This is the last racsim pots, kind of sad. This post is about playing the race card. We all know about the infamous O.J. case, no need to explain it I guess. People try to rope racism into everything, Ford writes, ""But by the time the trial was over, it woul dve a case about race" (Ford 313). A murder trial in which a person was clearly guilty, decided by race. That should outrage you at those words. Race was as much of a factor in the crime as O.J.'s pro bowls and bad acting were. Ford describes, "Race may have had nothing to do with the crime and little to do with the prosecution, but it had everything to do with the media covergae" (Ford 313). O.J. and his laywers attempted to frame this case as the white man making the face of crime a darker one. Creating a murderer from a once loved athlete. It sounds crazy, but it happened. The media was all over the trial, Time magazine wrote articles about how O.J. was unfairly blamed. What? People are actually buying what O.J.'s lawyers are claiming. We have made a racist one of the worst thigns to be in modern day society. One can cry wolf about racism and get away with something undeserved. Its unfair.
But to be fair, the white racists didn't help either. They are the thing that allows the race card to be played. While O.J. was complaining to the courts, white racists were saying 'I told you so.' Ford writes, "For white racists, the murder confirmed what they had believed all along: this is what a white girl could expect if she got mixed up with a Negro" (Ford 314). Notice how Names are not mentioned in that sentence, Negro and white. All you take from that sentence is a black guy killed a white woman. It wasn't about O.J. Simpson killing somebody, it was about a black killing a white. We don't care who, we care what. This lead to an agreement, of all things, between racists, both sides. Some minorities want segregation, which is a fact, but their demands will never be met because if they play the race card; the one's who want it integrated will play it as well, thus the status quo is held. Ford writes, "Racists, white and black, would agree on one point-the crime was proof that racial mixing could only end badly" (Ford 313).This leads to a new (or old) mutual hostility between races. Whites think, 'they kill us, we don't want to be near them.' Blacks think 'They are trying to make us look bad, we don't want any part in them.' O.J. was able to play the race card successfully, make the trial about race, not murder, and win. What we should be asking ourselves is, "Can't we just look beyond race?" Then society would be so much better, the race card would be innefective, and racism would be all but gone. Racism comes from steriotypes, not biggotry. Eliminate the "them" and let there be only, "us."
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Yes, if we all asked ourselves, "Can't we just look beyond race?" society would most likely be better off. However,in my opinion, looking beyond race would be very difficult for many; there are those who have been brought up in an environment that inclines them to be racist; there are those who feel they are naturally superior to others and; there are those who, if the situation asks for it, will be forced to make a distinction between themselves and one of another race. It's a pessimistic thought, but it is difficult to see racism not existing.
When you say white rascists, you mean people rascist against whites, right?
I disagree with your statement about the O.J. Case being only about a black man killing white people. I think the whole crime is what caused it. The ridiculousnes of O.J., who basically thought that somehting he had sold long ago still somehow belonged to him. That is what caused the uproar in my opinoin, not the color of the people's skin.
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