trial of the century

I was 12 when the (original) OJ Simpson verdict came through. We were in 7th grade English class with Ms. Busby at SF Day, and we stopped everything to watch. There were three black kids in my class, and I'm pretty sure two of them were in the other section, because the main thing I remember about the verdict was Aaron Robinson, the one black kid in the room, cheering when OJ was acquitted. It was the first time it had occurred to me that there were people who actually thought, or at least hoped, that OJ was innocent, and the first time I had been forced to think about it in terms of race. The "race card," as they call it nowadays, hadn't even crossed my mind.

Strange, that. Today it would probably be the first thing to cross my mind. Ah, the innocence of youth.

Randomely: remember that police chase with the white Bronco? I remember it SO CLEARLY it's kind of bizarre. Why would that have such an impact on me as an 11 year old? But it did, and apparently it did for everyone else in my generation too, the same way that September 11th did, or the way JFK's assassination did for my parent's generation. A police chase after a murderer who used to be a football hero. What the hell? But there it is in my mind, clear as day: Daniel Koplowitz was over hanging out with Taylor, and all of us, my parents included, sat in the tv room watching the chase. It was a very slow chase, if I recall correctly.

Anyway. Just random tangential reflections.