By Jayar Jackson

The words and explanation from Senator Obama regarding his pastor's wildly unpopular and racist rant raised awareness for many, evoked conscious thought for others, but still turned some of his opponents away from him even more. How anyone could actually listen to the truth packed into this speech and conclude that his words were bogus was perplexing to me. Even after reaching out to the concerns of these very opponents, some still felt he was only telling them how much he was against them. I can understand that some don't agree with his policies, but I couldn't understand how they rejected the idea that race relations in need to be improved.

In an effort to practice what I preach, I've searched for a way to understand the reasons some still feel such resentment to the person that is thoughtfully looking for a route to move this country forward. I noticed that the most constant, blanket argument from the disagreeing mass was "Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a horrible racist." To that I thought, "I agree, good thing Wright isn't running for President. I'm glad Obama proved to us he doesn't think that way."

In attempting to put myself in the shoes of some White Americans, I've noticed that many are afraid of expressing everything they may think of minorities, particularly Black people. There have been instances where if they utter something that sounds like they're speaking negatively of a Black guy; the tag of "racist" is immediately slapped upon them. When they know they truly don't harbor racist or prejudiced feelings, and in fact dislike people that do, the worst thing in the world is to be considered just another racist White person. They've seen much of the dreadful history of truly hateful racist people in that opposed equality among the races, and they're sick of paying the price for things they never had anything to do with. Being misunderstood so quickly and easily causes feelings of resentment towards the accusing group, as they only wish these Black people could know what it's like to be in this situation. They may feel that Black people get a free pass in the game of racism. We get to say the N-Word we despise so much, while White people can't, we can dislike a White person for simply being who they are or for what some people that look like them did in the past.

When Reverend Wright opened his mouth in front of his congregation, he opened the door for the rare opportunity many White Americans took to call a racist a racist. No matter what explanations come, no matter how much Obama tried to take the discussion to a place of understanding and conclusion, Reverend Wright hasn't been lambasted enough by the man he taught, so the declaration of racist remains the only subject.

This feeling of making sure the other race experiences the pain felt by the other side of is nothing new. The country was fixated, racially divided, and somehow personally involved in OJ Simpson's "Trial of the Century." Upon hearing the verdict of not guilty, so many Black people celebrated as if we were the #16 seed of the NCAA Tournament that just took down the undefeated #1 powerhouse with a last second shot. Many Black Americans were overwhelmingly frustrated at the futility of the world's best judicial system to convict the many murderers in the past while obviously favoring White criminals over their Black victims.

The celebrating group didn't love the fact that OJ Simpson got away with killing two White people, they took delight in knowing so many people on the other side finally experienced what they had experienced so many times. Now they could say, "get over it, move on, and it wasn't your sister" the way they had been told so many times before.

Barack Obama's honest declaration that he cannot despise a pastor that brought him to his level of faith, married him to his wife, and baptized his kids kept this Reverend, an elephant-sized target in the crosshairs, right alongside him. The sooner we begin to understand each other, the sooner we will figure things out.

Take a look at this, and pay special attention to the man to Yale Galanter's left. Really concentrate, or else you might miss him. He's a pretty good example of what's come to be known as Showoffus Televisionus, or, more recently, Showoffus Youtubus.

When he points at Galanter and says "This guy right here!" it's hard to imagine a creepier human being: oh, except for Galanter. And O.J. And Thomas Riccio, and almost everyone else involved in this case. This might require updating the musical.

I love 1994 - and not just because VH1 paid me to say that.

Melrose Place, Dumb and Dumber, Ace of Base, and John Tesh. What's not to love? The year got off to an astonishing start with the January 6th kneecap assault on Nancy Kerrigan by Shane Stant, the hit man enlisted by Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly - the single greatest stupid criminal name. Sadly he's now changed it to Jeff Stone.

(Tangent: I'll admit that I rooted for Tonya at Lillehammer. (Wow, I just realized how weird that is - Lillehammer.) Tonya was an asthmatic who smoked. She couldn't afford fancy training and learned to skate at a mall rink in Portland. Nancy, on the other hand, struck me as someone who would have been mean to me in my neighborhood growing up. BUT my position has softened after reexamining the events of January '94: when she was struck by Stant she cried out, "Why me? Why anyone?" The second question is extraordinarily empathetic and generous. She's asking why anyone has to suffer kneecap injuries. I would have cried, "Why me? Why me? Me, me, me, MEEEEE!!!!")

But two figures towered over the rest in 1994:

Hillary was the spitfire from Arkansas (and Chicago and eventually from New York) who had a dream to provide health care for all of us. On Capitol Hill she wowed 'em at first, going toe-to-toe with Dick Armey. The buzz was strong. But her 1,300-page proposal in November '93 to mandate employers to cover all employees through HMOs tanked. How badly? Congress went GOP with the November '94 mid-terms. (If you look very closely at the dedication page of Hillary's tome, you can make out the words, "To Newt, with all my love".)

While Hillary's confusing and overbearing health plan was boring us to death, Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson made a killing(s) with the famous Ford Bronco chase in June '94, an event that brought us together. (I'm guessing many more people watched that chase live than would go to the polls that November.) How big was the impact of the trial that followed? Along with Ron and Nicole, the network Made-for-TV movie bit the dust. Only a year and a half before, the Amy Fisher Trial had spawned three Made-for-TV movies. But with cable news saturation coverage, the real events of O.J. as they happened were better than any recreation could ever hope to be.

Now Hillary and O.J. are back! Hillary's got a new health care plan that she hopes takes her all the way. And O.J.'s got a new trial - and set of charges he's hoping to beat.