For better or for worse, my new hobby seems to be getting in online debates with white people about the Trayvon Martin case. Fact is, I’m not following the case very closely and the sad part is, to counter most of the arguments I’m hearing, I don’t need to. The thing that gets stuck in my craw most of the time is not racism. Truth be told, whether you’re Paula Deen or just some angry white guy on the internet, I don’t really care if you’re racist. It’s your right as an American to be racist, homophobic, sexist, whatever. My problem is not what people believe or why, so much as the lack of logic or a well thought out, coherent augment to support it.
Here’s the thing, if you are a minority, whatever conclusion you’ve come to, right or wrong, you’ve probably spent a decent about of time thinking about the issues that affect you personally, since you have to for your very survival. Most members of the privileged classes haven’t given it as much thought, simply because they don’t have to.
Case in point: I heard a story on the radio about a gay couple who will save about $96,000 a year in income taxes now that the federal government considers them legally married. My roommate and his girlfriend both said, “I never thought about that!” To which I said, “Of course we didn’t! Why would we? We’re all straight!”
But, I digress. So, I’m on Facebook discussing Trayvon Martin and a white guy brings up the OJ Simpson trial. Personally, I think it’s interesting that O.J.Simpson is still such a raw nerve for so many white people. To me, this fact is even more evidence of… wait for… it, wait for it…, you guessed it: WHITE PRIVILEGE! For many white people, O.J. Simpson represents the last time the justice system failed them. 20 years ago. Most black people can’t remember what racial injustice they were angry about 20 years ago. And we don’t have to, because it gets replaced regularly. Everything between Rodney King and Trayvon Martin is kind of a blur. When was Amadou Diallo shot? How about the Jenna Six Scandal? Oscar Grant? Sean Bell? And before that? Michael Stewart… Yusef Hawkins… Eleanor Bumpers. What were white people angry about before OJ? As my mom used to say, “The first nigga to get off scot-free was Super Fly,” and he was a fictional character.
I vividly remember the day that Johnnie Cochran died. Not because I was a huge Johnnie Cochran fan, but because I remember hearing the negative things my white co-workers said about him. I understand why white people hate O.J., in their minds he is a murderer (although, he got off because he was rich, not because he was black, so poor people and women of all races have more reason to hate him than white men). But why hate on his lawyer? Last I checked, a defense attorney’s job was to get his client acquitted. If the sex offender up the street from me has a busted air condition, I’m not going to hate on the repair man who comes to fix it. He’s just doing his job.
Quick, name Robert Blake’s lawyer. Okay, that was a tough one, how about Phil Spector’s lawyer. Helen Mirren played her in a movie. Okay, I’ll give you an easy one, Claus von Bulow’s lawyer? C’mon that guy’s hella famous. He still gets booked on talk shows!
Okay to be fair, Claus von Bulow was not a celebrity and Phil Spector got convicted. But how come I never hear people talk about the Robert Blake case. Wasn’t he acquitted of killing his wife? Was Nicole Brown Simpson’s life worth more than Bonny Lee Bakley’s? How come more white guys aren’t up in arms about her death? Has anyone in 20 years suggested that the murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson were racially motivated? If O.J. Simpson had been acquitted of killing his black wife, would white America still be talking about it?