The Culture

O.J. Simpson: The Trial, The Controversy, and The Legacy

• Jeff and Anthony • Episode 153

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We're back! After a breather, the Culture Crew is here to not only revitalize your playlist but to provoke your thoughts with a candid examination of the joys of reading and listening. Wrestling enthusiasts, we've got a special treat for you as we discuss the electrifying world of WWE, zooming in on WrestleMania's frenzy and the captivating persona of Cody Rhodes and the dissection of the sexuality of Damien Priest. It's a conversation that goes beyond the ring, touching on the nuances that separate a casual fan from the truly obsessed.

Turning down the volume on body slams, we shift gears to honor the life of DJ Mister Cee and his undeniable imprint on hip-hop culture. It's a moment of respect coupled with a critical look at how we remember icons, keeping their legacies alive without being overshadowed by their personal lives.

We then delve into the enduring legacy of O.J. Simpson, examining the sensational trial that captivated the world, its lasting impact on the American legal system, and the ongoing societal reverberations. Three decades after the trial, we reflect on how it continues to illuminate deep-seated racial divides in America, reminding us of the complexities of justice, media influence, and cultural perceptions.

Our final notes strike a chord on the importance of crisp, clear communication in life and love, emphasizing the dire need for peaceful conflict resolution. We explore the heavy implications of extreme actions in toxic relationships and the pursuit of inner tranquility, even for someone as controversial as O.J. Simpson. As we bid farewell, we reignite the tribute to DJ Mister Cee and encourage you to keep the dialogue flowing through our additional content, waiting for you on our website and YouTube channel. Join us for this rollercoaster ride of reflection, reality, and the resonating power of words, both spoken and unspoken. #OJSimpson #ojsimpsontrial #codyrhodes #mistercee #theculture

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✅Website - https://www.theculture.one/

🔗Referenced Links:
O.J. Simpson dies of cancer at age 76, his family says | CNN

Legendary DJ Mister Cee Has Passed Away - HOT 97

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Jeff:

yo yo yo. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the culture. It's been a little minute. It's been probably what like a month, since we we done dropped something. The fuck are you doing? The y, the d, the I, the d. It's diddy, no diddy. No doubt we ain't talking about diddy today, though I know, shout out to the culture crew man staying loyal to us and being patient. You know we've had some. No Diddy, no Diddy. No doubt we ain't talking about Diddy today, though I know, shout out to the Culture Crew man staying loyal to us and being patient. You know we've had some things going on in our personal lives that prevented us from recording, but we're back.

Jeff:

We're going to try to flood y'all with some content for the next few weeks. Check out the website thecultureone, and real quick, yo. I know a lot of people don't like to read these days, but for those of you who do, we got a blog on the website thecultureone. You know there's some content on there. There's some good articles that y'all can read. Again, for those that like to read, I don't know that many people that do like to read this generation doesn't fucking read anymore.

Anthony:

That's not a ringing endorsement, it's for y'all that like to read or can't read.

Jeff:

It's for the ones that like to read, because the ones that don't are just going to ignore that that public service announcement. You know what I mean? No, because I have this argument. It's called action.

Anthony:

It's not that I have this argument with your sister. She likes to read, right, and I too, but I tell her, I've never, ever once in my entire life owned an ebook. I can't listen to a book, I have to read it.

Jeff:

A lot of people I know don't read books, they just listen to them, that's it and they tell me to do that, and I'm like I don't feel right listening to it, because I, you know, like you're not going to learn the words, you're not going to expand your vocabulary by listening to somebody else pronounce words for you, like you have to look at it.

Anthony:

I don't know, that's how I feel, like I gotta look at the words, see how it's spelled, see what kind of context is being used but maybe that's the idea in the path that you're missing that some of the things that you write, you should just do an audio file of it and just like do it that way lazy motherfuckers it might make it easy for us.

Anthony:

So sometimes you want to hear it, and so on, so forth. It's like when someone's like, it's like when you're reading a horoscope and then someone's telling it to you like, yeah, this shit easier, dog it hits different?

