O.J. Simpson refused service in a restaurant

I was flipping through the channels an hour or so ago and as I came upon CNN there was a discussion about OJ Simpson being refused service in a restaurant. I think the woman whose show it is, is named Nancy Grace, a former Court TV character.

So apparently this guy who owned the restaurant went over and told Simpson he wouldn't get service. It was said on the show that the owner didn't like what he did to Goldman and Nicole.

This is the second time that I have listened to people talk about Simson. Some news commentator was talking about him like he was a dog not so long ago, as if he was proven guilty.

When Nancy Grace thanked the restaurant owner for coming on, he asked if he could ask one question. She listened. "Why?" he asks, "When a celebrity goes in to a courtroom does lady justice go out the back door?"

Now I have no love for OJ Simpson. And if you were to ask me, my hunch is he did what he was accused of. But a jury in the United States, in other words, the great American justice system found him to be innocent. Yet some news persons still talk of him like he's guilty. And then this man makes this comment about "lady justice".

The first thing I thought of is whether or not this restaurant owner would have refused service to John Gotti or some mob boss. Would he have denied service to Ted Kennedy of Chappaquiddick fame? What about Michael Milken whose policies caused misery and probably death to many working people. What about Oliver North, a man with blood on his hands. What about the terrorist in Florida who just had immigration charges dropped by a US judge? Oh, I forget, he only brought down Cuban passenger planes?

And as for lady justice going out the back door. How many innocent people, mostly black or Latino men did Mark Fuhrman send to jail? How many were taken to a parking lot here and there and had the crap kicked out of them or drugs planted on them. And Fuhrman is a radio host is he not? How many men have been shot by the Fuhrman's of this world who are like occupying forces in America's urban ghettos? I'll bet Fuhrman would not have received the same treatment.

I certainly wouldn't waste my time championing OJ Simson, and that is not my intention here. But the racist bias is so blatant and is one of the reason many black workers won't condemn the man, something that frustrates the hell out of some whites. The legal system as any worker knows serves the rich but for blacks, American justice has been dished out to them with a vengeance. Hey, he was found innocent. And even here racism abounds. There were too may blacks on the jury and they can't make an objective decision based on the facts.

For workers, for poor people, for so many people of color, black men in particular, lady justice went out the back door a long time ago. To be more accurate, for all workers, lady justice never came in the courtroom.

OJ Simson got off because he has money and friends in high places. Any working class black man would have been taken out on the freeway. But much of the concern about this verdict still has its roots in racist soil.