Is George Zimmerman the new OJ Simpson?

A commentary for _Black Enterprise_ Tuesday compares and contrasts two figures that have seemingly divided the public on the topic of justice and race: OJ Simpson and George Zimmerman.

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

A new commentary for Black Enterprise compares and contrasts two figures that have seemingly divided the public on the topic of justice and race: OJ Simpson and George Zimmerman. Chloe Hilliard takes a look at polling surrounding the cases of both men and where the public falls along racial lines. Black Enterprise reports:

Every couple of years a single incident will occur that divides the American people. Almost always the issue centers on race. From the Civil Rights Movement, to the LA Riots (‘65 and ‘92), Oscar Grant, Troy Davis, the list of watershed moments is a growing one and almost always no clear resolution is found, only lots of talk, marches and frustration.

OJ Simpson is innocent says private investigator

With the long overdue arrest and second-degree murder charges of George Zimmerman, the family of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old he shot and killed, and their many supporters are hopeful that this case will bring awareness to the epidemic of racial profiling and the murder of young Black men. The movement that’s grown out of Martin’s death has once again reexamined this country’s Achilles heel.

How the Trayvon Martin case has divided America

The prosecution of Zimmerman harkens back to another murder case that came down to race. In 1995, the country came to a standstill as the verdict in the OJ Simpson trial was delivered. The former NFL star-turned-actor was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her acquaintance Ron Goldman, both of whom were White. The public opinion on the case’s outcome was visibly divided by race and as a result Simpson became a pariah in the eyes of many. Now, Zimmerman finds himself in a similar position as public disdain grows.

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