Anthony:

Yeah, like yo. So what's happening with my sun, moon rising, my G, like I ain't got to read through the shit, it just tells me. So that might be an opportunity for you. Like, sometimes, if it comes to your mind, like maybe just take your phone, say it and then like play it back, like, eh, I can type this out or I can just send it off like that, let people listen to it, never know alright, man.

Jeff:

We're in April 2024. A lot of things has happened since the last time we came on. Cody finished his story. Shout out to the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes I'm wearing his daddy's t-shirt.

Anthony:

The American Dream, daddy that's still not the greatest WrestleMania ever, though.

Jeff:

Probably not. It's the best one in a long time.

Anthony:

I wanted him to lose though.

Jeff:

Because you like them, villains.

Anthony:

No, I wanted him to lose and get it on Raw.

Jeff:

You like the villain to win.

Anthony:

No, I do like the villain to win.

Jeff:

It's like 50 Cent said I watch Gangsta Flicks and root for the bad guy.

Anthony:

Turn it all in because the bad guy died. Bad guy died but I'd rather him won in that Raw Because I really want to piss those Philly fans off, because WrestleMania is for the casuals, the Raw after WrestleMania is for the hardcore fans. Those are the ones that come week to week, watch all the programming, go see like the road shows, the house shows, stuff like that. Those are the ones that deserve to have that moment, not that big ass stadium. And the problem is that because it's in a stadium, actually two people I know went to it and they said the way it is on TV it failed in comparison to how it sounded when those lights cut off and Tigger came on as loud as it sounded like that. They said it was worse, like you couldn't even hear. It was deafening. They said those lights cut out, they heard that gong and everyone just screamed at the top of their voice. You couldn't hear nothing. But the TV didn't get it ass through.

Anthony:

But Monday I guess it was at Wells Fargo, I'm guessing smaller place, hardcore fans. I'd rather him capture the belt there in front of everybody and kind of go full with that. But was it good? I think every match night two was superior to night one. There's no doubt about it. But he got to finish the story and, with all the shit going on with them and Vince and his fuck shit, like y'all gotta go down a different path and I'm glad that it's this. There's only one thing I don't like about Cody you ever seen a cable guy?

Jeff:

Yes, plenty of time.

Anthony:

You know how he kind of like twerks like this. Cody does that and it irritates me. I know, but it's like.

Jeff:

His mouth is always like funny because there's certain words he can't say. When he was talking to the Rock and the Rock said I'm going to come back and I'm going to come see you. And he told the Rock I'm looking forward to it, I'm looking forward. He couldn't even say the word I'm looking forward to it. But his dad spoke the same way.

Anthony:

Right, but he was this big husky country southern dude. But he was this big husky country southern dude. Everything he's trying to have has some sauce on it. It didn't make a difference. Cody's trying to be professional, which is good. It fits what they're trying to do.

Anthony:

Now I just want to see if he's going to carry the crown, because I know what you're saying about bad guys. But what Roman and him have been doing for the past two years, three years, is trade magnate fee, that storyline, the bloodline, everything that's went along with it, that title reign. Of course he wasn't going to break Sam Martinez or Hogan's. That's impossible. That's a different style of wrestling and no one wants to wrestle that long. No, but to have that storyline carry pretty much professional wrestling for the past three years, and now it's over. And I don't think it's over, it's just going to go a different route.

Anthony:

But kudos to everybody across the board Rock, roman, cody, triple H, seth, seth gave his body. Once Seth is here, I'll be like yo, cody, we gotta run that fair one. I'd have had your back for two months, bro. I've been beat up. You need to tie it immediately, son, asap, like we ain't doing no tournament. You give me a shot. I had your back. You owe me one. Here's my one. I'm cashing this in right now. That was a great cashing by Damian Pierce.

Anthony:

Damian Priest, they mean priest, priest, priest. I said Pierce.

Jeff:

On the interland. He's been dubbed the bisexual undertaker and he's running with that too. He sees the comments and he's like. You know what I mean. He's embracing that shit.

Anthony:

Hey look man, is he bisexual?

