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Birth of a Nation'hood: Gaze, Script, and Spectacle in the O. J. Simpson Case
Co-edited and introduced by Toni Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Birth of a Nation'hood elucidates as never before the grim miasma of the O.J. Simpson case, which has elicited gargantuan fascination.
As they pertain to the scandal, the issues of race, sex, violence, money, and the media are refracted through twelve powerful essays that have been written especially for this book by distinguished intellectuals--black and white, male and female. Together these keen analyses of a defining American moment cast a chilling gaze on the script and spectacle of the insidious tensions that rend our society, even as they ponder the proper historical, cultural, political, legal, psychological, and linguistic ramifications of the affair.
With contributions
Toni Morrison, George Lipsitz, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., with Aderson Bellegarde Francois and Linda Y. Yueh, Nikol G. Alexander and Drucilla Cornell, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Ishmael Reed, Leola Johnson and David Roediger, Andrew Ross, Patricia J. Williams, Ann duCille, Armond White, Claudia Brodsky Lacour
As they pertain to the scandal, the issues of race, sex, violence, money, and the media are refracted through twelve powerful essays that have been written especially for this book by distinguished intellectuals--black and white, male and female. Together these keen analyses of a defining American moment cast a chilling gaze on the script and spectacle of the insidious tensions that rend our society, even as they ponder the proper historical, cultural, political, legal, psychological, and linguistic ramifications of the affair.
With contributions
Toni Morrison, George Lipsitz, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., with Aderson Bellegarde Francois and Linda Y. Yueh, Nikol G. Alexander and Drucilla Cornell, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Ishmael Reed, Leola Johnson and David Roediger, Andrew Ross, Patricia J. Williams, Ann duCille, Armond White, Claudia Brodsky Lacour
448 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 1997
About the author
Toni Morrison
242 books24.6k followersChloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987); she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
Born and raised in Lorain, Ohio, Morrison graduated from Howard University in 1953 with a B.A. in English. Morrison earned a master's degree in American Literature from Cornell University in 1955. In 1957 she returned to Howard University, was married, and had two children before divorcing in 1964. Morrison became the first black female editor for fiction at Random House in New York City in the late 1960s. She developed her own reputation as an author in the 1970s and '80s. Her novel Beloved was made into a film in 1998. Morrison's works are praised for addressing the harsh consequences of racism in the United States and the Black American experience.
The National Endowment for the Humanities selected Morrison for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities, in 1996. She was honored with the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters the same year. President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on May 29, 2012. She received the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction in 2016. Morrison was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2020.
Born and raised in Lorain, Ohio, Morrison graduated from Howard University in 1953 with a B.A. in English. Morrison earned a master's degree in American Literature from Cornell University in 1955. In 1957 she returned to Howard University, was married, and had two children before divorcing in 1964. Morrison became the first black female editor for fiction at Random House in New York City in the late 1960s. She developed her own reputation as an author in the 1970s and '80s. Her novel Beloved was made into a film in 1998. Morrison's works are praised for addressing the harsh consequences of racism in the United States and the Black American experience.
The National Endowment for the Humanities selected Morrison for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities, in 1996. She was honored with the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters the same year. President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on May 29, 2012. She received the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction in 2016. Morrison was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2020.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 27, 2019
I'm giving this book 5 stars because it made me think. It asked questions that I hadn't thought of. It asked questions that I also had but that I hadn't heard anyone else raise.
How did a trial about a double murder involving a has been athlete and B movie actor, become the trial of the century?
If Nicole had been black would it have made as many headlines?
If O.J. had been white would the public outcry over the verdict have been as strong?
Why don't Marcia Clark & Christopher Darden get blamed for blowing a very solid case?
Why was the defense, the so called "Dream Team" demonized for doing their job?
Why are White people so angry about O.J.'s acquittal, when white defendants get away with murder every day?
Birth of a Nation-hood isn't really about the murder case so much as its about how the mostly white run media covered the case. The media continuously stated that this case had nothing to do with race while playing into racial stereotypes.
Each essay in this book covers a different aspect of the atmosphere surrounding the case. My favorite essays were the one that talked about the racially charged treatment of the mostly Black and Latino jury.
This book is over 20 years old and it is still a very timely read. The racial questions raised in this book are still questions being asked about the media and the justice system today.
Highly recommended!
How did a trial about a double murder involving a has been athlete and B movie actor, become the trial of the century?
If Nicole had been black would it have made as many headlines?
If O.J. had been white would the public outcry over the verdict have been as strong?
Why don't Marcia Clark & Christopher Darden get blamed for blowing a very solid case?
Why was the defense, the so called "Dream Team" demonized for doing their job?
Why are White people so angry about O.J.'s acquittal, when white defendants get away with murder every day?
Birth of a Nation-hood isn't really about the murder case so much as its about how the mostly white run media covered the case. The media continuously stated that this case had nothing to do with race while playing into racial stereotypes.
Each essay in this book covers a different aspect of the atmosphere surrounding the case. My favorite essays were the one that talked about the racially charged treatment of the mostly Black and Latino jury.
