Hey! Some black people do like Boston! (Cambridge, Orleans: school, university)
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There have been MANY replies in this thread, since I responded to you previously.
One thing you have to keep in mind - if you are happy where you are, you do not have to defend your decision to anyone. Nor should you look for validation of your decision from others who may not agree with you - that will ultimately be a waste of your time and energy.
At the time I lived in Boston (late 80s early 90s) there was a burgeoning Black high-tech professional class in eastern Mass, but we were all spread out, some in the city many more in various burbs. Their certainly was no single upper-middle class majority Black area to consider moving to. And the problem is that for Blacks who moved to Boston from other areas, most of us were used to having that kind of area available as an option. As people got older and started considering "settling down" and raising families, some people make the decision that they don't want to raise a family in a place where they are not surrounded by positive people in the same situation as they are.
Many others have commented on Boston politics being under-represented by Blacks. When you look at a Celtics game on TV you see no Black people in the audience - contrast that with Hawks, Wizards, Bulls, etc. If you go to Fanueil Hall, Boston Common, the Esplanade, or any other popular gathering spot, you just don't see any Black folks. Even if you go downtown during work hours the number of Black folks dressed like they are working downtown is way smaller than what you would expect in a city of 25% Black people.
On the surface these things seem minor but they all add up to a "culture" of a city that says Blacks don't participate. I don't know the reason it is that way, especially considering the role that Black people from Boston have played in the history of this country.
As I said before, I enjoyed my time in Boston and would consider living their again - it's a beautiful area with many activities close by. I attended a Black church with a large congregation, I had many friends who socialized together often, so I was not lonely in any sense and never felt "alone." But it's not a place I want to raise positive children with a strong self-image.
**A side note** At the time I lived in Boston, Fort Hill was touted as an up n coming area, but 2 decades ago it was not impressive. It may be today, but in 1993 I was under no obligation to predict the future or to be a pioneer in a changing neighborhood. And even if Fort Hill proper is a jewel today, is it still attractive in a 3 block walk in any direction? Many people don't want to live on an island...
I hear u, but dont always go by what u see on tv when it comes to games. Ive been to bobcats games in charlotte and there were other blacks there, but if you watch it on tv at home, u didnt see us on camera. And my guy friend and his friends have been to celtics games and red sox games, and they r all black, except one guy is white. But ur right if you watch that game on tv, u will not see them.
Cambridge is 12% Black (according to wikipedia), half the percentage of Boston proper.
Only 12%, thats odd. I spend a lot of time in cambridge..for dance and arts. And I see a lot of black people, im not talking about the portugese, im talking black people. 12% sounds really low compared to what i actually see.
From what im hearing from people who are from here, that i work with, it seems like a lot of these neighborhoods r changing. Like JP is very diverse, but they said at one time it pretty much all white. Not like that now. One of my classmates lives in Roxbury and she white, and she said she lives there by choice and assured us in class that its changed a lot and its gentrifying, and she also said people shouldnt be afraid to go there. South Boston was known as a racist neighborhood and used ot be blacks didnt even step foot there, but now u have blacks who live there. As a matter of fact a group of us went to a bar in southie the other nite..and it was nothing like what i saw in the movies about southie, no one starred at me or called me the "n" word, i actually had a good time. and we cant forget areas like Quincy, Malden, Medford, Milton and Arlington. I think they are forgotten about a lot. But blacks live there too. And one of the black female news reporters from springfield, ma, came to boston for college, left went to connecticut for work, and decided to come back to boston. She likes it here as well. I think boston people are used to has changed a lot.
if you are happy where you are, you do not have to defend your decision to anyone. Nor should you look for validation of your decision from others who may not agree with you
That's essentially what she's doing. She could just come right out and say, "I really don't see why all of these close-minded black people don't give Boston a chance." It's the same type of smug, judgmental attitude you get from Black Republicans.
If you love Boston, then fine. But there are obviously a number of black people who don't like it, and that's fine, too. But lovelife11's whole angle is that the black people who don't are somehow bigoted, close-minded and irrational. If only they were as open-minded, tolerant and level-headed as she is, then they TOO would come to see all of the positive things Boston has to offer (or so she thinks).
I can't tell anyone not to like Boston. I actually enjoy visiting Boston. But I've already stated the reasons I would not live there. Apparently, there are quite a few black people who feel the same as me, as the title of the thread suggests.