Jeff:

I don't know, I think he is, though.

Anthony:

Why? Because we're making him dress up like that. That mean you're bisexual, just kind of?

Jeff:

does he differ?

Anthony:

I'm not saying that offensively it just sounds that way when you say it. I've learned not to call no man fruity or gay or anything else like that what about Diddy? You call Diddy fruity no, he's just the diddler. I don't even know what's going on with that the diddler diddle me this, like bruh, get the fuck with me.

Anthony:

Sean Sean, move it, but that's the whole. Like, diddle me this, like bruh, get the fuck with me. Sean Sean, move it, but that's the whole. But with that situation right there, I don't really want to call nobody gay unless they are. I don't want to call anybody bisexual unless they are, because people like to say that shit and they think that the associative was that you know, as a perfect person's gay means they soft. Like nah, you got to remember you. Like nah, you gotta remember you're calling a grown man gay and that grown man still beat the shit out of you. Like, just cause they're gay, don't mean that all of a sudden they don't know how to fight. Matter of fact, if you're gay, you probably gotta fight more than most regular dudes have to cause someone all trying to test you because you gay. Therefore, nah, I don't know if he is inflexible and Damien Priest is like 6 foot 4 and 255 pounds. You're not the kind of dude you want to check some bullshit like that out your mouth. I wouldn't want to do that. But hey, mr Priest, nice to meet you. Boss, I want an autograph. Say congratulations on your win.

Anthony:

And they had the whole Vignette's behind stage. He's talking to the press. Triple H hugs him, rock hugs him, taker hugs him. They all appreciate what he did. They think the world of God, they think he's good. Wasn't he like a security guard for them before?

Jeff:

I think so.

Anthony:

I swore it was like a first match. A long time ago he was one of the black shirt security dudes. Now he's a champ. He can't beat that. That's right.

Jeff:

Alright, man, let's move on to some more serious topics, because we did lose. We did lose two legendary, uh, figures, men, characters in the past year, in the past week rather, and I said legendary. Both of them are legendary, but for different reasons, and I'm gonna start off with the first one, and I'm talking about dj mr c, who suddenly passed away, radio DJ, out of Brooklyn. Our condolences to the family.

Anthony:

I remember him from High 97, and recently he was on.

Jeff:

The Block 94.7. The question I'm going to ask about Mr C is what is he going to be remembered for? What is his legacy? Is he going to be remembered for discovering Biggie, or is he going, gonna and I'm you know this is gonna sound fucked up, and again I don't mean no disrespect or is he gonna be known for that dj that got fired from hot 97 for solid because of, you know, getting caught soliciting transgender prostitutes on multiple occasions? You know, I'm saying it's a big thing. Does that tarnish his legacy in any way?

Anthony:

No, no, no Because you don't have the story of Big without Mr C. Right, like Big, everything that you have about his history, everything about his life, everything regarding his career, mr C is such an integral part of it you can't be like no, they can't leave that part out, Because you don't have that without him, without that time he was a good DJ too.

Jeff:

Aside from all the other ones, he was a good DJ, but he always played Biggie stuff. He always made sure to rep Biggie at the clubs, at the party, on the station you was always going to get a little Biggie medley, you know what I'm saying or he was going to introduce a new Biggie song. And for the longest time I always confused Mr C with Lil' C's how Junior Mafia. I don't know why, especially back in the day. You know, we didn't really have internet or nothing and I, you know, I didn't really. You didn't see a lot of pictures of either one, but they were always getting shouted out by biggie right on interviews and songs. He would always shout out little c's or mr c, and the names sound similar. So I always confused the two. I'm like which one is which? So little c's was from the junior mafia. That was his best friend and mr c was the dj that discovered him yes, two different.

Anthony:

So c discovered big big discover. C's right. Right, I can see I could be a little bit of confusing through line. Um, I think that the transgender, uh, the transsexual thing is one of the overblown things in hip-hop. Like we just get way too interested and excited talking about who the fuck? Somebody fucking Like I don't, I'm one of the people who just doesn't care. But I don't, it just always becomes a thing and I was always like. So Mr C likes transgender prostitutes, I, I don't care, like I don't care, I didn't really think about it, I just didn't. So the man like prostitutes it's a lot of people out here that like prostitutes. Man like transgender prostitutes it's a lot of people out here that probably like that too. But just don't say anything about it.

