The Wilding Incident: A Teachable Moment

25 years ago, a so-called gang of “wilding” youth supposedly attacked a female jogger in New York City’s Central Park.  There were racial overtones, given that the female jogger was white and the attackers were minority teens, four Blacks and one Hispanic.  Earlier this week, NYC announced a settlement in this case, agreeing that all five men were falsely convicted.  The settlement is in the amount of $40 million.

A few years after the wilding incident took place, in 1989, I found myself teaching Introduction to Sociology at Baltimore City Community College (BCCC).  In this class, I was the only white person, which was not all that unusual given the racial mix of BCCC at the time.   I was using a book written by John Macionis, a noted author and professor of sociology at a college in Ohio.  After introducing myself to my students on the first day of class, I assigned the first chapter of Macionis’s introductory sociology book for homework.  When I met the class for a second time, I asked my students for their candid feedback on the reading.  After a few fairly common responses (boring, interesting, hard to understand, liked the examples…), one student raised his hand, and when I acknowledged him, he paused a bit.

Visibly upset, he commented on the fact that Macionis had used the “wilding incident” to illustrate the sociological perspective.  Indeed, this incident was interwoven throughout the entire first chapter.  The student, who was a young African American male, said this was just one more example of young men of color being portrayed as violent criminals.  While he expected this type of treatment in the media, he was taken aback by its placement in a sociology text.  As he was talking, I noticed many of his classmates nodding their heads in agreement.

He raised a critical issue, one that had not occurred to me when I reviewed the book.  Sociology is supposed to help students acknowledge and unlearn stereotypes, not promote them.  We spent some time talking about the myths and realities young black men encounter on a daily basis.  But that did not bring any sort of closure.  Fortunately, I knew Macionis.  I asked the students if they would like to write him and share their feelings.  A number of students took the lead, composed the letter, and then mailed it.  I received a response from Macionis within days.  He expressed a desire to fly to Baltimore and spend some time talking with my students.

Shortly thereafter, my students met with Macionis and expressed their opinions about the wilding incident and its pervasive use in Chapter One.  While Macionis made it clear that his intent was not to stigmatize and stereotype young men of color, he understood why my students were upset with this example.  Moreover, he agreed that its placement and prominence in Chapter One set the wrong tone for the book.  Most importantly, he agreed to delete this example from future editions of his book.  My students learned a valuable lesson that day, one that extended far beyond the scope of the course.