2 The Compass Friday, November 3, 1995
IM «| SQSU: by Jamie Jordon
Do you feel the "Million Man March" served its purpose?
LaTonya Lee, freshman,
Wilmington, NC
“Yes. The march showed black men unifted in
brotherly love, and instilled in them a sense of
positiveness.
mm
Regina Reddick, senior,
Greenville, NC
“Yes, because, unlike ever before,
men from all walks of life gathered
toward a positive cause. Out of
all ttie things they could stand up
for, they stood up for themselves.".
Shakei Albritton, senior,
Robertson, NC
“Yes. The march was a successful
call for unity as a day the black
man collectively pledged to atone
to God and take a stand as head of
his community.”
James Perry, junior,
Elizabeth City, NC
“Yes, most definitely. Usually the
media talks about the negativity of
the black man, but the march
reminded us of our primary focus:
first, God; then self; and, ultimately
others."
4J
Guest Column
Media exploited race issue in O.J. trial...
What’s the point?? Controversy Sells!
"The media stoked the racial fires by showing
split screens of whites and blacks reacting."
by Scott Lawrence
While the media have an obligation
to bring injustice to light, the
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle dic
tates that behavior changes once ob
servers are noticed. In the Simpson
case, cameras did affect behavior. Re
porting is one thing, but a nation liv
ing vicariously through defense and
prosecuting attorneys involved in a
murder case caimot be a good thing.
What negative effects has this del
uge of media coverage caused? One
obvious effect is the amplification of
an already tense issue: race.
Let's get one thing straight: the
"Juice" is not a notorious figure due to
his ethnicity; his fame arises from his
place in history as one of the greatest
running-backs of all time. Had the cam
eras not been in the courtroom, aristo
cratic middle and upper-class Ameri
cans (a group consisting mostly of
white Americans) would not have seen
the DNA evidence, the Goldmans
bursting into tears as the verdict was
announced, or Denise Brown's stem
visage as she heeird it.
The media stoked the racial fires by
showing split screens of whites and
blacks reacting. I know whites who
thought Simpson was irmocent and
blacks who thought he was guilty. The
point being this: controversy sells. Per
haps these people had made up their
minds a long time before a jury was
chosen — like talk show host Dermis
Preager.
That seems to be the case. I don't
think most white Americans are de-
crjring this verdict because they believe
in OJ.'s guilt as much as they want to
disbelieve the obvious bigotry in one
of their holy ir\stitutions. These are the
people who defend the system with all
the tenacity of salmon swimming up
stream to spawn; faced with the di
lemma of acknowledging the inequity
of the system or blaming the jury for
having ulterior motives, they would
rather choose the latter.
"What—a flaw in our judicial sys
tem? The hell you say." Mark Fuhrman
and I are here to teU you folks, it's
there.
One other obvious negative effect of
the trial coverage was the overshad
owing of other noteworthy events.
Many things were merely glanced at
while day in and day out we got more
"Juice."
Susan Smith, who put her kids into
her car emd drowned them, got shuffled
to the back page. Isn't killing your own,
defenseless, children much worse than
killing yoiur ex-wife and her friend?
The media served in its capacity as
fourth estate quite well if we forget the
Heisenberg Principle. This trial show
cased the bigotry in the system, the
miracles of fineincial solvency, and what
happens when the media overstep the
bounds of ethics.
It is time to admit that justice, bought
and sold, is not just, nor is justice which
is not blind to religion, race, or creed,
true justice. It is time to admit there is
very little justice in our judicial system.
What about the prosecution? Why
isn't anyone blaming them? The state
of California spent a bundle to put O.J.
away, then they bring in the most in
credible witness possible.
Hey, Marsha... news flash: Mark
Fuhrman + witness stand = reasonable
doubt. How could they not know what
the defense knew?
Someone didn't do his homework.
The Fuhrman tapes demonstrate that
prejudice is not only present on our
police forces, but it is also accepted as
something corrunonplace. The fiasco in
Waco and the debacle at Ruby Ridge
show our law enforcement agencies'
lack of commtmication skills, their pre
disposition for lethal force and their
disregard for the Constitution.
These aren't TV shows with scripts
contrived in Hollywood; these are ab
horrent tragedies which defile any idea
of lawfulness. The question is will we
leam from this and change?
OrUy time will teU. The verdict is in
on O.J. and the system has performed;
if it teaches us nothing, Ron and Nicole
died in vain.
The system failed in the O.J. case.
Either the man got away with murder
or the LAPD framed Wm; but some
where the system failed. If we acknowl
edge that failure we're half way home.