THE REAPING: What the O.J. Simpson Murder Case Did to America

O.J.: 20 years later.Everybody knows what happened 20 years ago. Many books were written from most every point of view. But what has happened since then? What did the O.J. Simpson murder case of 1994-1995 do to America?O.J. was already symbolic in many ways. He was the post-Jackie Robinson, post-Jim Brown, post-New Breed African-American, the beneficiary in living flesh of 400 years of struggle against tyranny, the first blossoms of freedom bestowed upon the American Black Man. He was their hopes and dreams embodied.Many said O.J. was “whiter” than many of the corporate executives who feted him, who played golf with him, who enabled him to get a free lunch and his pick of Caucasian women from one coast to another. He was the picture of what a charismatic, handsome black man can get if he plays his cards right, is non-threatening, and smiles the smile of the contented.He was a hero to white America, one of the first black celebrities to be fully embraced and given a free ride with no reservations. His predilection for sex with blond women never came back to hurt him. The world, apparently, had moved beyond that. In this respect, he was on the cutting edge of societal evolution.