Boundaries of South Side viewed as subjective

At Lab, 45% of students reside in Hyde Park. To many students, both those who do and don’t reside in Hyde Park, the University of Chicago campus around our school has become a second home. After all, this school is in the South Side — and that sparks a different reaction out of everyone.

Students find that people make assumptions about Hyde Park based on South Side stereotypes, but they believe the South Side shouldn’t be generalized due to its large size and diverse neighborhoods. Students also believe the comments that students hear from outsiders on going to school in the South Side are fueled by harmful stereotypes.

According to Hyde Park resident Brandon Jones, a junior, living in Hyde Park is quite different from the rest of Chicago, but also from the rest of the South Side. 

“I think Hyde Park, especially near UChicago, is a lot safer than the rest of Hyde Park,” he said. “I also think, though, that while it is different from the rest of Chicago, it’s in ways different than just safety. It has more suburbs vibes, and I find it more homey.”

The stereotypes he hears are dangerous. 

“But I think the stereotypes of it being gang-infested and super violent are wrong and harmful, especially to the Black community, since the South Side is predominantly Black,” Brandon said, “and to make assumptions about Hyde Park based off that shows implicit bias.”

Sophomore Helen Kraemer, a resident of Lincoln Park on the North Side, hears similar stereotypes. 

“I think Lincoln Park is different from Hyde Park in the way that soil and sand are; they’re just totally different and difficult to compare. Which is why I find it frustrating when people who aren’t familiar with Hyde Park make immediate assumptions about the South Side whenever I bring up Lab’s locations,” she said. “There’s just these associations with safety that are harmful to marginalized races when enforced.”

According to Hyde Park resident Blake Dunkley, a senior, the boundaries of what is considered the South Side is subjective.

“I just think it’s wrong when people clump all of the South Side into one box along with all their assumptions,” Blake said. “There’s Hyde Park, Kenwood, Englewood — a whole different and distinct collection the same way as with South Loop or Bucktown or Lincoln Park.”

Marie Hurley, a ninth grader who lives in Lake View on the North Side, feels similarly. 

“When I hear South Side, I think of the entire bottom half of Chicago, which is just too big an area to generalize,” she said. “People need to realize how big of a region it is and how different each little neighborhood within it is. When I say I go to Lab, people just make generalizations of all of the South Side, which I think is odd, because Hyde Park is distinct, the same way every other neighborhood in Chicago is.”