‘The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story’ Went In Hard For Civil Rights Last Night

For the last nine weeks The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story has been aggressively good. From the nuanced portrayals of larger-than-life public figures like Marcia Clark, Johnnie Cochran, and Robert Kardashian, to the meticulous attention to deeply dramatic detail, this show has never let up. It’s even given us a juicy “Will They? Won’t They?” soap opera!

Still, last night’s episode, “Manna From Heaven,” may have transcended the rest of the season. It shifts its focus away from the tabloid drama surrounding the case to the greater racial implications of its worst scandal: “Manna From Heaven” tore into the infamous Mark Furhman tapes.

If you recall, Mark Furhman was the linchpin in the case against O.J. Simpson. He was the LAPD officer who had discovered the damning evidence linking Simpson and his DNA to the crime scene — and the victims’ DNA to Simpson’s home and Ford Bronco. However, his reputation as both a racist and a collector of Nazi paraphernalia threatened to torpedo his original testimony. He managed to do just fine under pressure and held up under oath when questioned about these rumors. The problem, though, was that he lied under oath. Furhman not only had used racist epitaphs in the past, but in a recorded interview with an aspiring screenwriter, he confirmed that many members of the LAPD purposely targeted blacks (among other minority groups) for punishment. He detailed a grisly crime scenes that broke all sorts of ethical and legal codes of conduct, he boasted about killing African Americans, and said that it was common to plant evidence in crime scenes to convict black men.

The tapes were explosive and not only gave the defense a lifeline to argue Simpson had been framed, but also straight up proved that Fuhrman lied about something under oath. He might have done pitch perfect police work on the Simpson case, he might have been telling the truth about every bit of evidence, but it could all be cast into doubt because Fuhrman lied about using the “n-word.” Worse yet, Fuhrman also goes in for Judge Ito’s wife, thereby suggesting that she had lied on the conflict form she signed to let her husband nab the biggest case of his career. Letting this evidence into court could kill the prosecution’s case — and the trial altogether.

The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story doesn’t just use this moment as an incredibly dramatic plot device, but as an opportunity to zoom out and tell a bigger story. We leave the geography of Los Angeles for the first time and follow Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey as they travel to North Carolina to appeal for the tapes. Here, far away from the spotlights of Hollywood and the court of the press, things are very, very different. Cochran understands the media circus, but he can’t wrap his head around the antiquated ways of North Carolina. His first attempt to win over the judge is seen as brash bluster. Bailey has to take the lead, employing an antiquated civility more at home in an antebellum novel than in the 1990s. It shows that Johnnie’s world is not the whole world.

The Fuhrman tapes revealed the seedy underbelly of the LAPD and — to a larger extent — America by not only ripping off the officer’s affable public face, but by shining a light on the fact that even in this age of non-stop media scrutiny there is a dark veil that separates our public and private lives. People might publicly portray themselves as one thing, but in private they confirm they are another. This is as true for the human heart as it is for our most sacred institutions. If the people in power are hiding deeply buried corruption, the systems they represent are also infected by their malignance.

Marcia, Chris, and the rest of the DA’s office are understandably unnerved by all of this. They think of themselves as the good guys — and they are! — but as such, they can’t deny that Fuhrman is revealing an ugly truth that must be addressed. The trial is evolving away from them and running towards a greater, nastier purpose. It’s no longer about getting justice for Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. They want it back in that lane. That’s a debate they are ready for and a battle they know they can win on the grounds of the truth.

While Simpson’s defense has been building their case on lies about their client, they are in the right on the subject of Fuhrman’s grotesque racism. Cochrane and his emotionally-amped team are right to see the tapes for the smoking gun they are. They don’t exonerate Simpson as much as they prove that members of the LAPD are racist, and that’s the bigger problem here. Which is the bigger case: The People v. O.J. Simpson or the LAPD v. Black America?

What makes all this all the more upsetting is that 20 years later, we still don’t have the justice we deserve. When there is a deep injustice in our society for one group of people, that means that there is injustice for all of us. The country is stricken with a cancer of the soul that must be rooted out. It wasn’t the trial of the century just because famous people were involved — the Fuhrman tapes dragged us all into it.

[Where To Stream The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story]

[Photos: FX Networks]