Anthony:

He's having me a DJ on one of the highest rated stations in New York City, which makes me one of the highest rated radio stations in the world. So they know that. Everybody knows that Everyone makes a joke about it. He just didn't care. He always seemed like a really good DJ. He was the finisher, mr C. He always had that midday mix. He always was good at jazz. He was always professional, always really, really, really a great radio presence. I'm not saying he's integral to Hot 97, but he's integral to Hot 97 at that time Because, like I said, that morning show kept shifting. Was 11 of them there? Yeah, they was there for a while. Star and Buck Wilde was there for a while. They kept changing, but those DJs they stayed consistent yeah.

Anthony:

Angie was there, but he was always the consistent one and he always had something good in him. And you know, the midday mix was kind of hard to hear At noon. Yeah, I'm at fourth period Mix at noon. I can't listen to this right now, but as you got older, you take a like. I'm at fourth period Mix that dude. Yeah, this is it now, but like. But as you got older, like you know, you take a lunch break around, then you listen to radio. You put that on. It's so wonderful. He was not like a a mixtape guy or I didn't, I didn't record.

Jeff:

He wasn't.

Anthony:

Clue. He wasn't one of the people where, like I need to record this or watch that. It was, like you know, when you had him on, you had a good time. So you know, rest in peace to Mr C, absolutely.

Jeff:

Yep, and the other death that took place precisely this week, a couple of days ago actually, I'm talking about OJ Orenthal James Simpson.

Jeff:

Yeah, the guy who looks eerily like my father. It was a polarizing figure and, you know, in the wake of of his death, I want to remember the the trial, right, the oj simpson trial, because you know, that trial exposed america's racial divide and it's 30 years later, it's almost to the day, 30 years later. Has anything changed, right? Has anything really changed? And I compare this to 9-11 and not because, you know, I'm not saying one was more tragic than the other, I'm just saying there's two memorable, historic and polarizing and sad events that transpired in American history that you remember, like you know exactly where you were at the time, right, like I could tell you exactly what was happening during 9-11, I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing and what was happening during the oj trial.

Jeff:

It was 1994, it was may of 94 and I was 10 years old, and the only reason I remember precisely the dates is because the New York Knicks were in the NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets, right? So I'm watching, I'm 10 years old and I'm watching the NBA Finals. I'm watching Patrick Ewing having one of the best performances of his entire career and then they cut it off. They cut off the telecast to show us the high-speed chase between OJ and the white Bronco and the police Right, and it wasn't even really a high-speed chase between oj and the white bronco and the police right, and it wasn't even really a high-speed chase.

Jeff:

High speed is a stretch yeah, it was.

Anthony:

It was just a chase. They were just following him, a moderately paced follow right, like we're not breaking the speed limit at all right.

Jeff:

Right, it was oj. He was getting away with shit. Was oj right? They wasn't throwing down no spikes on the ground. It wasn't trying to, you know, run him off the of the. They wasn't throwing down or spikes on the ground. They wasn't trying to run him off the road. They wasn't shooting at him. It was OJ. They was just following him, trying to figure out where he was going. Mr OJ, we need to have a word with you.

Anthony:

He going to the crib, he going home? What the fuck man? The thing that I remember about that is that those people were quick. The thing that I remember about that is that those people were quick. Those people got in them bridges with run OJ, run in minutes boy. Oh he on the freeway, oh we're going. They got their marker like scribble that shit up right on the freeway, hold them signs, run the juice is loose, run OJ.

Anthony:

I mean I'm hesitant to say rest in peace, right, because everything that's transpired if anything you know, rest in peace to the, to nicole, and no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we're gonna do that all right. Even in, even in death, people deserve dignity. Just saying rest in peace, because whatever pertained and followed before, this doesn't matter. You're gone now that's At this point. I hope you have peace from this point forward, wherever you may end up.