This book is over 20 years old and it is still a very timely read. The racial questions raised in this book are still questions being asked about the media and the justice system today.
Highly recommended!
July 3, 2008
A definite read for anyone interested in the cultural and racial implications of the O.J. Simpson trial.
April 2, 2008
A great set of essays about the OJ simpson trial, but so much more than that--a really interesting compilation of thoughts on race as it was brought out by the trial of the century.
December 29, 2018
Since the METOO/LOCKUP COSBY movements started, I've been telling people to read this book and the earlier one dealing with Clarence Thomas. I realized a few months ago that I never read all of the essays in the book. Now that I've read (or reread) them, I'm even more determined to encourage people to read what was being said about the media, race, and sex more than twenty years ago. These essays, written at the end of the 20th Century in response to the hysteria over OJ, are frighteningly relevant today. I'm an academic who thinks academic discourse is annoying and unnecessary, so I found the ones that used words like "paradigm" less compelling and at times boring. But they are all worth reading. The most interesting essays were written by Patricia J. Williams, who focuses on the image of Nicole and the feminist battle, Ann Ducille, who looks not only at Nicole but at her family and how the mixed race Simpson children were exploited, and Armond White, who looks at the three black men--Simpson, Cochran, and Darden--at the center of the trial. Interestingly, no one focuses on Ron Goldman, the good Samaritan who was killed along with Nicole but was mainly ignored in the trial and the media exploitation. I was so focused on race in the mid-nineties that it didn't occur to me to wonder then if the handsome, heroic, tragic Goldman would have received more attention if his name had been Simpson, Brown, Jones, or Smith. Maybe he was ignored because he wasn't having sex with Nicole, but maybe he was ignored because of religious bigotry. The current times have made me aware of how much bigotry there still is in America.
May 17, 2016
Another half star entry for me! This is more of a 3.5 read but a couple of poor essays couldn't guarantee it the star upgrade.
Having just completed the series "American Crime Story: The People Vs. OJ Simpson" I have been reading as much as I can about the trial and, the more I read, the more fascinating and layered it becomes. In terms of offering alternative perspectives regarding aspects of the case, this is an essential read. I think this collection of essays is really effective at giving more benefit of the doubt to the oft-maligned members of the jury. Instead of the popular image of the jurors failing to see beyond the colour of OJ's skin and acquitting because of that, the book effectively argues that their reasoning was based on much more than the colour of their skin. It's often portrayed that the jurors found OJ innocent however the jurors themselves are willing to admit that they are not convinced of that. They were however never asked to comment on his innocence, but rather to ascertain whether the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt. And, whatever the reader's own beliefs on OJ's guilt/innocence, it's difficult to argue that the prosecution proved their case beyond question.
There are some really interesting essays on race and dissecting the idea of which side, if any, "played the race card" - the accusation primarily leveled at the defence in the aftermath of the verdict. The text shows that the "race card" did not need to be "played", as race and the divide it creates in the American public pervaded every aspect of the trial and coverage regardless. There are some stand-out essays in this collection, particularly Ann DuCille's "Unbearable Darkness of Being" that really is the only essay to delve in any detail into the life of one of the victims, Nicole Brown Simpson (as usual, Ron Goldman gets naught but the odd passing mention).
The collection has its problems however. Ishmael Reed's "Bigger and OJ" is just poor, unsubstantiated writing. Like, "how was this ever allowed into an academic collection" bad. Many of the essays seem to almost be insinuating that it was solely the colour of OJ's skin that got him arrested in the first place. One essay argues: "Simpson's fall from grace was potentially meaningful because it suggested that even the few [African-Americans] who won the celebrity lottery might still be divested of everything on the basis of [...] their race." It's important to note that OJ was not just picked from the Brentwood sidewalks and bundled into a police-car without notice or reason. His ex-wife and her potential lover were brutally murdered, he had a history of extreme domestic violence towards her, and there was physical evidence of his found at the scene. While the LAPD undoubtedly bungled the case and were certainly guilty of racism in many aspects of it, the text fails to really delve into the many ways in which OJ was still given preferential treatment - such as the option to turn himself in which led to the infamous Bronco chase. Also while the text lays out how disgraceful the media was to say that black Americans couldn't look beyond OJ's colour in the trial, it frequently levels that accusation at white Americans. Also while the text almost encourages us to take a sympathetic look at OJ's situation, the same "benefit of the doubt" is certainly not encouraged for the prosecution, with Christoper Darden in particular criticised in many of the essays (one even going as far as to say it was a betrayal for him ever to work for the district attorney because he would inevitably end up prosecuting black Americans).
On the whole this is a very interesting collection of essays for getting an alternative look at the trial and the way in which it played out in the court and in the media. However, unbiased it most certainly is not. Effective for helping the reader place aspects of the trial in a wider context but not without flaws and prejudices of its own.
