There is a lot about race and class and my childhood that I'm unpacking, but seeing fights on 1970s NYC subways and (inadvertently) walking with my sisters and mom through Boston's "Combat Zone" is helping put a lot of the current fear mongering in perspective.
Realization: The problem with "social media" vs forums/mailing-lists/newsgroups is that it's easier to create personalities with whom we think we have a social relationship, but actually have a parasocial relationship.
We're not actually participating in a community.