In this case, Goetz was depicted as the heroic victim and the injured youth as victimizers. Because the meaning of victimhood is constructed by the dominant culture, this vision of Goetz is virtually inevitable. The transformation of Goetz into a public hero arises from a public fearful of criminal assault, for whom striking back at the cause of fear dissolves that fear. Further, this public reaction might have been different if Goetz had been black and those he shot had been white. Racial stereotyping is a fact of life that influences the perception of victims and transgressors. Evidence of this is found in the capital case of McCleskey v. Kemp. Here, research results were presented in evidence that the race of the defendant and the victim influences jury decisionmaking. In its opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court suggested that some degree of racial categorization was inevitable. These cases illustrate that all too often American political and legal culture suggest that there are two varieties of people involved in criminal activity -- black people and victims. 58 references.