Social Class, Education, And Race

The ESPN series “O.J.: Made in America” is a documentary of the notable rise and fall of Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson, which captivated the nation and is still discussed today [over 20 years later]. Simpson’s life story and infamous 1994 double-homicide acquittal is paralleled with race relations, and the criminal justice system in Los Angeles in the decades leading up to the “trial of the century”. The main objective of the documentary does not seem determine whether Simpson is ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’, but rather to consider the effect of racial issues in the U.S. criminal justice system that how they played into the trial. While the documentary primary leads to, and surrounds the infamous trial, it also illustrates the concepts and ideals of the country that both made and destroyed him.

In an effort to discover how one thing affects another, I decided to study how race affects different aspects of life; those aspects being income, social class (or class) and education. How do we ascertain what effects what when preparing a study; does race effect how much we make or how far we go in our education or where we might live? There are many studies researching the variables mentioned, race, income, class and education. Perhaps education effects race, class and income. I am attempting to analyze the first combination. I want to determine to what extent income and class and education are affected by race.

Race, gender, and social class has several implications in the United States and how it shapes policy and perceptions of those who live in poverty. Current welfare systems are not perfect, and capitalistic policies do not work as intended to solve income inequalities. Given this, we will discuss social inequalities and capitalism, the welfare system, and propose two policies that solves welfare, and social and income inequalities.

However, I think the most important people that this trial concerned were the families and friends of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The families of the victims were probably the most interested in the long eleven month trial. They had to patiently wait around for the verdict and they all wanted O.J. to be punished for what they believed he did. The second most important key public is O.J. Simpson’s family and friends. He was the one main suspect, and everyone he cared about was awaiting the verdict. They had to sit around and watch him run from the police during a speed chase on TV, and they had to pray he wasn’t guilty. Lastly, I think the entire population of America at the time were huge key publics. Although the case didn’t necessarily involve them in anyway, they helped make the trial as huge as it was. If people weren’t constantly watching the trial on TV or were concerned about it at all, it would not have been as big of a deal. They were the key to the popularity of it

When registering for classes for the Spring semester I looked at the required courses that I had to take based on my major. I then came across one of them which was Social Issues. The title intrigued me, so I decided to fit it into my schedule. I felt that the course would be interesting and be an enjoyable class to take. I had an idea of what the course would be about, but when I walked into the first class I was surprised how much the course would actually be covering in terms of race, class, and gender.

There were lots of facts and evidence against OJ, but he, of course, had the best lawyers and attorneys that money could buy on his side. His lawyers and attorneys turned the murder case into a racial battle that took the spotlight off of what crimes had really been committed. In 1985, OJ and Nicole became married, but their marriage was far from “picture perfect.” OJ wasn’t just unfaithful, he was extremely abusive. Friends and relatives on each side would often notice bruises on Nicole’s body. OJ would even openly say at parties “I’m going to kill her.”

In 1995, O.J. Simpson, one of the most acclaimed National Football League players, was tried on two counts of murder. This is a case that would stay inclusive forever in the eyes of most Americans; and that would change the way America’s legal system operated. During the trial racism evolved around Simpson and multiple inferences led to an especially controversial definitive, later known as the “trial of the century.”

Consequently, this caused authorities to make OJ Simpson a prime suspect. During the trial, OJ’s longtime friend, Ron Shipp, testified that Simpson had confided in him that he had dreams of slaughtering Nicole Brown Simpson (Linder 4). Adding on, Denise Brown, Nicole’s sister, remembered an incident when Simpson threw Brown Simpson against a wall (4). A 9-1-1 dispatcher was brought to the stand, allowing the prosecution to play a traumatizing 9-1-1 call from Nicole reporting a continuing attack by OJ Simpson (8).

It all started on June 12th, 1994 (3 days after I was born, coincidence?) when a single male entered into Nicole Brown Simpson’s (O.J.’s current ex-wife) condominium on Bundy Drive through the back entrance. In a “nearly enclosed area near the front gate”, Nicole was feverishly slashed, almost slicing her head off from her neck. The male then proceed to struggle with and

Does being born connected to a certain race, class and culture define you as a person and the way you should or shouldn’t live your life. Does being in a certain class make you have class? In the paper I plan to give examples of how race, class and culture affected the African American culture.

The O.J Simpson trial is possibly the most publicized and controversial trial in american History. Many would argue that the trial is used as a basis of what not to do in a murder trial.

The 1995 trial of OJ Simpson, a famous football player, created a “media circus” which enraptured the United States and the world. In this trial, Simpson was accused of the murder of his wife and Ronald Goldman. His trial came into the limelight during the car chase leading to his arrest; an estimated 95 million people watched on television. Yet, the car chase was not the only reason for the case’s popularity. Simpson, his lead attorney Jonnie Cochran, and many jury members were African Americans. This led to the division of those involved, the nation and any other people watching the trial, on racial lines. Defense Attorney Jonnie Cochran appeals to the African American side as he lays out all the vital facts in this argument. Cochran uses a combination of all three appeals, although he relies heavily on the logical and emotional, to persuade the jury of the prosecution’s impractical defense and of OJ Simpson’s innocence.

Everyone has heard of the OJ Simpson court case – a rich and famous man is accused of murdering his ex wife and despite an overwhelming amount of evidence presented against him, he somehow manages to be found not guilty. Many people find themselves wondering how that could possibly happen. Was his defense team simply that good? Were there mistakes made? Was he actually innocent? Simpson’s case is not the only one that has yielded such a strange outcome because of his status and stellar defense team, and certainly not the only court case to cause such an uproar in the media. Martha Stewart’s 2001 case, Scott Peterson’s 2004 case, and Lorena Bobbitt’s 1994 case are all examples of court trials that sparked interest in the eye of America.

A discussion of the theory that class-based differences in educational achievement are mainly due to familial factors. Throughout the twentieth century, there have been many changes made to the structure of the education system. These include the 1944 Education act which made secondary education compulsory and introduced the tri-partite system of school, though the move to a comprehensive system of schools in the 1960’s, to the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988. While official statistics have shown that all these measures have served to increase the overall levels of educational attainment (as defined by attainment of qualifications), both official and sociological evidence indicated that class-based inequalities

Religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, are many examples of effects on academic education. But one of the biggest effect is social class. What many people don’t know is not all schooling is free, even public schooling. Public schooling has fees such as art fees, lunch fees, book fees (sometimes), and if you go to a school where they are giving out computers you must pay to use them because the school could possibly make it a requirement to have a computer to be able to do work in and outside of school and be monitored by the school on what the kid is doing.