Jeff:

A lot of people want to know if he confessed on his deathbed Shit.

Anthony:

I ain't telling y'all nigga shit.

Jeff:

Ain't nobody confessing shit.

Anthony:

I ain't telling you shit when I'm alive. I'm telling you, when I'm dead, confess what, but why? You confess some shit. We already know.

Jeff:

There was what, but I can confess some shit we already know there was a lawyer or something. I recently read that he said that he believes oj didn't physically do it himself but he was there, right like he either hired the person that did it they they mentioned some, it was some, some killer, some serial killer guy that had murdered a bunch of people before and they saying that you know, I guess he was cool with him or he knew him, or whatever he hired him. Whatever the case he had, he was there with him. And then oj got scared or you know there was a scuffle and oj cut his hand or something. So he ran out the door. He was like fuck this, I'm out.

Jeff:

So he ain't actually stayed long enough to witness the actual murder. So in his mind oj believed that he didn't do it. Because he't do it? Because he was there at the beginning and then bailed and he wasn't physically there when the shit actually happened, so he ain't see the rest of the shit that transpired. So he technically and physically didn't do it himself, but he had a hand in it and I believe that.

Anthony:

OJ killed them people. Let that shit go. I don't give a fuck what nobody talking about.

Jeff:

I was going to ask you, so he did it. Did he do it or not?

Anthony:

Hell yeah, we know OJ did that shit. We let that shit cook because the legal system is fucked against black people. We know OJ murdered people man, fuck all that.

Jeff:

One of the reasons and that's why I posed the question has anything changed? 30 has anything changed? Because we saw when the trial was going on it was a lengthy fucking trial and the news stations had the split screen Right. They had the split screens with the whites on one side waiting for the verdict and then they had the blacks on the other side waiting for the verdict and it was a complete contrast when the verdict was announced of not guilty, when they said not guilty, you see the white side all fucking distraught, crying, pissed off, and you see the side with all the black folks happy as hell. Right, and it wasn't even because they believed that he didn't do it or whatever, or, like you said, the injustices, but it was. If you remember, the rodney king shit had just happened not too long before that, where the four policemen fucked up rodney king and then got off.

Anthony:

It's four people beating a man with a knife stick talking about he resists arrest.

Jeff:

They fucked him up to within an inch of his life and then they had the cops on trial, all white of course, and they were all found not guilty, right. So the African-American community was up in arms, uproar, outraged. So I felt like, in a way, this OJ shit was like a payback. Do you agree with that? This is how they felt. Like yo, this is just payback. Not that we condone what he did, not that we're saying he's innocent or not, but this is just a win against the police Because, also, remember, there was some racistass cops in the whole OJ shit. Remember that shit, there was a cop using the N-word and shit like that.

Anthony:

Yeah, furman Furman, racist motherfucker, Is he saying some wild shit? Look, I always tell people ain't no fun, when the rabbit got the gun, it just ain't. You can go rabbit hunting all day, get that rabbit shotgun According to the dog pound.

Jeff:

ain't no fun if my homies can't have none.

Anthony:

Yeah, that's the story. We need to have a whole part about how the shit we used to listen to was just wild, like that's a whole story about running a train Like dog.

Jeff:

But anyway, this was a victory for the African-American community against the legal system, the judicial system, the police. Brutality that was going on and still goes on today. You know what I mean. It's made it catch on more the racist. You know racism that was going on and still going on.

Anthony:

It changed a lot. It changed television. Yes, 95 million people watched that slow ride. That's as many people that's watched the Super Bowl. Yes, that literally created many people that's watched the Super Bowl. Yes, that literally created almost like reality.

Jeff:

TV shows. That was the beginning of reality TV.

