Why is Boston a "white" city? (Newton, Brookline: theater, public school)

[new2mass]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

No one is questioning New England as a whole. Perhaps you're misunderstanding the nature of the original question? Boston today is 25% Black, yet has a reputation that it can't seem to shake of being a "white" city. The question is "Why?"

No one is questioning the amount of Black people in Boston or New England, or wherever. The question comes because when people hear that Boston proper is 25% Black, they are often surprised and astounded.

I was surprised to learn that Boston is 25% black. I am black and experience Boston as somewhat diverse -- especially in terms of the Asian population -- but still pretty white. I think much of that perception has to do with the relative absence of blacks from mainstream Boston culture. Boston is associated so much with its Irish heritage, its universities, and its revolutionary history -- these are the things that Boston is known for and blacks aren't well represented in these things (for better or worse). Boston doesn't have a historically black district like Harlem nor does it have a vibrant middle- or upper-class African-American community like many other larger cities do. It doesn't have a black cultural scene like DC, Detroit, or Atlanta. And I can't think of another American city that has such a strong association with a non-white ethnic group the way that Boston does with the Irish. So maybe that's a big part of the "white" perception of Boston, despite its sizable black population.

[Boston Shudra]

I didn't know if I should start a new thread for this, but I figured it was relevant to this one so I'll stick it in here.

Apparently there are only seven neighborhoods in the country that are more diverse than Dorchester...

Dorchester named one of nation's most diverse neighborhoods - Dorchester - Your Town - Boston.com

[McSyddy]

Originally Posted by iAMtheVVALRUS

I didn't know if I should start a new thread for this, but I figured it was relevant to this one so I'll stick it in here.

Apparently there are only seven neighborhoods in the country that are more diverse than Dorchester...

Dorchester named one of nation's most diverse neighborhoods - Dorchester - Your Town - Boston.com

Do you realize how small of an area we are talking?

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by new2mass

I was surprised to learn that Boston is 25% black. I am black and experience Boston as somewhat diverse -- especially in terms of the Asian population -- but still pretty white. I think much of that perception has to do with the relative absence of blacks from mainstream Boston culture. Boston is associated so much with its Irish heritage, its universities, and its revolutionary history -- these are the things that Boston is known for and blacks aren't well represented in these things (for better or worse). Boston doesn't have a historically black district like Harlem nor does it have a vibrant middle- or upper-class African-American community like many other larger cities do. It doesn't have a black cultural scene like DC, Detroit, or Atlanta. And I can't think of another American city that has such a strong association with a non-white ethnic group the way that Boston does with the Irish. So maybe that's a big part of the "white" perception of Boston, despite its sizable black population.

Actually, Boston has or has had all of these things, I think that it just gets overshadowed by other ethnic groups in the area. Boston has a long time Black history, but again, people don't think about it or associate that with the city. For instance, who knew that the South End had a Black middle class presence at one time? South End, Boston - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beacon Hill also had a strong black presence: Beacon Hill, Boston - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beacon Hill museum celebrates the neighborhood's wealth of black history - Beacon Hill - Your Town - Boston.com

Black Heritage Trail in Beacon Hill - Boston.com

Check this out: Rebecca Lee Crumpler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lewis Howard Latimer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crispus Attucks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Museum of African American History, Boston - African Meeting House Beacon Hill

Paul Cuffee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Not in Boston or the metro area, but close enough)

Something you will notice is that there is a connection to the Canadian Maritime Provinces and Boston's Black community too: Sam Langford - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dixon_(boxer)

Positive Presence of Absence: A History of the African Canadian Community through Works in the Permanent Collection of the National Gallery of Canada (read 5th paragraph)

I could go on, but as you see when you continue to look, you will find some thing that may have been buried or just not publicized. So, it is there, but you just have to look a little bit.

[Cliff Clavin]

Originally Posted by McSyddy

Do you realize how small of an area we are talking?

If you read the article, they didn't define neighborhoods by area. They defined neighborhoods by zip code. And 02125 was one of the most populated zips.

Article here: America's Most Diverse Neighborhoods - Housing - The Atlantic Cities

Neighborhood Zip population
Irving 75038 pop: 26,189
Queens Villiage 11428 pop: 21,088
Treasure Island 94130 pop: 1,453 (2000 data)
Lakemont 77407 pop: 28,595
Wahiawa 96786 pop: 30,346
Kahuku 98731 pop: 1,063
Rainer View 98?78 pop: 3,529
Dorcester 02125 pop: 29,927
Kapolei 96707 pop: 31,642
South Natomas 95834 pop: 22,976

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by McSyddy

Do you realize how small of an area we are talking?

