John F. Kennedy High School
It's been more than a year since O.J. Simpson was charged with the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. In Potrero Hill, Simpson's old neighborhood, many of the residents expressed anger about the incident and also about being asked their opinions about O.J.
`A media circus,' is what a middle-aged white female said about the entire trial. Although she declined to give her name, she said the case would bring more attention to battered women's programs only for a short time. "The public has a short memory," she said.
"This is a joke", an older white male standing in his garage on Potrero Ave said. He thinks Simpson is getting a trial that is fairer than most. "If he couldn't afford to make a fight of it, he would have been convicted three months ago," he said.
The Potrero Hill Recreational Center is a mini-shrine to Simpson. Inside the center, thousands of pictures of him are on display. Outside is a large mural of Simpson on top of a roof in his Buffalo Bills uniform holding a football in the Heisman Trophy stance.
"This trial has been very educational at large to America," said Jon Greenberg, who has been with the center for 30 years. When asked if he thought Simpson was guilty, he reluctantly said, "We as nation should let the judicial system decide whether O.J. is guilty or not. Not man or the media."
Greenberg, who has known Simpson for many years, said the former football star has donated thousands of dollars for equipment and uniforms, as well as made a commercial to benefit the center.
Recently at a Pro-Am basketball game held at Kezar Pavilion, several people had much to say about Simpson and the trial.
Michael Kelly, 52, a computer analyst, said, "the media is putting too much emphasis on it because he's a celebrity." Kelly, who was dressed in jeans and a thick coat, was reading an article about the trial during the interview.
One of the Pro-Am's participants, Darren Brown, 23, said he didn't watch the trial. He had just moved from Los Angeles and had heard much about the trial down there. He also said "the trial was very much overplayed."
"The Simpson trial is comical. The lawyers whine and fight over the most trivial things. It's like a three-ring joke," said Larry Trent, a 21-year-old City College student who was playing basketball at a nearby park when asked to comment.
Ghania Thomas, of Freedom Forum Pacific Coast Center, a media foundation, said the media's coverage of the trial was "pretty commercial and slanted. It seems to be pulling pro-prosecution."
Though many people have several opinions about the trial, many of Simpson's own race angrily declined any comment about the case.
"At this present moment, I would rather keep my comments and feelings towards O.J. to myself," said an unidentified black male, who declined to give any further information about himself.
"I'm not commenting about O.J. period," another unidentified black teen-age male added. "I don't care what he did. That's not any of my business."
Is America fed up? Michael Kelly put it best when he said, "Yes. The trial is lasting too long because the lawyers drag it on and on."