College Student Gets Robbed, Then Says His Own 'Privilege' Had Something to Do With It

Depending on how you read it, it could be a level-headed act of forgiveness or a disturbing letter saying victims of robbery contribute to it simply because of their status.

At the root: an armed robbery, "economic inequality" and "privilege."

After Oliver Friedfeld, a senior at Georgetown University in Washington, was the victim of an armed robbery in the neighborhood that shares his university's name a few weeks ago, he penned a Nov. 18 editorial in his campus newspaper with a bold headline: "I Was Mugged, And I Understand Why."

"Last weekend, my housemate and I were mugged at gunpoint while walking home from Dupont Circle," the editorial begins. "The entire incident lasted under a minute, as I was forced to the floor, handed over my phone and was patted down."

The Georgetown neighborhood of Washington. (Image via Google Maps)

But Friedfeld doesn't say he's upset at the people who mugged him — he says he understands that his own "privilege" played a part in driving them to rob him.

Image via Shutterstock

Friedfeld wrote:

Year after year, Washington, D.C., is ranked among the most unequal cities in the country, with the wealthiest 5 percent earning an estimated 54 times more than the poorest 20 percent. According to the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, just under 20 percent of D.C. residents live below the poverty line.

What has been most startling to me, even more so than the incident itself, have been the reactions I’ve gotten. I kept hearing “thugs,” “criminals” and “bad people.” While I understand why one might jump to that conclusion, I don’t think this is fair.

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. They wanted my stuff, not me. While I don’t know what exactly they needed the money for, I do know that I’ve never once had to think about going out on a Saturday night to mug people. I had never before seen a gun, let alone known where to get one. 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.

I come from a solidly middle-class family, and, with relatives in Mexico City, certainly don’t consider myself entirely shielded from poverty. And yet I’d venture to guess that our attackers have had to experience things I’ve never dreamed of. When I struggled in school, I had parents who willingly sat down with me and helped me work through it. When I have a problem, I have countless people who I can turn to for solid advice.

When I walk around at 2 a.m., nobody looks at me suspiciously, and police don’t ask me any questions. I wonder if our attackers could say the same.

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 then signals that he might be responsible, in some way, for his own mugging, writing, "When we play along with a system that fuels this kind of desperation, we can’t be surprised when we’re touched by it."

The editorial drew mixed reactions online.

Campus Reform asserted that Friedfeld had said he "deserved" his mugging...

Image source: screengrab via Campus Reform

...which led one Twitter user to point out that Friedfeld hadn't exactly said he "deserved" it.

@MaggieLitCRO If I was Oliver Friedfeld I'd be pressing charges against you for misrepresenting me. Compare the quotes to your title.

— JustinOnKirbySt (@JustinOnKirbySt) November 25, 2014

Several Twitter users ripped into Friedfeld's line of reasoning, calling the writing the "dumbest thing currently on the Internet"...

Dumbest thing currently on the internet? I was mugged and I understand why https://t.co/O3E5jOm4QO @oliverfriedfeld

— Andrews Dad (@Andrew_Dad) November 25, 2014

...and calling Friedfeld himself a "fool"...

@VickiMcKenna Oliver Friedfeld is a fruit loop. Didn't think of the person mugging him as a bad person. No you fool, he's a criminal!

— Thomas Thomson (@TM_Thomson) November 25, 2014

...and an "evolutionary deadend."

.@phxazgrl @MailOnline -- Oliver Friedfeld is what is scientifically known as an evolutionary deadend.

— Irene F. Irene (@irenefingirene) November 26, 2014

Another user praised the editorial, calling it "powerful stuff."

.@oliverfriedfeld, senior at @Georgetown, writes piece for @thehoya refusing to condemn his muggers. Powerful stuff. https://t.co/FCF0IIxz5i

— Logan Hollers (@lhollers) November 25, 2014

The original editorial on the website of Georgetown's student newspaper, the Hoya, was loading very slowly on Wednesday morning, likely because national attention on the editorial was drawing heavy traffic to the website.

Read an archived version of the editorial here.

What do you think of Friedfeld's editorial? Take the poll below to let us know.

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Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter