I’m upset about the game, and I don’t want to talk about it. We should have won but the refs screwed us in a big way. Enough said!

I’ll now turn my attention to one of the most interesting cases in history. Yes, the trial of Orange Juice, I mean Orenthal James Simpson. At first I was shocked. I really believed that he was the one that hacked on Nicole Brown and Ronnie Goldman.

Beware! There is very little humor intended in this column. I’m bothered, and I need to speak.

So there I sat. The jury spoke as we all either cheered in celebration or stared in disbelief. But before I rushed to judgement, I thought about the case some more.

After long hours of personal deliberation, it occurred to me why there is no possible way that O.J. would have been found guilty. And quite frankly, the black community should be enraged that he was set free.

I’m not blind and neither are you. Sometimes the truth becomes clouded, but we all can look through the smoke. The O.J. trial quickly turned into a race war. I know that the black community is treated unfairly in many ways. Racism still exists and we can’t deny it!

But O.J. was an African American of circumstance. Think about this. In order to stamp out racism, it can’t be used as a tool. O.J.’s defense team cried racism from the beginning. It was the single most substantial weapon the defense used.

Think about this for another second. The “Juice” has been a very recognizable face to the entire country for a number of years. He has also been considered by many African Americans as a “hero.” Understandably! O.J. was one the greatest running backs to ever play the game!

Tell me this. When has O.J. ever publicly spoke out on the problems facing the black community? When has he stood up for those who stood out in the streets, cheering and supporting him during his now famous Bronco incident?

Every African American should be proud of themselves and their history. They’ve had a much more difficult struggle than most. And they should be enraged that anyone, black or white, would use racism, the single most disgusting dilemma in the world, as a tool to pry open the door of freedom. It is shameful. I now think less of O.J. than I ever have.

Yes, I know that Mark Furhman was a racist. As far as I’m concerned he should be on trial on the charge of failure to maintain the standards of a human being.

This case was based on so much more. DNA tests do not lie! I’m sorry. It was his blood.

I just really have a hard time believing that the Los Angeles Police Department conspired to kill two people and frame O.J. for it.

But after all the hoopla, the justice system served its purpose. The jury decided after eight months that O.J. is innocent.

I don’t have a problem with that. The jury deliberated, weighed all the evidence and came to their decision. I salute them.

The problem has nothing to do with the system. The problem lies solely on the shoulders of lawyers who will do anything for the one true motivator in all too many people’s lives —the dollar bill.

It was a bad day, America. It was a very bad day. We’re supposed to be nation undivided.

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Chad Calek is a sophomore in journalism from Persia, Iowa. He is the assistant sports editor of the Daily.