I remember a couple years ago this guy argued with me on twitter for like 8 hours straight that the OJ trial wasn't a big deal at the time and finally I said "if you weren't born yet in 1995 you have to tell me right now" and he deleted his account
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I feel like you could get through to these kids by explaining that they pre-empted — and delayed, IIRC — an *NBA playoff game* to cover the Bronco chase.
It took several critical minutes to get the split screen going. The packed brew pub in Houston I was in found the local broadcast on the radio to play so we could find out what was going on.
The Rockets were ahead when they cut away. I blame OJ for the loss.
I was 14, visiting my grandparents in DC, and dozing in a hammock in their screen porch listening to the news on my Walkman. I stayed up late listening to the post-arrest speculation, and fell asleep out there.
Told my wife he was dead and 19 year old daughter said "I sort of know him, what happened?" So I went through the football superstar, acting stuff. Then the court case "if the glove don't fit" stuff. Covered it comprehensively. Then she asked about the car chase. I'd forgotten about that🤷♂️
That trial was the thing that made me realize I didn't want to be a lawyer, I'd just chosen pre-law as my undeclared major (ah, freshman year) as an acceptable default to appease the expectations. Wow, was that a messy time in my life!
I was bar tending. We turned off the music just to watch the white bronco and listen to Tom Brokaw. Everyone remembers where they were. Just like on 9/11
That's about 8 more hours than I would have spent internet-arguing with someone over that. And since I'm old enough to remember the trial, I've participated in some pretty stupid internet arguments in my life.
I legitimately don't think the zoomer mind can comprehend the mass media landscape when it was unchallenged. 24 hour news loved to obsess over things. OJ, Princess Dianna, Monica Lewinsky, Jon Benet Ramsey etc. didn't blow over in days or weeks they were months long media frenzies
I was a freshman in high school and it was literally the only thing anyone talked about for weeks. Some random kid popped into my Latin class to announce the verdict
I went on vacation with my best friend and her parents, we could not go anywhere in the morning until the trial adjourned for the morning. It was infuriating. It was a huge deal, and we weren’t American.
Good lord. I clearly remember being 10 and watching the whole thing at my neighbor's/lady who watched all the neighborhood kids/daycare? But they didn't call it that cuz we were, you know 10. Like 8 kids and Mrs Linda.
That would have been my first question. Kudos on getting there eventually.
As an elder millennial it’s shocking but Twitter is full of 17 year olds who have nothing to do but say nonsense lol
I recall hearing something years ago that Clinton had said about the importance of education. It had to do with Americans being able to compete in the world. But I’d say education hasn’t been in the forefront for any other potus and it shows.
idk it was really weird, it all started because I said I wasn't really surprised that Kim Kardashian wanted to pass the bar... so like not only was he arguing that it was NBD he also seemed to think it had zero impact on the children of OJs fucking lawyer???? lmao how
That's one of those "Tell me you weren't alive in 1995 without telling me you weren't alive in 1995" things. 'Cause I was alive and 110% done with hearing about that trial in 1995.
They put that shit in the upper left hand corner of the NBA finals it was such a big deal. It was definitely the most boring car chase in history, but people were glued to the story when the whole thing was going down. From start to finish, and people still talked about it for quite a while after.
they made the announcement in school over the PA that he was found not guilty. Interrupted class and everything. i heard the groan of can you believe this shit reverberate all through the school and into the library where i was reshelving magazines and circulars instead of taking a work study
The neighborhood I grew up in was fractured by the trial. This was Bills country. My father got so involved and so furious about Mark Fuhrman’s racism that he left the GOP and started sending all his charitable donations to the SPLC and continued until he died.
I think it's kind of impossible to describe what a fucking nightmare world The Long 90s of cable news (1986-2007) was to people who weren't there for the worst of it.
The verdict came out just as I was in the office to get a work study assignment my freshman year of college. The women in the office were thrilled he was acquitted, so I had to pretend to be happy a murderer went free so I didn't get a shit job, just to earn spending money that year. I was baffled.
I was in elementary school when the verdict was announced and I remember my teacher put it on the TV and then gave us an extra recess afterwards. It was a huge deal.
They literally broke into Game 5 of the NBA Finals to broadcast the Ford Bronco chase. And the NBA stopped the game and the chase was shown on the scoreboard at MSG while the players sat and watched
"Not a big deal." Right, that's why some kid went running down the halls of my junior high, sticking his head into each classroom to announce the results of the trial real-time.
I was working in a salon and our manager brought a little tv in so we could watch, the little old ladies who usually watched soap operas were riveted while under those hooded dryers. They’d sit there after the dryer went off watching this tiny tv, it was a different time.
One thing that me too has done is force people who want to support rapists to lose the distinction between guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law and just obviously guilty to private citizens.
It can both be true that he beat his ex-wife for years before finally murdering her and it's absolutely clear to history and that the police are racist and violated his civil rights in that investigation. But it's morally convenient to not have to act on morals unless a court said so.
I remember if the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit. I was older dealing with family issues. My oldest kid was 3. I watched snippets of it. I still think he did it.
Yeah we all watched it, I still remember vividly- I went to a super majority black school and there was an audible roar and cheering from the neighboring classes.
Kids went running through the hall whooping. Later I was reminded of it in Gainesville when UF won the NCAAF title and mobbed streets
I remember the teacher just wheeling in the Big TV, turning it to the trial on the last day, and sitting and watching until the verdict was read.
No teaching, just watching.
I was in sign language class, and I learned some interesting signs that day. And yes, I think the teacher announced it. (And for the babies in the audience, this was before general internet access, we had to actually listen to the radio or TV to learn this sort of stuff).
This happened at mine too. A bunch of guys in the classroom cheered and the algebra teacher berated them for supporting him just because he'd played football, lol
It has never occurred to me to do anything like that. I understand creationism better than I understand lying about something I don’t know about to a stranger on social media.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_17th,_1994
The Rockets were ahead when they cut away. I blame OJ for the loss.
🤮
It was immense
cultural touchstone
As an elder millennial it’s shocking but Twitter is full of 17 year olds who have nothing to do but say nonsense lol
I recall hearing something years ago that Clinton had said about the importance of education. It had to do with Americans being able to compete in the world. But I’d say education hasn’t been in the forefront for any other potus and it shows.
Oklahoma City Bombing? Maybe.
Princess Di's funeral.
Columbine? Maybe.
9/11.
We even got updates in class! Here in Rural Arkansas.
When I showed him proof, he said, "How was I supposed to know?? Who actually played the Metroid series??"
Turns out he was born in the 00s, of course.
Wyler's Watermelon drink mix.
Not to mention the guilty/not guilty Pogs
Kids went running through the hall whooping. Later I was reminded of it in Gainesville when UF won the NCAAF title and mobbed streets
(I don't know why there were TVs permanently in the lunchroom, but I don't think it was that)
A Trump verdict might beat it out.
No teaching, just watching.
I met up with friends after the verdict who said that there were things in the courtroom that "obviously" weren't shared in the news.
No, dude, every single minute was on CNN. It was daytime TV for months.