I'm pretty sure that Dorchester is Boston's largest neighborhood. Though I guess if your looking comparing it to all MA or New England or the US, then it's a pretty small area...

But we ARE talking about Boston aren't we?

And is size really the point here? I think the point of the article is that the most diverse part of Boston is more diverse than the most diverse parts of Chicago, LA, Miami, Philly, DC, etc.

[BitofEndearment]

Originally Posted by iAMtheVVALRUS

I'm pretty sure that Dorchester is Boston's largest neighborhood. Though I guess if your looking comparing it to all MA or New England or the US, then it's a pretty small area...

But we ARE talking about Boston aren't we?

And is size really the point here? I think the point of the article is that the most diverse part of Boston is more diverse than the most diverse parts of Chicago, LA, Miami, Philly, DC, etc.

I think what he meant was the area in the article. The article says "Dorchester" but they actually went by zip code, not neighborhood, so the area included in the article is only a fraction of Dot that includes Columbia Point and Upham's Corner.

[9162]

Originally Posted by lrfox

The merging of schools wasn't exactly seamless either. Sometimes two vastly under performing schools were merged with seemingly no academic benefit. In other cases, high performing schools [white] were merged with under performing schools [black] seemingly putting the higher performing students in an environment that was less conducive to education [and more conducive to violence]. For many, race had nothing to do with their anger.

The question is, why with teachers that had the same degrees, using the same text books, had students that could not perform as well? Thurgood Marshall once said separate, but completely equal was not good enough, he wanted the black students in the classroom sitting directly beside the white students.

[pennyone]

"In other cases, high performing schools [white] were merged with under performing schools [black] seemingly putting the higher performing students in an environment that was less conducive to education [and more conducive to violence]"...

I think teens and other young people, even more so than adults, are very prone to peer pressure. It's hard to be a teen these days, and the desire to fit in, for both boys and girls, is so overwhelming, thanks in large part to our genetic and primitive intellectual mechanics and the modern media. Hence, it is not surprising that a merger like a good and a bad school can effect the overall performance. What if the good performing school is much bigger in number, and had, say, a 3 to 1 ratio with the population of a "bad" school? Would a heavily Jewish and Asian school (both high performing groups) that is 2 or 3 time the size of a poorly performing school effect the performance of everyone in the newly merged school? I would think so. Maybe the bad kids would be ostracized, and some may actually figure out that learning/studying instead of fighting and joining gangs might be the "new cool"?

Conversely, in a merger where the good school and the bad school are roughly equal in size, or if the good school is smaller, then I can see the hard working students intimidated by thugs, and also making do with less teachers attention due to classroom turmoil. So, it may be a matter of critical mass in a merger. The good kids must have the numbers and adult support to overcome the thugs (and thugs come in all colors). Just mixing everyone together is a disservice to all the good kids unless we give them the tools and the numbers to stay dominant in the new school.

[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by new2mass

I was surprised to learn that Boston is 25% black. I am black and experience Boston as somewhat diverse -- especially in terms of the Asian population -- but still pretty white. I think much of that perception has to do with the relative absence of blacks from mainstream Boston culture. Boston is associated so much with its Irish heritage, its universities, and its revolutionary history -- these are the things that Boston is known for and blacks aren't well represented in these things (for better or worse). Boston doesn't have a historically black district like Harlem nor does it have a vibrant middle- or upper-class African-American community like many other larger cities do. It doesn't have a black cultural scene like DC, Detroit, or Atlanta. And I can't think of another American city that has such a strong association with a non-white ethnic group the way that Boston does with the Irish. So maybe that's a big part of the "white" perception of Boston, despite its sizable black population.

I think this is true. Boston has Roxbury and Dorchester, but you don't see a lot of blacks in other areas of the city, including the downtown, and I think blacks are absent from a lot of the city's mainstream culture.

Some of this probably has to do with the fact that blacks have long been a relatively small minority in Boston, and never had the numbers make the mark that they did in some other cities.

I wonder if some of it is a legacy of the busing crisis of the 1970s.