Not all blacks wrapped up in case

Los Angeles In one part of this city of angels, people are celebrating a national basketball championship by the UCLA Bruins.

In South Central L.A., though, life goes on pretty much as usual.

In a town where every couple of months brings a new media event earthquakes, mudslides, sensational murder trials and urban unrest the people who live and work in the predominantly black and Latino section of Los Angeles are isolated from the rest of the city.

Along Crenshaw Ave., black and brown people live in segregated communities, some better off than others, but all of them realize tourists don't flock down here to take pictures or gawk at their neighborhood.

Put it this way: South Central L.A. is not on any of the maps featuring the homes of the stars.

The O.J. Simpson case, however, is of as much interest here as anywhere else in town. But don't assume Simpson has any natural allies in this part of the city, just because he's an African-American man accused of murder.

"I don't care about O.J.; he didn't care much about us," said Aisha Johnson, a black woman selling African dolls along Crenshaw Tuesday.

The Juice didn't hang out in the 'hood, and although many people here feel connected to his case because of often tense relationships with the Los Angeles Police Department, they are not consumed with thoughts of his plight.

"O.J. didn't have any presence in the black community," said Myra Baumann, a black woman who owns her own public-relations firm. "Some are upset that some black leaders and organizations in the community are taking on his cause."

Michael Jacobs, who has lived in Los Angeles for 20 years, said he thinks many blacks are "tired of hearing about the case, like everyone else." Varied Opinions

Along Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Blvd., the heart of black Los Angeles, black people voice typical opinions on the celebrated case. Some think O.J. is innocent, based on their dealings with the L.A. cops. They doubt someone who planned such a heinous crime would have made so many mistakes, like leaving his bloody glove at the scene and leaving blood in his vehicle.

Others suspect Simpson probably did it, and feel it was probably a crime of passion. That's contrary to many published national polls showing most blacks feel Simpson is innocent.

Regardless of their opinions, many blacks in South Central fault Simpson for his attempts to totally assimilate into his Brentwood/Hollywood network of friends and associates, seldom taking the time to make appearances in the black sections of town.

They point out the difference between Simpson and someone like former basketball star Magic Johnson, who is just as much a celebrity in Hollywood as Simpson, but has invested money in the community. Johnson is currently building a movie theater at the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Plaza. The development is expected to provide jobs and income for the area.

Simpson grew up in a poor neighborhood of San Francisco, very similar to South Central L.A. Published accounts have suggested the accused star did everything he could to distance himself from his rough beginnings, although he had donated to charities in the community.

There's no shame in that; in many ways, rising up out of poverty to millionaire status is the American dream.

That may also be why some blacks here still support Simpson. They see him as someone who made it out, only to become the victim of a racist conspiracy.

Riding around South Central L.A. is much like traveling through parts of the North Side of Milwaukee. This is the place where low- and middle-income blacks live a hand-to-mouth existence, in a area where the most common businesses are strip malls, fast-food restaurants, check-cashing places and liquor stores.

These folks live in Southern California, so most days are sunny and warm and they are surrounded by some of the most beautiful natural resources (and the most expensive homes) in the country.

But they also live with the other constants of inner-city life: gangs, drugs and poverty.

Baumann said black people in L.A. look at the Simpson case as they look at everything else.

As individuals.

"We are a diverse people, even though we share a history of oppression in this country. I'm upset that the media is making it seem like most black people think O.J. is innocent. I think they are more likely to believe that he's innocent until he's proven guilty."

And the truth is, many just don't care one way or another. They've got other things in their life to worry about.

Copyright 1995
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