Having just completed the series "American Crime Story: The People Vs. OJ Simpson" I have been reading as much as I can about the trial and, the more I read, the more fascinating and layered it becomes. In terms of offering alternative perspectives regarding aspects of the case, this is an essential read. I think this collection of essays is really effective at giving more benefit of the doubt to the oft-maligned members of the jury. Instead of the popular image of the jurors failing to see beyond the colour of OJ's skin and acquitting because of that, the book effectively argues that their reasoning was based on much more than the colour of their skin. It's often portrayed that the jurors found OJ innocent however the jurors themselves are willing to admit that they are not convinced of that. They were however never asked to comment on his innocence, but rather to ascertain whether the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt. And, whatever the reader's own beliefs on OJ's guilt/innocence, it's difficult to argue that the prosecution proved their case beyond question.
There are some really interesting essays on race and dissecting the idea of which side, if any, "played the race card" - the accusation primarily leveled at the defence in the aftermath of the verdict. The text shows that the "race card" did not need to be "played", as race and the divide it creates in the American public pervaded every aspect of the trial and coverage regardless. There are some stand-out essays in this collection, particularly Ann DuCille's "Unbearable Darkness of Being" that really is the only essay to delve in any detail into the life of one of the victims, Nicole Brown Simpson (as usual, Ron Goldman gets naught but the odd passing mention).
The collection has its problems however. Ishmael Reed's "Bigger and OJ" is just poor, unsubstantiated writing. Like, "how was this ever allowed into an academic collection" bad. Many of the essays seem to almost be insinuating that it was solely the colour of OJ's skin that got him arrested in the first place. One essay argues: "Simpson's fall from grace was potentially meaningful because it suggested that even the few [African-Americans] who won the celebrity lottery might still be divested of everything on the basis of [...] their race." It's important to note that OJ was not just picked from the Brentwood sidewalks and bundled into a police-car without notice or reason. His ex-wife and her potential lover were brutally murdered, he had a history of extreme domestic violence towards her, and there was physical evidence of his found at the scene. While the LAPD undoubtedly bungled the case and were certainly guilty of racism in many aspects of it, the text fails to really delve into the many ways in which OJ was still given preferential treatment - such as the option to turn himself in which led to the infamous Bronco chase. Also while the text lays out how disgraceful the media was to say that black Americans couldn't look beyond OJ's colour in the trial, it frequently levels that accusation at white Americans. Also while the text almost encourages us to take a sympathetic look at OJ's situation, the same "benefit of the doubt" is certainly not encouraged for the prosecution, with Christoper Darden in particular criticised in many of the essays (one even going as far as to say it was a betrayal for him ever to work for the district attorney because he would inevitably end up prosecuting black Americans).
On the whole this is a very interesting collection of essays for getting an alternative look at the trial and the way in which it played out in the court and in the media. However, unbiased it most certainly is not. Effective for helping the reader place aspects of the trial in a wider context but not without flaws and prejudices of its own.
August 15, 2012
if you are really interested in understanding the oj simpson trial, this is the book for you. with a clarity few others have toni walks us through the characters and events exposing things we would miss. you don't know the case until you've read this book....
Currently Reading
December 18, 2008We do not live in a colorless society, no matter how open-minded individuals are. At the end of the day color is noted. This is not always a bad thing, but it often can me.
May 28, 2013
Very interesting.
March 21, 2015
Intriguing essays on the reductive and terrible nature of media and racism. Theoretical - projecting lit crit on humans still seems a little off to me - and example-based. Good reading.
January 12, 2025
These 12 essays were written nearly 30 years ago, and in the wake of the O.J. Simpson trial. I'm sure at that time, compiling this book at over 400 pages made meaningful sense - there was much to discuss. But reading this collection in the the 2020's, many of the essays started to feel like they were beginning to go over the same ground the earlier essays walked. And while many of the topics are of high importance, of course, and primary to the trail- the media event and spectacle it became - and race relations & perspectives in America, the feeling of repetition here did not work to reenforce those ideas and thoughts. Instead, it felt like there was no progression to expand upon or supplement the premise of prior essays. And I kept waiting for that, but it never came. Some of this is likely due to the fact that I read this in 2023/24, and there's just been so much more that's been added to our consciousness this deep into the 21st century. Still, I think this could have been a more impactful collection if 3 or 4 of the essays were either left out. Either that, or some of the essays could have taken a different path, even if the basis of the ideas were the same. The final essay, Claudia Brodsky Lacour's "The 'Interest' of the Simpson Trial: Spectacle, National History, and the Notion of Disinterested Judgment," was particularly hard to get through because it read as a series of run-on abstractions in paragraph-form, that danced their way around the issues without ever landing on what she was actually trying to say in the concrete and particular. Toni Morrison's Introduction is worth reading, and so are a few of the other essay here, but don't be surprised if you start to feel like skipping along through the rest of them.
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March 7, 2020This is a really great analysis of the O.J. Simpson case, but at times, it reads very scholarly. I just don't have the attention span for scholarly texts.
February 24, 2024
Fascinating set of essays from an outstanding collection of writers...they definitely cause readers to think...
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews