Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Was it bad that OJ Simpson "sold out"
OJ Simpson was an outstanding running back that played in a controversial time. His extraordinary talent on the football field led him to be in a bubble shielded away from the civil rights movement. Because life was going his way, he didn't want to get caught up in the movement most likely in fear of losing his opportunities and preserving himself. He wanted to be seen as OJ rather than being seen as African American. Some people believed that he had a responsibility to sticking up for the Black community because he was in a role model position that could have had the ability to highly influence others, and the only reason he was there was that he had doors opened for him by others before him fighting for the civil rights movement. Should someone have to stick up for their community, or should they be able to pursue the life that they want? Was it selfish on OJ for looking out for himself, or was it selfish on the Black community for expecting for someone to risk their career in order to fight for them?
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Those are good questions, Skov. There are plenty of different ways of looking at the situation, but in my view, he was not wrong nor right for not standing up for the African-American community. In a sense, there is justification as to why he does not have to stand up for them because all he believed in since high school was going about his business and just playing ball. Since high school, he set his focus on becoming an extremely successful athlete, claiming that he'll have his friend's sons fighting to become "the next O.J.". Because all he wanted to do was play ball and become the greatest to ever do it, he decided he did not want to get involved with politics, maybe in fear that it would deteriorate his claim to fame. However, even if it wasn't exactly how he wanted it to be, with great fame comes great responsibility. Although he wanted to be famous, that meant that many kids would look up to him. By being a role model for these kids growing up, showing kids that they do not need to stand up for their rights could come across wrong. Relaying this message to kids could hurt future generations, and teach these kids bad morals. People viewed him as a "sell out" because he did not boycott the Olympics and he did not get involved in politics to fight for his race, but he was just trying to focus on playing ball and reach the goals he set for himself from a young age. So in this situation, I understand him brushing off the politics to help him reach his goals, but because he wished to be famous, he needs to set a good example for kids.
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