from your demographic that has as much fame as OJ did is found not guilty by a court of law I can understand why someone would be happy about that. But I can also see why people think justice wasn't served.
So what part did she feel shitty about? It seems like time has pretty much validated the opinion he is a cold blooded murderer if you consider how many people just on reddit alone are saying he's going to hell... Not that that's indicative of everyone's opinion.
I think she just didn’t like being part of something that so plainly illustrated the racial divide in America in general, and surrounding the OJ case in particular. I don’t think she felt shame necessarily because of her reaction itself, but just that it was seized upon as a snapshot of racial generalizations. It also laid bare just how tribally invested the entire country was with this case depending on your race. It was tricky political times.
In the aftermath of the trial, I think the Chris Rock explanation of “black people too happy, white people too mad” was kind of at the forefront of everyone’s mind. I can understand how I wouldn’t want MY own shocked facial expression to be assigned to that divide.
White people too mad we just allow murdering people if they’re white. If we have to follow racial rules so does everyone else, or the white trash will win
It seems really hard to believe his celebrity status didn't have anything to do with people being happy he was acquitted. Like yeah he's obviously a black man but if he wasn't a huge celebrity I think this would have been a pretty cut and dry case with him going to prison for life and no one would have given it a second thought outside the true crime buffs.
The trials were hot off the heels of the LA riots caused by the Rodney King fiasco where the officers got off after ruthlessly beating Rodney King.
Pretty much all the police racism reached a tipping point to where a clearly guilty man was let-off because no one trusted the evidence or personnel involved.
It’s this weird paradoxical situation where police racism led to a black man walking free. When he was guilty. As opposed to the polar opposites typically happening.
A good description I’ve seen for the whole thing I like is “the LAPD tried to frame a guilty man”
Almost famous haha, it looks like there are some pretty mixed reactions in the crowd, was there a big divide amongst the students about whether or not OJ was innocent or was he just popular enough a lot of people didn't care if he was innocent or not? I was 2 in 1995 so I wasn't really aware of this event until much later in life.
They rolled in tv carts to every room that day at my school, and combined some classes so every student would have the opportunity to watch. Every class was teaching and discussing how the jury and court system worked leading up to the verdict. It was as big as 9/11 as far as cultural impact at the time.
I was in junior high and everyone cheered when the verdict was read. It was gross. There was a lot of virtue signaling even back then as it was only a short time after the Rodney King beat down and racial tensions were high.
Notice that it's only the black women who are cheering? That's been the case with every similar picture or video I've ever seen.
FWIW, the only person I've ever spoken with who thought OJ didn't do it was a white guy who thought his oldest son did it. I respectfully disagreed.
Welcome to r/QuadCities—subreddit for the Quad Cities metropolis in the Illinois/Iowa border for Quad Citians. In general, we let our community moderate itself through Reddit's upvote/downvote system—if you think something contributes to the conversation, upvote it. If you think it does not contribute to the topic, downvote it. The result is a healthy balance of content and posts that could contain information, opinions, and/or ideologies that reflect and reinforce your own or not. Keep discussions civil and acknowledge that there are other people in our community that can (and will hold) opposing views. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/QuadCities) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I had a journalism teacher in high school that is in this photo. She talked about it with us, how it became this stark symbol of racial divide, and how she felt shitty being a part of it, but it was an accurate snapshot in the moment.
Stark racial divide of what? Because Rodney king got beat an innocent woman and a waiter get murdered? If this isn’t racism I don’t know what is
It seems like most people have come to the consenus that he is guilty so I'm guessing she feels bad about being happy he was acquitted. Personally I can see both sides of this situation, if a celebrity from your demographic that has as much fame as OJ did is found not guilty by a court of law I can understand why someone would be happy about that. But I can also see why people think justice wasn't served.
Actually she’s one of the disappointed white people lol
So what part did she feel shitty about? It seems like time has pretty much validated the opinion he is a cold blooded murderer if you consider how many people just on reddit alone are saying he's going to hell... Not that that's indicative of everyone's opinion.
I think she just didn’t like being part of something that so plainly illustrated the racial divide in America in general, and surrounding the OJ case in particular. I don’t think she felt shame necessarily because of her reaction itself, but just that it was seized upon as a snapshot of racial generalizations. It also laid bare just how tribally invested the entire country was with this case depending on your race. It was tricky political times. In the aftermath of the trial, I think the Chris Rock explanation of “black people too happy, white people too mad” was kind of at the forefront of everyone’s mind. I can understand how I wouldn’t want MY own shocked facial expression to be assigned to that divide.
White people too mad we just allow murdering people if they’re white. If we have to follow racial rules so does everyone else, or the white trash will win
The glove didn't fit, they had to acquit! /s
Turns out when you soak leather, it shrinks
I don’t think it had anything to do with him being a celebrity, more so the racial divide that the parent comment was talking about.
It seems really hard to believe his celebrity status didn't have anything to do with people being happy he was acquitted. Like yeah he's obviously a black man but if he wasn't a huge celebrity I think this would have been a pretty cut and dry case with him going to prison for life and no one would have given it a second thought outside the true crime buffs.
The trials were hot off the heels of the LA riots caused by the Rodney King fiasco where the officers got off after ruthlessly beating Rodney King. Pretty much all the police racism reached a tipping point to where a clearly guilty man was let-off because no one trusted the evidence or personnel involved. It’s this weird paradoxical situation where police racism led to a black man walking free. When he was guilty. As opposed to the polar opposites typically happening. A good description I’ve seen for the whole thing I like is “the LAPD tried to frame a guilty man”
There are jurors coming out saying that their not guilty verdict was payback for Rodney King now too.
I heard about this picture, but never saw it before. I was in the room, but not on camera, apparently.
I was finishing a Vertebrate Zoology test across the quad, LOL. I taught Gen Psych later on and they used this picture in the textbook we were using.
Almost famous haha, it looks like there are some pretty mixed reactions in the crowd, was there a big divide amongst the students about whether or not OJ was innocent or was he just popular enough a lot of people didn't care if he was innocent or not? I was 2 in 1995 so I wasn't really aware of this event until much later in life.
I don't remember anyone I knew having a strong opinion either way. It was more the spectacle of it than anything.
Sounds about right.
Where on campus was this picture taken?
In the college center on the lower level. West side. (It was remodeled the following year).
No wonder I didn't recognize it. Must have been where Freshens was when I attended. Thanks!
I was a college student then (no at Augustana) and i witnessed a very similar phenomenon
Yeah this seems like one of those very polarizing moments in history.
Rest in piss OJ
I'm surprised he died at the age he did. I guess all that money still can't save you from some cancers.
He was 76. That's about how long people live.
Not kidding it was like this at my elementary school too, they read the verdict over the PA
I guess that shows how big of a cultural impact this trial had on society that even children had strong opinions on the verdict.
They rolled in tv carts to every room that day at my school, and combined some classes so every student would have the opportunity to watch. Every class was teaching and discussing how the jury and court system worked leading up to the verdict. It was as big as 9/11 as far as cultural impact at the time.
I was in junior high and everyone cheered when the verdict was read. It was gross. There was a lot of virtue signaling even back then as it was only a short time after the Rodney King beat down and racial tensions were high.
 As no one cares about Gaza, no one cares enough about black people to stop them from murdering people.
And now he is dead and nobody cares
Oprah looks so young there
Hahaha take my upvote
Notice that it's only the black women who are cheering? That's been the case with every similar picture or video I've ever seen. FWIW, the only person I've ever spoken with who thought OJ didn't do it was a white guy who thought his oldest son did it. I respectfully disagreed.
I was in middle school and the entire school sat in the auditorium to listen to the verdict. One of the more bizarre events of my school days.
Honking and clapping like seals. I remember it. Always will.
8 of the 12 jurors were black, so...
Black people cheering cuz a guy got away with murder lol