Proposal:

My project is going to be about famous trials, such as the OJ Simpson case, and how they
directly affect the American identity. My research question is going to be How did the OJ
Simpson case directly affect views on the American identity? This topic matters because this
double homicide trial was broadcasted nationally, and it is important to realize the major impact
it had on members of society who were not directly involved. I have done an abundance of
research on the OJ Simpson case. I have a lot of pre existing knowledge on this case and would
say I am biased in the fact that I believe hes guilty. My assumptions on whether he actually did
it or not does not change the fact that this case tore society apart, and shows that the true
definition American identity was definitely questioned during this time period. My goal after
researching my question is to find sources that explain specifically how the OJ case shook the
view on the American identity and furthermore how famous trials (specifically ones that are
broadcasted as heavily as this one was) do actually have a direct effect on what people think it
means to be American. My hypothesis is going to be famous trials, such as the OJ Simpson case,
play a direct role in how people view the American identity. Because of all the background
information I have on the OJ Simpson case, I believe that my research will confirm my existing
opinion.

Annotated bibliography entries:

1) Shreve, David. "O.J.: Made in America & The War on Non-White Identity." Audiences

Everywhere. N.p., 02 July 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.

This source is about the OJ Simpson case and its role in the war on non-white identity. The
article claims that our society has contorted itself to normalize straight, white, male identity as
the default. Shreve explains that as a society we have oppressed and controlled any person that
does not fit the criteria that was just listed. This article focuses mainly on the ABC networks
serialized version of the ESPN documentary O.J.: Made in America. Shreve goes into detail
about how Simpson originally started his athletic career determinedly focused on building a
white-accepted brand of his own black identity. He explains how OJ wanted to be cultured by the
white community- he attended a predominantly white school, and he even looked for advice on
how to talk white in interviews. Shreve notes OJ simpson projected an identity that was
established, expressed, and celebrated. I completely agree with these claims. OJ did not classify
himself as African American. There was even an interview of him saying I am not black, I am
OJ. I think this speaks volumes to how this case affected societys view on the American
identity. The defense turned this case into a race case, because they knew it would appeal to
those who were triggered and involved in the LA riots. The defenses claim was that the
prosecutors were racist and had a vendetta against blacks, so they targeted OJ because he was a
successful black man. The defense was sure that the reason OJ was charged was because white
people hated seeing black people successful, so they framed him to bring him down. However,
even OJ didnt classify himself as black. He lived in a gated Hollywood community, was
unbelievably privileged, and did not face any of the struggles that African Americans face. I
think the defense turned this into a race issue because they could, they knew that society,
specifically the black community, would be triggered, and stand with OJ. Race tears society
apart, is has since the beginning of time and probably will forever, and this article proves that
OJs case made a lot of people question what the true definition of the American identity is.

2) Clark, Marcia. "I Prosecuted O.J. Simpson. Here's What I Learned about Race and

Justice in America." Vox. N.p., 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.

This article explains how the OJ Simpson case correlated with the Rodney King incident.
Rodney King was a black taxi driver who was beat brutally by the Los Angeles Police
Department on camera. After the police officers were found not guilty, riots erupted known as the
LA riots. These riots have been characterized as the most violent riots of the 20th century.
These riots are connected to the OJ Simpson case because there was talk that this trial would be
payback for the Rodney King verdict. The OJ Simpson case brought up a lot of racial tension,
mainly because a lot of African Americans believed that the LAPD as a whole was racist, and
they were just trying to prosecute OJ because he was black. The defenses main argument was
literally that the LAPD framed OJ because of his skin color. I personally dont know if the the
jurors believed that this case was going to be payback for the Rodney King incident, but I would
not doubt it. One of the jurors raised his fist in the Black Power salute after OJ was read his not
guilty verdict. This connects to the other sources because they also talk about how people
believed that the LAPD had a vendetta against African Americans. The first source also explains
how the defense turned the case into a race case, because they knew that it would appeal to those
who were were triggered by the LA riots.

3) "How The Black Community Viewed O.J. And The Verdict." PBS. Public Broadcasting

Service, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.

