Most black people now think O.J. was guilty

A striking poll finding was cited often in coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1994 and 1995: Most white people thought the former football star was guilty of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, while roughly the same proportion of black people thought Simpson was innocent. The racial gap in public opinion was one of many elements of the case — along with a long history of conflict between the Los Angeles Police Department and the city’s black residents, and racist statements made by LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman — that showed race was as important as glove size and forensic evidence.

In the two decades since Simpson was acquitted by a majority-black jury, the racial gap has narrowed significantly. In two recent polls, more than 50 percent of black respondents said they thought Simpson was guilty — up from about 20 percent in most polls before, during and right after the trial.