American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson is a new show that made its premiere last week on FX. It’s a show that has garnered high ratings and acclaim. I watched and will continue to watch.

I’m sure there are spots in the show that add flair for a more dramatic affect, for it is a television show. But what began in 1994 was nothing but. The murders were real and so were the consequences.

The O.J. Simpson trial was an event that captured the world’s attention. Many remember the highway chase in the white Ford Bronco.

I was relatively young to fathom the situation. As a matter of fact, I was only five when O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.

People still talk and debate whether if O.J. Simpson did it.

At the time, it really didn’t matter if he did or not. The nation was submerged in racial turmoil. If you were a  minority, specifically African American, you felt justice was done with his acquittal. The nation wasn’t too far removed from the Rodney King beating in 1991 and The People v. O.J. Simpson references the situation with a montage of police brutality in America and the race riots as the aftermath.

Fastforward after Rodney King to three years later with O.J. Simpson.

Simpson wasn’t any “Average Joe.” This was O.J. Simpson: Heisman trophy winner, Pro football Hall- of-Fame inductee – O.J “The Juice” Simpson. The man retired and became a sports broadcaster and actor. Not O.J.

Him guilty? No way.

I think the Simpson saga says a lot about the American culture as well. In a sense it was reality TV before reality TV was a fashion statement.

There is so much this moment of history captured. I think it said a lot about fame, about the underlying state of unrest between law enforcement and the minority and also our judicial system.

“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” Johnny Cochran, one of Simpson’s lawyers in the trial, said.

In the courtroom, America watched as Simpson attempted to place the black leather glove on his hand.

I think America was captivated by the O.J. Simpson trial because it brought to the forefront every perspective. No matter if you were liberal or conservative, Black or White, the goal was justice. Justice just held different meanings to all.

What can’t be lost is that two people were killed. Two kids lost a mother. Two families were forever changed. Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman will always be the two victims of an unsolved case, that unfolded in front of the world.

It’s a tragedy in itself the murders happened. But I feel it’s a bigger tragedy that it will always live on in the public eye.