Black opinion of murderer O.J. Simpson shifts...but then...blacks have low IQs and are very slow on

September 27, 2007

Black opinion of O.J. Simpson shifts

African Americans now more likely to say he murdered ex-wife, her

friend

O.J. Simpson sits on the set of an Internet TV station for an

interview about his book, "If I Did It." The controversial book and

Simpson's recent arrest on burglary charges in Las Vegas have eaten

away at his support in the black community, which had largely rallied

around Simpson during his murder trial in 1995.

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Rich Matthews / AP

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By Darryl Fears

Updated: 1 hour, 57 minutes ago

In a nation that largely despised him, O.J. Simpson always had strong

support within the black community, where polls showed a majority of

people believed he was innocent of charges that he murdered his ex-

wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her acquaintance Ronald Lyle Goldman

outside her home in Los Angeles's Brentwood neighborhood in 1994.

But after a string of missteps by the former football star -- a heated

2003 argument with his teenage daughter in which she called police; a

book, "If I Did It," that raised eyebrows last year; and a dispute

over sports collectibles in Las Vegas this month that led to an armed-

robbery arrest -- black opinion has shifted.

A Washington Post survey found that 40 percent of black respondents

believe he is innocent of the murders, compared with 71 percent who

felt that way around the time Simpson was acquitted in 1995. The

change in black opinion brings African American views of Simpson's

guilt closer to those of white people. In late 1995, 72 percent of

white respondents said Simpson was guilty of murder, and 74 percent

say they feel that way now.

Story continues below ↓

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‘Fed up with this guy’

The 31-percentage-point drop among black respondents is a head-turner,

sociologists said, because African Americans were such steadfast

supporters of the celebrity, cheering in some places when the verdicts

were read.

"Blacks in the survey are probably saying, 'We're sort of fed up with

this guy,' " said Earl Smith, a Wake Forest University professor who

wrote "Race, Sport and the American Dream." "If you look at his

actions since the murder, they've all been bad decisions, just

constant."

Carl E. Enomoto, a New Mexico State University professor who wrote a

book on public attitudes toward Simpson, agreed. "There's just been a

lot of things that have happened, that robbery arrest and the tape on

TV shows the rage he's capable of," Enomoto said. "He's such an

emotional person that you can set him off pretty quickly. People are

seeing all this and starting to change their opinions."

John Hull, 44, an African American living in Memphis, said he believed

that Simpson was innocent in 1995, but has shifted his view. "I think

people's views have changed because O.J. has changed," he said. "It's

his behavior, his demeanor. His reputation is shot to hell. That could

have been his behavior before but nobody knew."

Another black man, Ronald King, 56, of Nashville, said he saw Simpson

less as a black man and more as a black eye on his community.

"O.J. is crazy," he said. From the book to the hotel melee, he said,

"It's stupidity. He's a stupid man."

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A symbol of racial inequality

At the time of his acquittal, many commentators asserted that many

black people saw Simpson as a symbol of the unfair treatment that

African Americans feel they receive from the criminal justice system.

A 1995 Post poll, for example, found that nearly nine in 10 African

Americans said blacks and other minorities do not receive equal

treatment in the criminal justice system. The latest survey indicates

that distrust has not substantially dissipated. Nearly half of black

respondents believe that Simpson is being unfairly targeted by police.

Seventy-three percent of white respondents said otherwise.

The Post poll was conducted by telephone over five days ending Sunday,

among a national random sample of 1,062 adults. The margin of sampling

error for the full survey is plus or minus three percentage points, it

is minus eight points for the African American sample.

In accompanying street interviews with African Americans, few thought

their views on the issue had evolved. Many said they felt Simpson was

innocent 12 years ago and still do now. Others said their belief that

he was guilty is unchanged.

Evan Holland, 26, of Los Angeles said she cheered the verdict. "At the

time it was not far from the L.A. riots where police officers were

acquitted of beating Rodney King," she said. "For me, it was like we

need some justice, we need some support, we need a win. I didn't think

he did it." She still doesn't.

Greg Thornton, 43, of Oxon Hill said the prosecution of Simpson is a

media frenzy driven by white-controlled news media. "I felt relieved

that he was let off," Thornton said. Justice for black people is rare,

he said, citing the slow response to help New Orleans after Hurricane

Katrina and the prosecution of six black teenagers in Jena, La.

But Carlton Land, 64, of Houston disagreed. "I thought he was guilty,

and I still do," he said. "All this mess he's in now, we just want to

say, 'O.J., you need to go sit down somewhere.' "

.............................................

Face the facts...most blacks hate whites...period.

And if you disagree...its cause you dont live with or know any...

and get your facts from books and TV.

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Black opinion of murderer O.J. Simpson shifts...but then...blacks have low IQs and are very slow on

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