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By John McWhorter

Among the signature images of O.J. Simpson’s acquittal of the murders of his ex-wife and her friend was the contrasting tableaus of Black people grouping in front of television screens applauding while white people watching it were shaking their heads — appalled, perplexed and even disgusted by a verdict that flew in the face of obvious fact. Those contrasting perspectives have gone down as demonstrating a gulf of understanding between the races.

That gulf persists, but it narrows apace, and if the verdict came down today, it would be a lot less perplexing to many white people than it was back then. Many would understand why the jury acted as it did. We might even see some of them applauding along with Black people.

It isn’t that these people would celebrate Simpson himself, any more than the jurors did back in 1995. As has been often noted in the wake of his death, Simpson was not much of a hero in the Black community, as he spent little time with Black people, dated white women, made no contributions to Black-related causes and even declared “I’m not Black, I’m O.J.”

I’m not sure how many people of any color sincerely believed that Simpson was not the murderer and that the L.A.P.D., which had long coddled him despite his frequent battery of his wife, had for some reason framed him. The evidence of Simpson’s deed was overwhelming despite the ineptitude of the prosecution team. The verdict and the response to it among the Black community weren’t signs of support for Simpson; they were protests against a long legacy of mistreatment and even........

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