O.J. Simpson joining Twitter has helped spark no hotter of takes than this Perspective op-ed in the Washington Post:
Perspective: Twenty-five years ago, O.J. Simpson showed white Americans just how conditional their comfort with black athletes was https://t.co/v8FUdssGTv
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 17, 2019
Oh my.
This is a pretty savage ratio. https://t.co/levyVSyrqA
— Crotchety Old Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) June 18, 2019
It’s pretty epic.
If you can’t (or don’t want to) get past the paywall, Newsbusters has a summary:
That’s quite an assertion. Can the author, Phillip Lamarr Cunningham, assistant media studies professor at Quinnipiac University, back it up? Nope. And he doesn’t even try. It’s just an excuse to slight black athletes who are insufficiently race-obsessed.
From the Perspective in the Post:
The car chase, coming in the middle of the fifth game of the NBA Finals, cast a brief pall on what had been a watershed moment for black athletes. To suggest that Simpson overshadowed a decade’s worth of goodwill toward black athletes would be an overstatement. But Simpson, arguably a major source of this goodwill, certainly made clear the conditions white Americans put on their goodwill, even as the nation’s greatest black athletes continued to thrill and amaze.
You can probably guess what came next, in addition to the eye rolls:
Call me crazy but my comfort with ANYONE is conditional on them not being a murderer. https://t.co/NlJZNPAvDZ
— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) June 18, 2019
Translation: Washington Post thinks black Americans would totally support a murderer. https://t.co/11ba6QGfrH
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 18, 2019
Recommended
If you live long enough you’ll see everything.
Apparently those of us who didn’t approve of a vicious double-murderer getting away with almost decapitating his wife and a bystander are the problem https://t.co/bggF062n1B
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) June 18, 2019
Nice try on that race thing, bruh pic.twitter.com/XmWDSMLRfP
— ShredderGirl (@ShredderBabe) June 18, 2019
Just keep doing your part to get @realDonaldTrump re-elected in 2020. I swear they actually want him to win
— James Hilario (@Jameshilario7) June 18, 2019
Come on, man.
— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) June 18, 2019
It's 3:47 in the AM and you're watching Perspectives. If you're just now joining us we're discussing OJ Simpson and the conditional comfort of white sports fans. https://t.co/RfBnOTHRsC
— mitrebox (@mitrebox) June 18, 2019
Yeah, murder will do that. Clowns. https://t.co/Kqh8sSbCdU
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) June 18, 2019
If it was Fran Tarkington or Tom Brady all people would have been just as upset. This headline is ridiculous and disgusting racebaiting. https://t.co/9D7zEGtnu3
— Chris Loesch (@ChrisLoesch) June 18, 2019
*How conditional their comfort with black athletes who murder people. https://t.co/DomdhbayZK
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) June 18, 2019
Not Exactly … and stop trying to make OJ a thing. He’s a murderer and should be in prison
— Reaganette (@Ezinger44) June 18, 2019
“Phillip Lamarr Cunningham is assistant professor of media studies at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.”
Of course https://t.co/QGw3EAL2Lr
— Orange Muppet Energy (@sunnyright) June 18, 2019
Every hot take has its predictable elements.
Damn white people and basing their "comfort" level with people on whether or not they committed a double murder. https://t.co/5gPJ7kaXn9
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) June 18, 2019
Who writes this stuff? https://t.co/ihvO7pHyAq
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) June 18, 2019
I was too young to remember it, but I feel like this headline leaves out a key detail. https://t.co/0e6gbvFBPk
— Hatch Act Holden (@DrewHolden360) June 18, 2019
Most of us here at Twitchy are old enough to remember, and yes, the story does bury the lede quite a bit.
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