<p>“Do you often walk alone at night in neighborhoods where “there are a lot of black people walking around”?”</p>
<p>Yes. I live in a diverse neighborhood in downtown Chicago, and it’s a nightlife area, so it’s busy 24/7. The building next door to mine is public senior housing. But first, I didn’t exempt myself from the phenomenon in post #47 (we’re all susceptible to subconscious fears), and second, we were talking about perceptions, not behavior. I wouldn’t recommend that any 18-year-old girl walk alone at night anywhere, including Williamstown or Hanover. Yet they don’t get the safety concerns of USC or Penn.</p>
<p>“refusing to ignore that most of the posted crime reports have “black male” as the suspect.”</p>
<p>I never said that you should. I don’t. But I see some people correlating the mere presence of black people in a neighborhood in the daytime with danger. I refuse to ignore that racial fears play a role in many Americans’ perception of danger.</p>
<p>“Some young women feel uncomfortable walking on their college campuses late at night because a lot of the other students walking around – who look like them – are drunk and may hassle them.”</p>
<p>That is absolutely true. Yet parents typically don’t perceive those campuses as dangerous if they are in all-white suburban or rural communities. Our perception of danger often doesn’t match the real risks.</p>