In the Belly of the Beast.
In These Times blogs live from the Republican National Convention September 1 - 4.

Giuliani: Hero or Race Baiter?

By Steven Wishnia

Rudolph Giuliani’s eight years as mayor of New York bridged two political eras: the racially coded politics of the late 20th century, which targeted the “pathological” African-American poor as Public Enemy No. 1, and the post-9/11 police state, which transformed dissenters into “terrorist” suspects. Of course, the conventional wisdom lauds Giuliani as “the man who cleaned up New York” and… return to article

  • subscribe to print magazine

  • Zoom OutZoom In Reader Comments (4)

    Page 1 of 1 pages

    Let look at the facts:

    Murder
    in 1990 NYC had 2,605 murders
    in 1991 NYC had 2,571 murders
    in 1994 NYC had 2,016 murders
    in 1996 NYC had 1,353 murders
    in 1998 NYC had 924 murders
    in 2000 NYC had 952 murders

    Robbery
    in 1990 NYC had 112,380 robberies
    in 1991 NYC had 112,342 robberies
    in 1994 NYC had 86,617 robberies
    in 1996 NYC had 61,822 robberies
    in 1998 NYC had 49,125 robberies
    in 2000 NYC had 40,539 robberies

    United States Posted by tina1 on May 1, 2006 at 10:41 PM

    “Was Giuliani a racist? Former city education commissioner Rudy Crew, one of the few black officials in his administration, says his support of school vouchers was racist.”

    Huh? What is this supposed to mean?

    “the Republicans’ Talibanic wing”

    Yep, i have heard that they are planning to re-enslave blacks, make women wear burkas, and force Sunday school attendance for all. Ha ha ha.

    Seriously, this is as silly as the Nazi remarks that were so fasionable a few years back (but have now, happily, died out). Hugely overexaggerating does not help one to make a reasonable argument!

    United States Posted by wolf on May 2, 2006 at 12:31 PM

    I have to point out that when Giuliani wanted to ignore the constitutional right to freedom of expression and close down that art exhibit at the Brooklyn Art Museum (with the poo painting of the Virgin Mary) I was NOT happy with him. 

    I do have to say though, that Giuliani took pride in his work and worked hard and whatever he directly did or did not do, New York City, in general, got into better shape under his guidance.  I respect that.

    United States Posted by Backatchababy on May 10, 2006 at 1:50 PM

    http://mediamatters.org/items/200605080006

    http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=19885

    http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=488439

    http://www.node707.com/archives/002632.shtml

    Ms Hanover, an actress and broadcaster, publicly accused her husband of having had an affair with a former City Hall aide. Mr Giuliani denied that but has acknowledged a relationship with another woman, Judith Nathan. Another clinton?

    The amount of credit Guiliani’s policies deserve for the drop in the crime rate is disputed. A nationwide drop in crime preceded Guiliani’s election. Critics point out that Guiliani may have been the beneficiary of a trend already in progress. Another factor in the overall decline in crime during the 1990’s was the federal government provision of temporary funding for an additional 7,000 police officers and an overall improvement in the national economy

    http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=38&num=5 5862

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12746850/site/newsweek/

    United States Posted by brian28 on May 24, 2006 at 6:21 PM
    Page 1 of 1 pages

  • register a new account »Posting Security

    To participate in our forums, please register for a free account.
     

    Retreive lost password »

Article Appeared in this Issue

Full contents
Past issues

Also by Steven Wishnia
Popular Discussions