Why is Boston so famous for its racism?! (salary, bills)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by massnative71

either way I still don't think it's any more racist than any other city, but it definitely remains divided and is very much a tale of two cities.

I agree with the latter part of this - it's definitely divided and there's just too much data out there now on the inequity to make the case that Boston doesn't have a major issue on that front. And that's why I don't know that the former (bold) part really matters. Even if Boston was better than every other major city (it isn't) on the inequity front, the fact that there is still such a deep divide is reason enough to advocate for change. Whether it's better or worse than other cities in terms of racism seems to be a trivial (point of pride) issue when you look at how big the gap is here. I don't care where we stack up compared to other cities, it just needs to get better.

[BostonBornMassMade]

The divide may be getting deeper actually because there are fewer working class White people in Bsoton than ever. So now it’s less racial but it’s actually a racial and economic divide that maybe wasn’t so prevalent in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Fewer white Bostonians who grow up around black people today than in the past-I think

[miu]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

The divide may be getting deeper actually because there are fewer working class White people in Bsoton than ever. So now it’s less racial but it’s actually a racial and economic divide that maybe wasn’t so prevalent in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Fewer white Bostonians who grow up around black people today than in the past-I think

Well the question is, why do urband black male youth so try to avoid learning math and science? Look at the city of Baltimore! No matter how much money they throw at their public schools, over 90% of the students are unable to pass the math requirements. How can our society make the black youth view math and science as "cool" fields of study and STEM an attractive career to them?

For many decades now, every corporate entity have been trying to hire blacks and Hispanics in order to change their white and Asian majority demographics... but they keep struggling to find black and brown applicants. BTW in all of my Boston area jobs, I have tried to encourage the young black and brown co-workers to pursue STEM careers, but they have absolutely no interest going that route. They all either want a celebrity life with music or athletics or... a union job and to sign up on waiting lists for the token low income housing in a new construction apartment building. And they have absolutely zero interest in acquiring a middle class lifestyle either.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by miu

Well the question is, why do urband black male youth so try to avoid learning math and science? Look at the city of Baltimore! No matter how much money they throw at their public schools, over 90% of the students are unable to pass the math requirements. How can our society make the black youth view math and science as "cool" fields of study and STEM an attractive career to them?

For many decades now, every corporate entity have been trying to hire blacks and Hispanics in order to change their white and Asian majority demographics... but they keep struggling to find black and brown applicants. BTW in all of my Boston area jobs, I have tried to encourage the young black and brown co-workers to pursue STEM careers, but they have absolutely no interest going that route. They all either want a celebrity life with music or athletics or... a union job and to sign up on waiting lists for the token low income housing in a new construction apartment building. And they have absolutely zero interest in acquiring a middle class lifestyle either.

Personally, I think this is socioeconomic class more than race. Fall River is less than 6% black. New Bedford 7% black. Fall River is 77% non-Hispanic white. Their schools are a disaster. STEM skills are really poor. The United States has the worst socioeconomic class mobility in the first world. If you’re born in the bottom 20%, the odds are high that you’ll live your entire life in the bottom 20%.

[msRB311]

If you grow up in a poor crime ridden area where education isn't a priority, I would think you might not even know what STEM is.

People tend to be products of their environments regardless of color. The homeless to Harvard stories are rare. From what i've seen Asians do seem to thrive in a STEM environment even if they do come from low income families. I don't really have an answer for this other than that many seem to be hard working people and have been blessed with a gifted brain in math and science.

People don't seem to realize that being book smart is a privilege. Life is much easier for people who get good grades, even easier for those who are highly intelligent and have colleges after them for it.

I'm not sure why anyone would be ok with living in public housing but many people choose not to work hard and are happy to accept handouts. Many of them are perhaps already broken and don't have it in them to try. From what I can see it isn't easy to break out pf poverty but if someone is highly intelligent it's easier. If someone is average or below average in school it's probably not going to happen.

[GeePee]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Fewer white Bostonians who grow up around black people today than in the past-I think

But way more BLM and diversity signs.

[id77]

Originally Posted by msRB311

If you grow up in a poor crime ridden area where education isn't a priority, I would think you might not even know what STEM is.

People tend to be products of their environments regardless of color. The homeless to Harvard stories are rare. From what i've seen Asians do seem to thrive in a STEM environment even if they do come from low income families. I don't really have an answer for this other than that many seem to be hard working people and have been blessed with a gifted brain in math and science.

People don't seem to realize that being book smart is a privilege. Life is much easier for people who get good grades, even easier for those who are highly intelligent and have colleges after them for it.

I'm not sure why anyone would be ok with living in public housing but many people choose not to work hard and are happy to accept handouts. Many of them are perhaps already broken and don't have it in them to try. From what I can see it isn't easy to break out pf poverty but if someone is highly intelligent it's easier. If someone is average or below average in school it's probably not going to happen.

I agree with the statement that this is more environmental than racial. In many neighborhoods across the nation, regardless of racial demographics, there is strong anti-intellectualism. Being book smart is seen as a bad thing, deserving of mockery and bullying. A child growing up in such a place is going to need strong familial support to succeed because everyone else could care less or will even harbor resentment toward someone who does succeed educationally.

Book smart is a privilege, but it's attainable by most. I would say that around 10% of the population will simply lack the capacity to learn a skill sufficiently to be a contributor to society (the 83 IQ line comes to mind), but that leaves 90% who are intelligent enough to learn valuable skills, including STEM. The problem is that many lack the discipline, support, and/or willpower to attain it. That's NOT to say that learning (and life) doesn't come for some easier than others, as it most certainly does, but it does mean that many will have to work harder to be "book smart". It's no different than athletics -- while it comes naturally to some, others can make up ground and still become competitive through hard work.

Kids born to tiger moms aren't naturally smarter than anyone else's kids, they're just raised in environments where that hard work to become smart is pushed and fostered. Kids raised in broken families or single parents who work 3 jobs to keep a roof over their heads aren't pushed too hard by anyone to succeed.

[msRB311]

Apparently now there are chicken blood moms:

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/06/10248...ids-to-succeed

[BostonBornMassMade]

Having just gotten back from Boston last night.... It's much more integrated than even 8 years ago.

Way more Asian people, middle eastern people, and mixed-race people than I remember growing up. More black people where there weren't, especially suburban areas. More white people where there were virtually none. Overall the character of the neighborhoods is still in place but I could see it really diminishing if gentrification isn't slowed down starting now.

Overall the city gets less racist every year and there are more diverse entertainment options now than in 2015. The diversity of the core of Boston area isn't veryfar off large urban areas IMO. The big difference is you have more pockets of older urbanism where white people typically don't live in most other cities. That's probably surprising to some people not form h area.

As per usual I didn't feel it was racist in my day to day, at all. It's really just the structural systems. Still a fantastic city no doubt.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by id77

A child growing up in such a place is going to need strong familial support to succeed because everyone else could care less or will even harbor resentment toward someone who does succeed educationally.

It's not just education. There is resentment towards any type of success.