Safety Concerns Meet Racism in Lakeview?

It’s true there have been several incidents of violent crime in recent years. Two summers ago, a wave of violent muggings in the Lincoln Park area resulted in many people being injured and even more fearful for their safety. More recently, several subway thefts and “flash mob” robberies in the downtown area have involved many perpetrators and left some victims and bystanders injured. In Lakeview, robberies have even put some in the hospital. People are afraid, and you know what, they have a right to be. No one wants to be a victim of violence, and no one deserves to be treated in such a way. But here’s the thing: when people get afraid, sometimes bad things happen to innocent people.

Remember the two young men who killed Matthew Shepard in 1998 because, they claimed, he threatened their heterosexuality by making sexual advances? Remember the two Detroit auto workers who murdered Vincent Chin in 1982 because they blamed the Japanese for damaging the US auto industry? Remember the Germans who in the 1920s were experiencing such economic hardship that they lashed out at and eventually exterminated large populations of Jewish people, who they characterized as economic leeches?

Each of these acts of extreme violence was committed because resentment became fueled by fear.

Though seemingly not as severe, such resentment and fear is building up in Lakeview. I’ve heard stereotypes invoked and discriminatory statements made by people I know, and I’ve seen racist and classist statements written all over social media sites, most predominately on the Facebook group “Take Back Boystown.” The concern is safety, but the result is bias and resentment against youth of color.

Who are the suspects of committing the recent wave of violent crimes? Most often, the description is of young black men. The logic of some therefore leads to suspecting all young black men of being criminals—especially the sketchy ones. And what constitutes “sketchy”? Well, people who don’t look respectable. And respectable, of course, means dressing the way you think is normal, talking the way you think is normal, and treating you, the middle-class observer, the way you think is normal. Now, what separates “the normal way” from the “sketchy”? Well, you just know, right? Well, that internal feeling of knowing what way is the normal way to do things is actually rather subjective and is based on your experience, your identity, and your desires. Trying to force one’s ambiguous expectations about normal behavior on others often takes the form of racism, classism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, and a whole lot of things that are not good.

Take for instance what happens when a person of East Asian descent has a role on a television show with a predominately white cast. This person does not look like the “normal” characters and so she’s not so much known as “Tina” but as “the Asian girl.” And if we were watching Glee, and someone suddenly said “An Asian person just robbed a store” the audience immediately thinks “the Asian girl” did it, and if not her, it was one of her relatives or friends.

Glee has trained us to be discriminatory toward Asians (what with “Asian kisses,” “Asian Camp,” and “Other Asian,” come on.). The fear and bias of history, written from the perspective of white elites, has trained us to accept stereotypes about youth of color. This being said, we are each responsible for what we do with the discriminatory skills we’ve unwittingly learned.

Of course we need to take action to keep ourselves and our neighborhoods safe. Walk in groups at night and when possible in the day, keep your expensive items hidden away in public so as not to cause unwanted attention, be aware of your surroundings, and if put in any position of danger, it’s better to lose an iPhone than risk a bruised rib. Is it fair that you have to take such precautions? No. But it’s not the fault of every young black man you see in the neighborhood.

At one time gays were seen as trash bringing all sorts of unwanted behavior into the neighborhood. We know those who judged were wrong, so don’t give into being wrong this time. Black youth should be as welcome in Lakeview as anyone else is. If they aren’t, racism—not safety—reigns.

I’m not saying colorblindness is a realistic or even positive way of seeing the world, but when we give into our tendencies to see race, class, age, and style of dress instead of individuals each with their own story and their own journey in this world, we give in to prejudice. Perhaps our racism and classism don’t come in the form of hatred, but disapproval, suspicion, and support for stereotypes are nearly as bad.

In predominately white, middle-class neighborhoods like Streeterville, Lincoln Park, Lakview, Edgewater, Andersonville, and parts of Rogers Park, long-time residents have grown accustomed to seeing mostly white, middle-class people. Some meet the neighborhood’s standards of behavior and some don’t, but when poor youth of color don’t meet their standards, tolerance quickly runs out.

Poor youth in Lakeview are making efforts to figure out their identities and their lives. Many deal with homelessness, family difficulties related to their sexual and gender identities, economic hardships, difficulty attending school and finding work, and harassment and even abuse from people who should be protecting them. Whatever your race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, or other identities or characteristics, you are susceptible to falling into prejudicial thinking. If a black man of a certain age and style of dress robs a store, all other people that seem or look like him are not also likely to rob a store. There is no need to fear black men or any people group. Violence is to be feared.

In our quest to prevent violence, let’s all be aware of the possibility of our fearful and prejudicial thinking and work tirelessly to make our neighborhoods safe for all—especially those who are most vulnerable.


See also my post from yesterday: "Hoodlums and Thugs" in Boystown

Correction (updated 7/2): The above post alludes to robberies in Lakeview that resulted in hospitalization.  In fact, the incident referred to does not appear to have been a robbery.  More information here.