Anthony:

Yeah, and it's in a courtroom every day. You have no idea what they're talking about, but you would come home and watch them talk about legal jargon, all sorts of other kinds of stuff. This lawyer, that lawyer, judge Ito, no, clark Dar. This lawyer, that lawyer, judge Edo Clark Darvin all these people, people you never heard of. Now they become brand names, home names and they're lawyers shit. Honestly, that was the rise of the Kardashians. That's the first time I've ever heard of they pops Facts. Unless you were in LA, you didn't really know the Kardashians like that.

Jeff:

30 years later, they're still getting asked about this.

Anthony:

From that. We still want it if Khloe OJ Kid Facts. Even if the DNA test said no.

Jeff:

There was a soap opera actor who recently called into the Michael Kay show because they were talking about this topic and he said that during that time his coworkers told him this is going to be the end of us, because they were switching off of the soap operas to show the OJ stuff, right, whether it was the trial or the cars or the car chase. And you know, the 80s and early 90s there was a lot of soap operas. There was like 10, 15, 18 soap operas on TV. Now there's only like what? Two or three, you know I remember, like General Hospital and Days of Our Lives and shit like that.

Anthony:

The main one.

Jeff:

The Classes of the Lair Right, but that's only like two or three of them.

Anthony:

Right.

Jeff:

There was a whole bunch of them back then, but now people are gravitating more towards the reality. Tv, right, you go around, follow the cameras are following people's lives and they sit down in front of it and they interview them. You know it's dumb shit, but that's what people are gravitating to. You know what I mean. It's reality-based. It's still bullshit and it's scripted and fake, but it's reality-based. It's quick dosages of shit. You know what I mean? Microwave era shit. Quick 20 30 minute episodes, you get your fix it's so popular with cheaper actors.

Anthony:

Right, it's still scripted. We know how this is gonna end we know how right, but.

Jeff:

But it makes you feel like you're seeing your, your, you know, a glimpse of somebody's real life. Right, correct?

Anthony:

but it's not that, but that wasn't, but that's the whole thing. But that's the courtroom wasn't scripted like he's on trial for his life. These weren weren't actors, they were real professional lawyers. But the way they framed it, filmed it, cut it, it made it seem like it's more action packed than it. Is you ever been on jury duty?

Jeff:

Yes.

Anthony:

It's boring as fuck and it's not like you see on TV, it's dull as shit. They made that exciting for no good reason. Talk about legal terms. They made that exciting for no good reason. Talking about legal terms, they're bringing out the glove. They're talking about the blood marks, like okay, another influence trial that the OJ trial had on today's society period, we had zero fucking understanding or reasoning or idea of what DNA evidence is. Now everybody thinks everything involves DNA. The man got his car stolen Y' everything involves DNA. The man got his car stolen Y'all got DNA. The woman got her purse stolen Y'all get DNA. It doesn't work that way, goddammit. Dna is not a thing like that. We just like oh, we pop it on and off. We know who's killing it.

Jeff:

Well, look at them fingerprints. You better go through that car and find a strand of hair.

Anthony:

They introduced that Now, this, that now it's just going wild. Somebody steal your car. You asking did y'all check the car for fibers? Is there any other hair there besides mine? No, you don't got that kind of testing. But that brought that to the forefront. Where it's the thing now, where everything is now dna based, and it brought out the idea of, like, who are our heroes? Oj was a hero to a lot of people Right Before that shit happened. He's one of the first black like sports.

Jeff:

It was transcending. You know he crossed over. You know what I'm saying.

Anthony:

The Hertz guy.

Jeff:

Good looking African-American athlete, beloved by everybody, blacks and whites, clean cut guy, you know, could do no wrong actor. And then this shit happens actor. And then this shit happens. And then he puts together the fucking Avengers of lawyer squads, right With the Kardashian, with Shapiro, with Johnny Cochran. And what was the Jewish dude? There was one more Jewish dude. I think he's the only one that's still alive Alan Dershowitz. He's the only one alive, still right, everybody else died of that motherfucker. I might go broke, but I ain't going to jail, trust me. And it was strategic what Cochran was doing, because he made sure that, first of all, he made sure that the majority of the jurors were black. Right, there was only two white jurors.

Anthony:

Only two. He knew how to weigh the scale.