This article talks to different members of the African American community (from businessmen,
to Harvard professors, to lawyers), and gets their views on OJ Simpson and the verdict. The
article asks them if they have changed their views about the jurys verdict. The first person talked
to is Kerman Maddox, a LA businessman and community activist. He explains that his father,
who grew up in the South, was convinced that OJ had nothing to do with the murder. Because of
what his father had experienced growing up, he believed wholeheartedly that OJ was framed and
it was all about Mark Fuhrman planting evidence. However, Kerman felt he was guilty. This
brings up how the case divided families in the black community when one person thought he was
guilty and everyone else thought he was innocent. Kerman also explains how excited young
African Americans were when they heard the verdict, and how he remembers thinking to himself
...this is bigger than OJ. This is something where people feel it is really a part of them. He says
that the African American community became attached to this case not only because of their life
experiences, but also the overall experience of African Americans and the criminal justice
system. Despite that, Kerman also remembers realizing that OJ wasnt even really part of the
black community. Everything he did he did surrounded by the white, rich, community. This
relates back to the first article and how I was saying that OJ wanted nothing to do with the
African American community unless it benefitted him. Another person spoken to was Michael
Eric Dyson, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of numerous books on
race in America. He claims that we shouldnt make the mistake of believing that the black people
who celebrated actually thought he was innocent, but more of the idea that so was someone they
personally knew who had had been screwed by the system. He says that OJ was beyond his
body. OJ was a term that represented every black person screwed by the criminal justice
system. There were a few more people talked to but they all pretty much say the same thing. That
the black community celebrated a win that wasnt even really a win for them. The person they
were celebrating wanted nothing to do with their community, or their race in general for that
matter.

4) Noble, Kenneth B. "Issue of Racism Erupts in Simpson Trial." The New York Times. The New

York Times, 13 Jan. 1995. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.

This article was actually posted at the time of the trial. This is NY Times article that was
published on January 13, 1995- when everything was fresh. The article starts by explaining the
courtroom battle that happened between the black prosecutor (Christopher Darden) and the black
defense lawyer (Johnnie Cochran), over whether or not the jury should be allowed to hear the
Mark Fuhrman tapes. The tapes include a bunch of extremely racist remarks made by Fuhrman,
and the defense wanted to use it to prove the LAPD is racist and out to get OJ. Fuhrman was
one of the first investigators to arrive at Nicole Simpsons condo after she was stabbed to death,
and prosecutors also said that later he found a bloody glove at OJs estate. The glove was a major
piece of evidence in the case, because the glove matches the one found at the crime scene. The
defense wanted to use the tapes to not only prove that Fuhrman was racist, but also that he might
have planted the glove there to frame OJ. The case had always stirred the race pot, but this
evidence really hit it home. It was because of these tapes, where Fuhrman uses the N word
multiple times, that people really began to believe that OJ was not just innocent, but that the
LAPD was out to get members of the black community (even though, like Ive been saying, he
wasnt even a member of the black community.

5) Mic. "How Race Framed the Conversations Around the OJ Simpson Trial." Mic. Mic Network

Inc., 02 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.

This article talks about how race framed the OJ Simpson case. It explains that in a 1995 CNN-
Time magazine poll that 66% of blacks believed Simpson to be innocent, whereas most whites
believed he was guilty. The poll also found that both races held racial biases that affected their
answers- so you can believe this case split the nation down the middle. This article also explains
how the race issue mainly stemmed from the Jan. 13, 1995 hearing, when Johnnie Cochran
introduced tapes proving that lead Detective Mark Fuhrman was racist, and said that he planted
the glove to frame OJ. The prosecutor, Christopher Darden, claimed that bringing race into this
was steering the jury away from the truth, that he killed Nicole Simpson. Darden said that
Cochran was trying to blind the jury with the race issue, because he knew that the tapes would
upset the black jurors.

So how do these articles relate to the American Identity?

