Student Robbed at Gunpoint, Says He Deserved It Due to His 'Privilege'

Oliver Friedfeld, a senior at Georgetown University (GU) and his roommate were recently mugged at gun point — but Frieldfeld says he deserved it because of his “privilege.” 

In an oped for the GU newspaper, The Hoya, Friedfeld wrote that he “can hardly blame” the assailants for robbing him. He argued that income inequality is to blame for the incident. 

“Who am I to stand from my perch of privilege, surrounded by million-dollar homes and paying for a $60,000 education, to condemn these young men as ‘thugs?’ It’s precisely this kind of ‘otherization’ that fuels the problem,” Friedfeld wrote. 

He continued, “Not once did I consider our attackers to be ‘bad people.’ I trust that they weren’t trying to hurt me. In fact, if they knew me, I bet they’d think I was okay. The fact that these two kids, who appeared younger than I, have even had to entertain these questions suggests their universes are light years away from mine.”

Friedfeld asserted that in order to end opportunistic crime, “We should look at ourselves first. Simply amplifying police presence will not solve the issue.”

It is up to millenials to “right some of the wrongs of the past,” the GU senior continued. “Until we do so, we should get comfortable with sporadic muggings and break-ins. I can hardly blame them. The cards are all in our hands, and we’re not playing them.”

Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.