A study co-authored by University of Notre Dame professor Gwendolyn Purifoye found that Black men face aggression on public transportation.
On buses and trains — whether as passengers or transit workers — Black men face hostile encounters that threaten their sense of safety, according to Purifoye’s study. By reinforcing racist tropes that they are dangerous or invisible, these encounters can also erode Black men’s sense of 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,” Purifoye said in a press release. “Any hostile encounter in a public space is stressful, but it’s magnified when you are trapped in a space until a vehicle stops.”
Purifoye is an assistant professor of racial justice and conflict transformation in Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs. The study, co-authored with Derrick Brooms of Morehouse College, was published in the journal Sociology of Race and Ethnicity.
The researchers conducted observations on Chicago-area buses and trains between 2010 and 2022. They chose routes that traversed racially and economically diverse areas of the city and suburbs. They traveled at different times of day and in varied weather conditions.
The researchers noted repeated avoidance of Black male passengers by non-Black passengers. They observed behaviors such as ignoring a request for directions, moving away or averting eye contact. They also noted surveillance behaviors by authority figures.
“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,” Purifoye said. “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.”
The researchers found that Black male transit personnel also faced hostile behaviors such as challenges to their authority and criticism.
“These types of stressors in everyday life not only have implications for their health and well-being but also can impact their dispositions, relationships and sense of self, which in turn impacts their families and communities,” Purifoye said.
Purifoye shared her findings with Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority. The Midwest Sociological Society funded her research. The study is part of a larger project examining social interactions on public transportation across race, class and gender.
