European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 17, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Simpson Case b 1 9lrf0 los an5eles police jail div racial Edge to a the Only topic in by Gregory Lewis san Francisco examiner i n the court of Black Public opinion the . Simpson Case poses a troubling set of Circum stances aggravated by its racial implications and a train of imagery that has historically. Painted Black men As brutes. I a a it a the Only topic in America Quot insisted Cheryl. Towns a Community relations specialist at the University of Cal Fomia san Francisco when Simpson s preliminary hearing resumed two weeks ago the television at Chicago Barber shop no. 3 on Fillmore Street was tuned to Abc and angled so that both Barber and customer could keep an Eye on the hearing. A a it a hard not to follow these Days Quot said Richard White a 32-Ycar-old accelerator operator at Stanford University. A there Are lots of murders that go on and done to get reported. Its definitely not balanced and its overdone. I understand that it involves people everybody knows and supposedly loved but still it s Only one  White and the other customers played Down race. For them the Case is a classic whodunit As gripping As any crime novel they could Hope to find. But san Francisco civil rights lawyer Eva Pater a son Jefferson looked at it another Way a it does no to matter what color you Are. People say there Zanoth. Or Black Man out of control.�?�. Even More unsettling for african americans is. That a Black Man Able to escape the trappings of race has become the latest in a series of prominent Black men at the forefront of he major sex or gender issues of the �?T90s. The list includes Clarence Thomas a a and sexual harassment Mike Tyson and Date rape Michael Jackson and paedophilia and now Simpson and Domestic violence. A the airing of dirty laundry1 of other groups is hidden and secret a said Oakland writer Ishmael Reed. A so Blacks become surrogates for discussions about not Only sex and gender issues but politics  the talk among african americans a in Public and private a takes Imo account racial imagery in the Media the country s history of things Black and White,.and How one Blacks failure becomes the Black Many a Burden Quot Sharen Hewitt former executive director of the girls after school program in san Francisco a Sun Naydale housing project said a a in a afraid the whole Domestic violence Issue is going to be played on the Back of .  frequently in Black America Simpson is com pared to Shakespeare a tragic figure Othello a Black Moor who slays his younger and White wife desc Mona in the belief he has been cuckolded. A it is sad and tragic a said the Rev. Roland Tisdale of san Francisco a Pilgrim Community Church of United Church of Christ a especially being an african american Rattan the facial thing is something that bothers me. He a Black she a White and the perception that ave Inbody already has about Black men Isnit Good. This will Only fuel a lot of misconceptions by conservatives and encourage racial  some african americans believe race ultimately will play a role. With the release of 911 tapes made last october in which Nicole Simpson summoned police after . Simpson kicked in a door at her Home and with time magazines touch up of Simp songs police Mug shot to make him appear Darker and More sinister they say race already has been played like a card in a bid whist game. San Francisco psychologist Julia Hare a Black relationships expert said that whenever an Issue is Black and White a because we live in a racist society it boils Down to a racist Issue. A was a woman i feel very strongly about the feminist issues but when the issues Are Peculiar to the Black Man feminists focus tends to whittle them Down and they use Black men to beat the drum a Hare said. A we know that White men Are involved in these same kinds of things., the Kennedy boy William Kennedy Smith is practising Medicine. Mike Tyson is in  but Hare recognizes inequities in american style Justice that go beyond the obvious. A there was no groundswell in the Navy harassment Case. Why because the Navy officers were White a she said. A Blacks Are at the forefront of these incidents which gives the impression that when you bring Down a Black giant you bring Down the race. Whites can be looked at As individuals but we Are looked at As a whole a. Lawyer Maierson Jeff arson who is married to a 1 White Man said the discussion of the racial elements was not something for Public consumption. A a nobody stalking about this Black Man with a Blond woman a she said. A but in private Homes people Are talking about it. The situation strikes a nerve. I never saw birth of a nation by . Griffith. But there a a hulking Black Man in the movie stalking a White woman. It was used to create fear of Black men and its connected with them pursuing White  Scripps Howard news service viewers readers still Rushing to catch . By Rick Van Sant Cincinnati Post Libby Lewis of Tho examiner Stalf contributed to this report. Ike a car wreck you can to look away from like a soap opera you can to admit you enjoy the of Simpson murder Case is. Dominating the nations consciousness. Coverage and consumption of the ease is omnipresent and voracious. A if we could get the same level of attention to health care Reform wed really have a democracy on our hands a said Andrew Kohut director of the times Mirror Center for the people and . The once revered still loved sports Star is everywhere you Stop look and listen. A Simpson has been on the cover of Newsweek Magazine three straight times. Newsstand sales. Jumped 50 percent for the first one. A four of the top five rated programs in the history of Cable news network excluding the persian Gulf War have been on , in the past four weeks. Calls and letters from can viewers have doubled because of . Quot a Abc lbs and Abc arc interrupting soap Oscr As for hours of court coverage and ratings Are up. Abc made the mistake of cutting away from the courtroom an hour Early two weeks ago and its ratings plunged. A in Cincinnati sales of the two daily newspapers arc up 2,500 copies because of , a a lbs news Public opinion poll sums it All up with a magnificent contradiction ninety percent of people say there a too much , news and 72 percent say they re following it All. . Has galvanized the country a said Newsweek editor Maynard Parker. A to j. Is the Patty Hearst of the �?T90s. The of. Story has it All a celebrity mys Teiry a horrendous crime and a great Chase a we probably Haven to had the same person on the cover three straight weeks since watergate forced Richard Nixon out of the White House 20 years ago the Only thing people Are talking about is .�?� Linda Hunt a former can reporter and now a Media critic said she was embarrassed to report How much the . Story has captivated her. A i worked 20 years As a journalist and today at the grocery store i almost bought a copy of the National enquirer a she said. A a that a  Kohut said the . Story began taking on Quot extraordinary dimensions when Abc broke away from the Aba finals to televise the police Chase of of. A there was More suspense in  driveway than at Madison Square Garden a said Kobuk. A never since there has been massive coverage. But its hard to say its overkill because the Public is eating it  even though the . Case has been going on a month the Public still appears hungry for developments. A your ratings for last weeks court coverage Are up 46 percent from last week Quot reports Abc spokeswoman Beth Comstock. A pc bsh ratings Are up 17 percent and abcs Are up 42  can carrying an average of five hours of live court coverage a Day and highlight shows at night is hearing from a lot More viewers. A we usually average about 300 phone Calls a Day and we re getting 600 daily Calls on .�?� said can spokesman David Talley. A faxes and letters Are up from 100 a Day to 200.&Quot court to a Cable network devoted exclusively to trials is providing Gavel to Gavel coverage and extensive analysis of the of. Case but is fighting the big a networks for ratings. A a it a the first time All the big broadcast networks have tried to get in on our act a said court to spokesman Lloyd Trufelman. A it validates the idea of court tv.�?�. Scripps he Ward news service i i i i f Page 20 sunday july 17, 1994