How did Boystown neighborhood residents reproduce racism through digital practices?
In Chicago, the Boystown community is considered a thriving gay entertainment district and residential neighborhood, but the residents remain largely white and middle class due to the use of social media, which reinforces segregation. However, people of color still experience segregation and hostility because they are blamed for almost all crimes (Blair, 2016, p. 290). This community formed and practiced “race-based” systems of social control. While there appeared to be good intentions of eliminating violence from Boystown, the blame put on gay black youth serves to group and stereotype the gay black youth community into one category, which creates a racialized environment. Digital practices, such as “Take Back Boystown” and “Lakeview 9-1-1,” were created for discussion of violent crimes in the neighborhood. Through these Facebook pages, they allowed the community to negatively portray black lives. Therefore, through these avenues, racism was legitimized and black gay youth became the “unwanted population” (Blair, 2016, p. 298). This issue expands outside of the Boystown community into a variety of things including a poor education system, corrupt politics, and a collapsed economy.
Blair, Z. (2016). Gay Neighborhoods, Social Media, and the (Re)production of Racism: Boystown. No Tea, No Shade. (pp. 287-303). Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.