“You Wanna Come to the ‘Urban’ Night Tomorrow... It’s the Wrong Night Tonight”

Abstract

Drawing from a yearlong ethnography alongside police officers, door staff, and venue managers, this article explores my research participants’ conceptions, and governance of, “urban nights” in “Greenshire, UK.” My research participants used the term “urban nights” to refer to nighttime events where traditionally Black music is played, such as drill, grime, and R & B. In doing this, I reveal how institutional racism is embedded within policing cultures and everyday policing practices used to govern nightlife. In exploring how nightlife is governed in a white provincial context in Southern England, I uncover how the public and private police work together to produce nightlife as an “acceptably white space.” The article outlines the impact this has on the governance of “urban nights” and the management, access, and experiences of Black nighttime participants.