Jeff:

And those were the only two jurors. The two white ones were the only two that kept saying he's guilty. Every other juror, who was black, was like nope, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. And that's why the trial was so long, because they couldn't convince the whites and they finally did. At the end, the whites got fucking tired of being, you know, hidden away in a hotel for several months. They're like fuck it, fine, not guilty, get us the fuck out of here. You know what I mean. Otherwise that trial would have still been going on today. Who the fuck knows?

Anthony:

Honestly, it's the problem that you have with a situation like this, and that's the thing. Oj was moderately famous, not explicitly famous, moderately, like. You knew him, but it's because your parents knew him, because he was a great running back. Or your parents' parents knew him. No, let's go that way. Your parents' parents knew him because he was a great running back. Or your parents' parents knew him no, let's go that way. Your parents' parents knew him because he was a great running back. Your parents knew him because probably the guy from the Hertz commercials, if he was black you knew him because he was in Roots and he was in some other shit and if you like movies, it was in the Naked Gun movies.

Jeff:

The Naked Gun, yeah Right, with Leslie Nielsen.

Anthony:

Right wasn't great, but he was a great. I'm not going to lie. He's probably in the top five of greatest running backs of all time. If you watch OJ run, I'm not lying, trust me. But we're not talking about his athletic ability. We're talking about one night. Two people One is ex-wife, one is a guy he's dating Somehow end up stabbed to death. That there's a trail of blood leading from where your ex-wife's home at least to your car, and then you go on a slow speed chase. It sounds kind of productive saying it that way. You go on a slow speed chase to go home.

Jeff:

Slow speed chase.

Anthony:

Yeah, slow speed chase to go home. Then you go and try for all those other things that are going on and then in the end you get acquitted and everything's fine. But it's not fine, can you's not fine? Can you think that OJ would live a quiet ass life after that? No, I think that's his biggest flaw his vanity. Like he had to write a book, like I didn't do it, but if I did, the fuck, you mean if you did, sit your black ass down you just beat a murder, rap your head, pressing the goddamn button, and then you go to jail for stealing your own shit.

Anthony:

I don't get it, though. His legacy is complicated as fuck, but we don't want to admit that, because some people are always like they're going to clown OJ. But like the way I feel about it, I'm like I know OJ probably did that shit, but, everything being fair, fuck it. And that's not being cavalier towards the loss of life of two other people is that you see people of color getting railroaded by the system all the time, getting convicted of murder they didn't do, of drug deals, that they had no part of that, for crimes they didn't commit, that they were just bullied and beaten into confessions to have them spend their lives and ways in jail, and there's no recourse to nothing that can be done about it. So do I feel bad that people lost their lives.

Jeff:

Yeah.

Anthony:

Do I feel bad that OJ got off? No, I don't. I think it's fucked up that this is what we call justice in our legal system, that a man I obviously think is guilty actually feel good about him getting off for said crime. But that's the kind of system that we built. So when you talk about the legacy of OJ Simpson, it's very convoluted because there's a lot of things and a lot of ways that people feel about him. If you're black, you're going to feel a particular way. If you're white, you are definitely going to feel a particular way. But what do you do about it now that he's gone it? But what do you do about it Now that he's gone?

Anthony:

It's hard to kind of discuss it in hindsight because it's like especially the last couple of years he's been pretty quiet. I mean, I've heard of him recently because he's been on the Is what it Is show with Cam and him during the football season. He's an analyst, but they took a capital at a risk, saying like you know what, you know what we're going to do, we're going to with OD Central, I don't know. Now he's going like okay, so what kind of do you talk about him? As a kind of a low-key, a pioneering black man or someone who's known for the?

Jeff:

trial of the century. And you know, if it don't fit you must acquit, right I?

Anthony:

mean, he tried it.

Jeff:

But the one takeaway from all of this shit is what I said at the beginning.

Anthony:

Don't kill white women.