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Originally Posted by JacksonPanther
Cambridge is 12% Black (according to wikipedia), half the percentage of Boston proper.
The only reason this seems odd is that there are so many black kids at Rindge and Latin. I think CRL is about 40 percent black. This tells you that (1) a lot of non-blacks living in Cambridge don't have kids (likely) or (2) a lot of non-blacks living in Cambridge opt to send their kids to private school (also likely). I also wouldn't be surprised if a fair number of kids at CRL don't even live in Cambridge.
Last edited by BajanYankee; 10-13-2011 at 12:11 PM..
Blacks in New York City and Philadelphia clearly wield more political power. Boston has an "old guard" of Italians and Irish that still dominate politics at the municipal level. New York City, which is roughly 1/4 African American (like Boston) has had not only a black mayor, but a black borough president (Percy Sutton), Black Congressmen (Adam Clayton Powell, Charles Rangel, Greg Meeks, Major Owens), a black fire commissioner (Robert Lowery) and a black police commissioner (Benjamin Ward). Boston, which reached majority-minority status when I was in college, still hasn't had a non-Irish or non-Italian City Council President.
New York's City Council, on the other hand, is lead by Joel Rivera, whose father was a notable political figure of Puerto Rican descent in the Bronx in the 80s.
I guess the only inference to be drawn from these facts is that minorities in Boston are just apolitical, right? Because I'm certain racism is not a factor here at all.
4 of the 13 members are Black as far as I know (Top of my head) so that would make 31%, more than in line with share of population. One reason I can see why there has never been a Black mayor is because Mumbles (who genuinely seems to "Get" the Black community) has been in office for almost 2 decades, no one can beat the guy, white or black. He was preceded by Mayor Flynn who was also in that position for about a decade.
As mentioned before we have a Black Gov. and other examples of Black in politics as well (School Superintendent and Suffolk County Sheriff) Cambridge next door has had 2 Black Homosexual Mayors as well. Newton also has a Black Mayor (Setti Warren)
Not saying there is not work to be done, but to make it out as this as some backward racial hotbed is not correct either.
I am another Black professional who enjoys living here, along with my Black professional wife. The law firm where she is an attorney actually has a Black Woman as the Managing Director/Partner. The hospital for which I work is headed by a Black Woman as well.
Another reason why I love living here is the access to West Indian culture and food, anyone who is West Indian should more than see that our community is well represented in all aspects of life.
Last edited by Vapbussmusic; 10-13-2011 at 01:48 PM..
I am another Black professional who enjoys living here, along with my Black professional wife. The law firm where she is an attorney actually has a Black Woman as the Managing Director/Partner. The hospital for which I work is headed by a Black Woman as well.
The current political makeup of Boston I am not qualified to speak on. I would like to know where you and your wife live (neighborhood, not street address!). What is the racial makeup of your block, and neighborhood?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vapbussmusic
Another reason why I love living here is the access to West Indian culture and food, anyone who is West Indian should more than see that our community is well represented in all aspects of life.
Yeah, it's an East Cost thing. Caribbean culture is well represented in NY, Philly, DC, and Boston. Very little reggae to be found in Chicago, Detroit, StL, Atlanta, New Orleans... Is the Western Front still open in Cambridge? I used to hang there all the time...
The current political makeup of Boston I am not qualified to speak on. I would like to know where you and your wife live (neighborhood, not street address!). What is the racial makeup of your block, and neighborhood?
We currently live in Kendall Square and have been here for about 2 years. Its very much an emerging destination for people to live rather than work, so it is hard to track down any racial demographics. Based on what I see though it is made up mostly on my block (and complex) of International professionals and graduate students, mostly from Asia, The Middle East and lesser so from Africa and Western Europe.
When you walk down towards East Cambridge though, you have a large Azorean, Cape Verdean and Brazilian population. I would consider the area very diverse.
We are in the process of fully renovating a loft space we purchased on the Tip of Area 4 in Cambridge. That area is 45.9% White, 35.4% Black, 15.7% Hispanic origin, 8.2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.2% Native American, 7.3% other race. According to Wiki.
Quote:
Yeah, it's an East Cost thing. Caribbean culture is well represented in NY, Philly, DC, and Boston. Very little reggae to be found in Chicago, Detroit, StL, Atlanta, New Orleans... Is the Western Front still open in Cambridge? I used to hang there all the time..
