O.J. Simpson’s trial forced us to talk about domestic violence. We’re not done yet.

The murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman led to one of the country’s most watched legal cases: The football superstar O.J. Simpson stood accused of killing his ex-wife and Goldman in a trial that sparked widespread debate about the power of celebrity, the inadequacies of the criminal justice system and the significance of his race. Following news of O.J. Simpson’s death on Wednesday from cancer complications, experts revisited how the murders and subsequent trial reshaped discussions of domestic violence — and the ways racial dynamics complicated them. Some said the country saw a major shift on a subject that had historically been framed as a private matter. “When those murders happened, it really forced folks to take a look at domestic violence, what it really means to families, how dangerous it is,” said Charmine Davis, director of family wellness at the Jenesse Center, a domestic violence prevention and intervention nonprofit in Los Angeles. “It changed the way bills are passed and how politicians, police and the whole system looked at domestic violence.” Others said the case primarily amplified a harmful reality that continues today in entertainment and beyond. “I don’t think that any inroads have been...