Jeff:

No, like the trial exposed the divide in the country and all these years later, three decades later, not much has changed. No, you know, you see politicians trying to buy you know, the black vote and trying you know the black vote and trying, you know, I mean trying to put every news station. It all damn near seems, every time a black, you know man gets killed by a police officer or something like that, you got the news stations immediately trying to put, you know, whites and blacks against each other, because that's what brings the ratings right, and it feels like nothing really has changed. You hear the rappers are still talking about this shit and they rap songs just like pock was 30 years ago police brutality and all it is. And we still hear you rappers are still talking about this shit and they rap songs just like Pac was 30 years ago Police brutality and all of this. And we still hear, you know, we still see the same shit, except now.

Jeff:

The difference is that there's more cameras now. Right, everybody has a smartphone. There's more cameras out on the streets, everybody's a journalist, everybody's recording some shit. So I feel like we see it even more now. It's always existed, but we see it more now and I think that's you know, that's an embodiment, a microcosm. The whole OJ Simpson's trial and the situation as a whole was a whole microcosm of the state of the country and to this day it still holds true. So that's you know. I want to bring up his death as well, but I wanted to talk about the bigger picture that the whole his OJ Simpson had, you know, had to do.

Anthony:

The bigger picture is you gotta be careful with these white women. I'm sorry to tell you that, but that's how it go, brother. Look you still have them. Look what's homeboy. Uh, what Uh, jonathan Majors.

Jeff:

Yep White woman.

Anthony:

They get. They get a man a year probation. He's cool. I don't see his ass getting hired no time soon.

Jeff:

Disney, I think, already dropped his ass, right yeah.

Anthony:

And I had this very discomforting conversation with a black woman at the job. She's like I really hate to say this, but if he did that stuff to a black woman no one would have cared. And I'm like I hate to say that I agree with you. I do Because I know they don't protect black women enough. If that would have happened, it would have been.

Jeff:

And that's a fact, Unless there was video footage, like when Ray Rice punched his girl in the elevator. There was video footage. Everybody was ready to look the other way until the video footage came out. Then you'd be like, oh okay, we can't ignore it. Now, right, If there's no video footage, they would have ignored the shit.

Anthony:

The video footage of him was him putting her back inside the fucking limousine and him sprinting down the goddamn street like he's Carl Lewis when he's trying to get away from her. It wasn't like he was cracking or something like that. He picked her up, put her inside the car when he was just sprinting down the street Funny thing he was running looking like fucking OJ in a Hertz commercial, just hurdling shit and that's the whole thing, the whole thing. Like you say that things have changed, they haven't. They define different ways to punish you. Like OJ with Jonathan, they make you pariahs, they make you outcasts. Remember before I said until it is what it is, you didn't hear nothing and I mean really nothing from OJ, because nobody wanted anything to do with him. No shows, no radio, no, nothing. Sad. It's probably going to happen to anything that happened to Jonathan Majors. Unless somebody really wants to take a risk on him, it's going to be a pariah. We understand you did this. We understand you got a person. We understand you're cool. We understand all things are clear. We want nothing to do with you. The thing that you want to learn take from OJ Be responsible for the things in your life that are important and keep yourself out of situations that are not.

Anthony:

If you're with someone, make sure you communicate. Whatever it is clearly A situation or problem that there might be, make your life a little bit easier. If you don't, you might end up in a situation like this. I'm not saying the lack of conversation ended someone's death. I'm not saying the whole thing was toxic and it just wasn't healthy, that the idea of maybe paying someone to kill my ex-wife would probably be better than letting her live Kind of an issue in and of itself. But, like I said, no matter how you feel about him at this moment, at this point you ask the person just to be at peace from this point forward, because you never know what this point forward in their life after death is going to proclaim. So for OJ, obviously rest in peace.

Jeff:

Rest in peace, orenthal James Simpson. I hope his conscience was at peace before he passed. You feel me.

Anthony:

Who knows Shit? I'm dead.

Jeff:

And rest in power to DJ. Mr C man, the legendary. That's going to be our show today, man. Go in the show notes, man. All the links is in there. Check out our youtube page. Check out the website the culture peace.

People on this episode

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Jeff DeLaRosa

Host
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Anthony Austin

Co-host