My sister in Chicago says the same thing, she hates not being able to find a good Jamaican restaurant and hear the latest Dancehall on the radio. I do appreciate that it is a focus here in Boston, as we now have (2) 24 hour Caribbean stations, something not many cities have in the US. Maybe that is why I connect better with the Black community here than others, because I am not African American or even West Indian American, we are actually born and raised in the West Indies and connect with our culture first and Black American culture second.
Western Front is still open, really good spot to listen to live Reggae. The Dancehall scene here is actually one of the best I have seen anywhere and I have also lived in Miami, NYC and Toronto.
We currently live in Kendall Square and have been here for about 2 years. Its very much an emerging destination for people to live rather than work, so it is hard to track down any racial demographics. Based on what I see though it is made up mostly on my block (and complex) of International professionals and graduate students, mostly from Asia, The Middle East and lesser so from Africa and Western Europe.
When you walk down towards East Cambridge though, you have a large Azorean, Cape Verdean and Brazilian population. I would consider the area very diverse.
We are in the process of fully renovating a loft space we purchased on the Tip of Area 4 in Cambridge. That area is 45.9% White, 35.4% Black, 15.7% Hispanic origin, 8.2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.2% Native American, 7.3% other race. According to Wiki.
My sister in Chicago says the same thing, she hates not being able to find a good Jamaican restaurant and hear the latest Dancehall on the radio. I do appreciate that it is a focus here in Boston, as we now have (2) 24 hour Caribbean stations, something not many cities have in the US. Maybe that is why I connect better with the Black community here than others, because I am not African American or even West Indian American, we are actually born and raised in the West Indies and connect with our culture first and Black American culture second.
Western Front is still open, really good spot to listen to live Reggae. The Dancehall scene here is actually one of the best I have seen anywhere and I have also lived in Miami, NYC and Toronto.
I really like east cambridge. They have the galleria mall! I spend a lot of time there, sorry we didnt have a mall that big in sc where i lived. One of the girls that works at the stores said she was cape verdean..then she looked at me and said, she was black. i was like ok. she could tell i never met anyone who was cape verdean before and i hadn't. In the south its not even heard of. I love that about boston, so many diff. types of people. And ur right the west indian food is yummy here..we dont have that in sc either. I cant wait to go to the caribbean festival next year! missed it this year, got here too late
Yep Bostonmania she said that to me. NYC is ethnically mixed, but dont let that fool you. Like for instance, Bensonherst is an italian area in Brooklyn, and near flatbush ave, was mainly caribbean, and african american descent. Now they both live in brooklyn, but it will never be like jamaica plain where they live next door to each other. The italians in bensonherst couldnt stand black people, and vice versa. They were nice to me, but that was because they knew i wasnt from there and they knew i was doing my internship so i wouldnt be around too long. They yell at you and give u the meanest looks when u would walk in their hood. I walk around here in the north end, and its the complete opposite, here the italian guys talk to me and are nice.
The latina girls and the black girls in the bronx dont get along either. There was something about entitlement in nyc that people from there kept bringing up. The black girls would say rap started in their area, and the latina girls would say well we're from the bronx to so we r the birthplace of hip hop too, and the blak girls felt like the latina girls were trying to take things from them, it was crazy. Im like who cares ur both from the bronx get over it for christs sake. ONe side is not better than the other. Dominican girls who looked black got made for being called black, and lighter skinned latinas felt the darker skinned latinas were below them. Crazy stuff dude.
Actually looking back on it, there isnt a neighborhood in nyc like jamaica plain or cambridge. yikes that just hit me. If your a black female and your walking down the street not in a suit, the guys in nyc think they can pimp u, yes they assume all black women in nyc are sluts. U cant be a student in their mind. Cabs in nyc dont wanna pick up blacks either...they think u wont pay them. See this is stuff they dont show u on shows like 'sex and the city '. My landlord hurt my feelings that day..but it taught me something. It taught me that nyc was not what i thought it was, and that no matter what color u are, every race thinks they are better than someone who is black. She was very blunt, and it sucks a fat one. So when people say crap like that about boston, it takes me back to nyc, and im like dude u havent even seen real racism yet.
and then what happened when you graduated from Junior High?
and then what happened when you graduated from Junior High?
lol nope that happened when i was in my twenties. these are adults im talking about, not teens. but if youve never lived in those neighborhoods in nyc u wouldnt understand that
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