O.J. to 'heal' Cincinnati?

Don’t worry about race-related problems anymore, Cincinnati ­ O.J. Simpson is coming to town. And he’s bringing a hip-hop concert to enlighten and heal troubled citizenry.

Simpson claims some of his greatest support in the last decade came from the hip-hop community, including Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav, who bought some of Simpson’s auctioned assets and returned them to the former running back. In gratitude to the music genre, Simpson’s promoters say, he has appeared at two rap concerts within the past six months in Florida and Connecticut.

Now Simpson is coming to Ohio for the March 2 “Return to Hip Hop” concert, featuring Juvenile and Foxy Brown at Cincinnati’s Music Hall in the city’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, which was rocked by race riots last April. At the concert, Simpson is expected to toss autographed footballs at the crowd, tell jokes and introduce the headliners.

“O.J. is promoting peace,” promoter Anthony Pierre told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “He is coming to Cincinnati to show there can be change. There hasn’t been a hip-hop concert at Music Hall in more than a decade.”

Right.

The former football star and acquitted murder suspect must be altruistically helping Cincinnati, which has become the 21st century’s version of Birmingham, Ala. Simpson’s appearance couldn’t possibly be another one of his lackluster attempts to recoup a decent image — you know, the one that essentially vanished after he was found liable in a civil lawsuit for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.

It’s been a tough fight back, and neither www.askoj.com nor last year’s road rage trial (in which he was acquitted) have helped the Juice’s cause. His fall from superstar athlete to suspected killer to sideshow act could be seen as tragically funny.

But Simpson slithering his way up from his obscure Florida life to Cincinnati is more of an opportunistic, “love me because I feel your pain” con. Simpson’s name will forever be tied to his controversial, racially charged, 9-month criminal trial. Regardless of whether you think Simpson did it or not, he was a victim of racism, both by media (TIME Magazine’s infamous face-darkened mug shot cover) and much of the country’s fury that a handsome, strong black man might have slashed to death a pretty, blonde white woman.

Then there’s the Los Angeles police, specifically detective Mark Fuhrman, who pretty much solidified Simpson’s authority to talk about bigoted cops, something Cincinnati already knows a little bit about.

But what (of substance) will Simpson add to the city’s dialogue? How can his tarnished name bring healing?

Simpson’s very appearance goes against the work of minority groups, which have organized a citywide boycott that looks as if it might wreak enough economic damage to bring city leaders to the table with attentive ears. The demands can be read at www.cincyboycott.org. Last week, influential entertainer and respected celebrity Bill Cosby canceled two Cincinnati performances, saying in a statement he wouldn’t be comfortable performing comedy there.

If other performers follow Cosby’s example, the city won’t have much choice other than to listen. Or the city and boycotters could try to negotiate. Or maybe some messiah of brotherly love could appear and help the city work out its problems.

For now, the city is getting rap music and Simpson, whose promoters say he’ll help heal the city. But he is not Timothy Thomas, the unarmed black youth shot during a foot chase from the police in April. He’s also not Roger Owensby Jr., the unarmed black man police killed in a scuffle a year ago. Both men died at the hands of police officers later acquitted.

No, Simpson is just a washed-up, wife-beating former star concerned about his bad-boy image. And the tragically divided city of Cincinnati is ripe for him to exploit.

— Kowalczyk can be reached at nk323298@ohio.edu