Hostile encounters on public transportation can significantly threaten the safety, dignity, and self-worth of Black men, regardless of their role as passengers or transit workers. According to a new study by a Keough School of Global Affairs sociologist, by reinforcing racist tropes that they are dangerous or invisible, these encounters can also erode Black men’s sense of dignity and self-worth.
“Black men who want to go to work, school, appointments, visit others, or do any of the other things that people use public transport for, find the experience to be degrading rather than liberating,” said Gwendolyn Purifoye, assistant professor of racial justice and conflict transformation in the Keough School at the University of Notre Dame. “Any hostile encounter in a public space is stressful, but it’s magnified when you are trapped in a space until a vehicle stops.”
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Purifoye’s study, co-authored with Derrick Brooms of Morehouse College, was published in the journal Sociology of Race and Ethnicity.
The researchers conducted ethnographic observations on Chicago-area buses and trains between 2010 and 2022, choosing routes that, according to census data, traversed racially and economically diverse areas of the city and suburbs, including downtown Chicago. They traveled at varied times of day and amid diverse weather conditions.
The researchers observed repeated avoidance of Black male passengers by non-Black passengers, which included behaviors such as ignoring a request for directions, moving away or averting eye contact. They also noted surveillance behaviors by authority figures such as police in train stations.
“Being treated as undesirable or as a cause for fear is harmful to Black men, especially because these incidents often play out in front of other people,” said Purifoye, who is a core faculty member of the Keough School’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. “Black men are simultaneously hyper-visible and invisible — visible as potential problems yet invisible as citizens with rights, as human beings with feelings or as persons deserving civility in public spaces.”
Purifoye, a member of the Regional Transportation Authority’s steering committee, has shared the study’s findings with the agency. The committee aims to improve transit service by making it safer, more frequent, reliable, and affordable. Based on the study results, Purifoye recommends several policy changes for Chicago’s transit boards:
Purifoye also emphasizes the need for further research to understand how negative interactions on public transportation contribute to the risks faced by Black men in public spaces. This study, funded by the Midwest Sociological Society, is part of a broader ongoing project examining social interactions on public transportation across various demographic groups.
