A recent study from Ohio State University reveals that some Black youth experience reduced feelings of safety when navigating predominantly white areas within their city. Notably, those Black youth who spent more time in such white-dominated areas reported feeling particularly less secure.
“Familiarity with white neighborhoods doesn’t make Black kids feel more comfortable and safer. In fact, familiarity seems to reveal threats,” the researchers explain. “It is not a terribly optimistic finding.”
Perceptions of safety
In one of the pioneering studies exploring racial disparities in urban youths’ perceptions of safety, researchers from Ohio State University analyzed data from the Adolescent Health and Development in Context study. This federally funded initiative involved 1,405 youths aged 11 to 17 in Columbus.
Equipped with smartphones, participants reported their feelings of safety as they navigated the city over a week. Five times a day, they received brief surveys inquiring about their location, activity, companions, and social characteristics of the environment, with GPS tracking their whereabouts. Each survey included a rating scale for participants to assess the safety of their current location.
Areas were classified as predominantly white if the census block registered at least 70% non-Hispanic white population. The study also factored in the levels of violent crime in the areas visited by the youths.
Home turf
The findings indicated that youths generally felt safest near their homes, with those within 30 meters reporting a 14% higher likelihood of strongly agreeing with feeling safe. Notably, both Black and white youths expressed decreased feelings of safety in areas with higher rates of violent crime.
However, the study’s focus was primarily on the racial disparities observed in perceptions of safety, which stood as a significant point of interest for the researchers.
“When white youth are in white-dominated spaces, they tended to feel a little safer,” the researchers explain. “But that’s not the case for Black youth.”
Having to travel
In Columbus, and in many other cities, Black youth encounter a challenge where the resources they seek—like shopping areas, entertainment venues, libraries, and restaurants—are often situated in predominantly white neighborhoods.
The study’s findings shed light on this dynamic, revealing that Black youth residing in segregated, primarily Black neighborhoods spend approximately 40% of their time outside of their homes in white-dominated areas—twice the amount of time spent in their own neighborhoods.
Moreover, the study uncovered a correlation between increased exposure to predominantly white neighborhoods and heightened feelings of insecurity among Black participants. For instance, teenagers with an average exposure of 70% to white neighborhoods experienced a 26% reduction in the likelihood of strongly agreeing that the location felt safe while outdoors in a white neighborhood.
“There is this complicated trade-off that Black youth have to navigate in which they want to take advantage of these organizational resources that are mainly available in white areas of the city,” the researchers explain. “But they also have to deal with feeling concerned about their safety.”
The findings underscore the challenges encountered by Black youth in American urban settings. Although significant attention has been directed toward the difficulties Black youth encounter within segregated neighborhoods, this study highlights the potential hurdles they face when venturing beyond these areas.
“Black youth face unique challenges when they try to use the resources that are often found only in white-dominated neighborhoods in their city,” the authors conclude.
