On Dec. 22, 1984, a loner named Bernhard Goetz shot four Black teenagers on a New York City subway, saying they were trying to mug him. The incident sparked an international debate about crime, fear, race and justice, which persists to this day. This year, two new books about the shootings and its impact on America are getting a lot of attention: “Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Getz Shootings, and The Rebirth of White Rage” by Heather Ann Thompson, and “Five Bullets: The Story of Bernie Goetz, New York’s Explosive Eighties, and The Subway Vigilante Trial That Divided the Nation” by Elliot Williams.
Thompson and Williams joined NY1 political anchor Errol Louis to discuss their books and why they felt compelled to write them more than 40 years after the shootings. Thompson examines the historical context of the Reagan era and the rise of white rage, while Williams offers a legal analysis and chronicles the case’s broader implications, including codified racial biases and the evolution of self-defense laws.
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NY1’s Errol Louis has been interviewing powerful politicians and cultural icons for years, but it’s when the TV cameras are turned off that things really get interesting. From career highlights, to personal moments, to stories that have never been told, join Errol each week for intimate conversations with the people who are shaping the future of New York and beyond. Listen to “You Decide with Errol Louis” every Wednesday, wherever you listen to podcasts.
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