Historian: This Event Created Trump, Giuliani & Rupert Murdoch - Heather Ann Thompson
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What historical event does Heather Ann Thompson connect to today's political climate?
What made the American middle class, what made people able to feed their kids, send them to college, buy homes in the suburbs, all the things that were part of this American dream were made possible by a robust federal government, high taxes that provided for the public. And lots and lots of white families benefited from that, including living in public housing that was taken care of, that gave them a leg up. By the time we get to the 70s, lots of black folks who had been left out of all that start to push for inclusion. And meanwhile, there's a global economic downturn. The Reagan Republicans take advantage, frankly, of this moment when there's an economic crisis and there's a civil rights revolution and essentially start to say to white working class people, listen, things are going to hell in a handbasket.
Big government's bad. Trust us in the private sector to take care of everything. And they're kind of given a Faustian bargain. Be because they kind of want to believe it because they're also afraid of black people. They're afraid of this civil rights era, but they're also buying something that's going to cost them a lot, which is this idea that we don't need public services and that you can count on rich people to take care of you.
Welcome to Open Book. I am your host, Anthony Scaramucci. Joining us today is Heather Ann Thompson.
How did the Reagan era influence public perception of crime and race?
What a book, Heather Ann Thompson. Fear and Fury, the Reagan 80s, the Bernie Getz shootings, and Rebirth of White Rage, which we are living in right now, Heather Ann Thompson. Indeed. Great to have you on. You spent a career examining crime, punishment, and inequality in America.
Yes.
Okay. And you've written some other stuff, but I want to go to this. This is 1984. Yeah. America. And lots is going on here in this book. And what a great story. And by the way, I lived it as a 20 year old and I don't remember all of it, but you brought it all back to life for me. So why, why did you pick that subject material before we actually get into the book?
What role did the media play in shaping political narratives in the 1980s?
Right. Well, first of all, I remember it as well. I remember being in the city, New York City in particular. I grew up in Detroit, but I spent a lot of time in New York City in the 80s. And for those of us who remember it, it was a really gritty, scary time in America that felt like something different was afoot, like cities were falling apart and there was kind of a new mean austerity economically on the one hand, but on the other hand, there was a like the age of yuppies, people were making a ton of money, and then there was also a lot of hate crimes going on. So that kind of resonated to me with right now, and I'm a historian, and I thought, you know, what is, what's going on today, and where did it really get going, this kind of normalization of,
all this rage and all this misinformation and all this kind of real income inequality that we're living with today. And it turns out all the same folks on the scene today were there in New York City in 1984 when this one kind of crazy traumatic event happens on a subway that will become a trial and it will – catapult the political careers of people like Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani and Rupert Murdoch. And so it turned out this was a story that was kind of ground zero for where we are today.
I'm going to throw a theory at you. Okay. What part of Detroit did you grow up in, by the way?
The city-city, northwest side.
What significance does the Bernie Goetz shooting hold in American history?
My family, I have family in Ferndale, so I'm in Detroit a lot, actually. I'm going to throw a theory at you. I think we've had this in our culture from the beginning. I think that we've had atavism, we've had nativism, we've had racism, obviously, with the original sin of slavery in the culture. And we have two things going on in America. We have this soaring aspirational America, that wants to create a more perfect union, and we want to figure out a way to make all of these disparate people and these different ethnic cultures mesh in America. We have that soaring part of America, but then we also have this knuckle-dragging part of America that's been with us forever.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What historical event does Heather Ann Thompson connect to today's political climate?
0:00–1:19
2
How did the Reagan era influence public perception of crime and race?
1:19–2:05
3
What role did the media play in shaping political narratives in the 1980s?
2:05–3:37
4
What significance does the Bernie Goetz shooting hold in American history?
3:37–5:04
5
How does Heather Ann Thompson explain the rise of white rage in America?
5:04–6:11
6
What impact did economic policies have on crime rates in urban America?
6:11–7:42
7
What are the sociological implications of cutting social programs?
7:42–9:21
8
How can understanding history help us address current societal issues?
9:21–32:29
Speakers
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