He Shot Four Teenagers On The Subway In “Self-Defense”— Was Bernie Goetz a Vigilante or a Racist?
Few people would see Bernie Goetz as a folk hero or vigilante today
It goes without saying that New York is currently obsessed with crime. Fear of crime in the city and across the state is going up, and these fears are often dismissed with sentiments like “it’s not as bad as it was in the’80s and ‘90s” and “there’s more coverage of crime than there actually is crime.”
Both of these statements are true, yet the dismissal of New Yorkers’ fears in this particular moment rings out of touch, and I say this as a pretty liberal and progressive person who agrees with most criminal justice reform measures. But I did also grow up in New York and live through the city and state’s obsession with public safety.
I live in Baltimore now, and I don’t like saying this much, but you usually have to watch your back and have a fair share of street smarts to avoid being a victim of crime. It’s simple self-preservation. I think there’s a sense in liberal and progressive spaces I occupy that any talking about crime or concern about it is racist, so a lot of progressives really walk on eggshells around the topic. It’s a valid critique — concerns about crime usually result in calls for more policing, which is…
