O. J. Simpson’s arrest and the Charleston massacre: A biblical response to prejudice

Twenty-five years ago today, O. J. Simpson was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. This after police followed Simpson and his best friend, Al Cowlings, in Simpson’s white Ford Bronco through the streets of Los Angeles.

An estimated ninety-five million people watched the slow-driving chase unfold on television.

On October 3, 1995, Simpson was acquitted of all charges. In a civil trial two years later, he was found liable for several charges related to the killings and sentenced to pay $33.5 million to the victims’ families. Some of his property was seized and auctioned, but most of the judgment has not been paid.

After the 1995 verdict was announced, a CNN poll found that 62 percent of white Americans believed Simpson to be guilty, while 66 percent of African-Americans believed him to be not guilty.

A further window into the racial divide: 58 percent of African-Americans believed whites considered Simpson to be guilty because of race; only 20 percent thought they did so because of the evidence. Sixty percent of whites believed African-Americans who considered Simpson to be not guilty based their position on race; only 23 percent thought they did so because of the evidence.

A movie Stephen Curry and Viola Davis helped produce

Today also marks the fourth anniversary of the Charleston shooting. Dylann Roof, a twenty-one-year-old white supremacist, stood up during closing prayer at the predominantly black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and began shooting. He killed nine parishioners.

At 10:45 a.m. the next morning, police took Roof into custody.

Tonight and Wednesday night only, a documentary about the shooting titled Emanuel will be shown at theaters around the country. Featuring interviews with survivors and family members, it weaves together the history of race relations in Charleston, the significance and impact of…