Articles 4 and 5 explain how the defense used race as a tactic to blind the jury from the facts and
the DNA evidence. Its obvious that race was already an issue, but it is no doubt that this case
stirred the pot. When the Fuhrman tapes came to light the black community was furious, as they
should of been, but it steered them away from the facts of the case. This case divided the nation-
the whites thought he was guilty and the blacks thought he was not only innocent, but framed by
the LAPD. I think the American identity is about how a person views what it means to be
American. Everybodys American identity is different, but this already unstable definition was
torn even more by the OJ case. The beautiful thing about America is that it is a melting pot, and
everybody should want to work together to make the country better- economically, culturally,
etc. But the thing is, it will NEVER be that easy. And this case (and thousands more) proves that
racism was not left in the past and it completely divided Americans.

6) Print Book

Hunt, Darnell M. O.J. Simpson Facts and Fictions News Rituals in the Construction of Reality.

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1999. Print.

This book explains how the OJ Simpson case constructed reality. It asks why America was so
obsessed with the OJ Simpson case, as well as why so many people were obsessed with the
particular outcomes. It also further examines the implications of race in the United States and
how the trial affected that. It pretty much states what all of the other sources say that this case
played a major role in how the view on the American identity was changed.

7) Article from Peer-Reviewed Academic Journal

Williams, Linda. "Playing the Race Card: Melodramas of Black and White from Uncle Tom to

O. J. Simpson." Barnes & Noble. N.p., 30 Nov. 8879. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

This article explains how the race card was played in the OJ Simpson case. It explains how the
Court TV aired the OJ Simpson trials and how prosecutor Christopher Darden was opposed to
bringing race into the case, however because the Fuhrman tapes were allowed, it wasnt about
anything but race. The article explains how playing the race card had two separate readerships.
The first was towards the wider audience who was drawn to the Court TVs coverage of the
Simpson trial, and the second is the academic audience of film and television scholars as well as
the American Studies scholars. I agree with this, mainly because since OJ was a celebrity the
case was all about entertainment. Between the highway chase, and the fact that the trials were
nationally broadcasted, the OJ case was meant for views.
8) Article from Peer-Reviewed Academic Journal

Taylor, Kevin B.|Powell Gary N. "Beyond O.J.: Examining Race Relations in the Workplace."

Journal of Management Education. N.p., 30 Nov. 1997. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

This article explains race relations in the workplace. It describes a diversity exercise about
reactions to the highly publicized event, the OJ Simpson murder trial. The article says that its
beyond OJ, its about a more serious issue- race relations in the workplace. It also can be used to
examine how members of different races/cultures communicate in the workplace. This can relate
back to the other articles because it explains how the case was turned into more than just a
murder trial. It became solely about race. People were blinded by one, the fact that it was
someone as famous as OJ Simpson, but two, by the fact that someone they know might have
been treated poorly by the LAPD and how they want revenge.

9) News Article

Strachan, Maxwell. "How O.J. Simpson Went From Avoiding Black America To Representing

It." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 June 2016. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

This news article by the Huffington Post explains how OJ didnt want to be associated with the
black community. It explains how in the documentary OJ: Made in America former SWA
Officer Pete Weireter was interviewed. Weireter recalls Simpson asking What are n****rs doing
in Brentwood (the gated Hollywood community in which he lived)? This article connects to the
other articles by explaining how it the race card cant even be played because OJ didnt see
himself as black. He was wealthy, and privileged, and didnt experience what the black
community faced.

10) Multimodal Text (TV Show)

"The Verdict." The People Vs OJ Simpson. Netflix. 2016. Television.

Netflixs new television show, The People vs. OJ Simpson takes a closer look into the specifics
of the OJ Simpson trial. It reenacted everything from when the bodies were found to when the
verdict was read. Being able to see the emotions of the prosecutors and the defense really helped
me understand their views. I think Johnnie Cochran whole-heartedly believed it was about race.
It was clear that Christopher Darden didnt want the case to have anything to do with race, and
Marcia Clark (the other prosecutor) wanted it to be solely about the facts and the DNA evidence.
What really resonated with me was after the verdict was read Cochran went to talk to Darden.
Cochran goes on to say how this is a huge win for the black community. Darden goes on to
counter-argue by explaining how OJ wasnt even part of the black community, and this wasnt a
win for anybody but the rich, gated, Hollywood community that OJ was a part of.