Boston's reputation in other cities (Wellesley: 2015, homes, public schools)

[Aara5]

Maybe this article is helpful:

"When WBUR‘s Simón Rios was covering a recent story in Back Bay, his interview was interrupted by someone hurling a racial slur at a bystander. The incident prompted him to examine the climate of race in Boston. He explained, “given the number of recent racial incidents in Boston — and the city’s long and complex legacy of race relations — we felt we needed to report on what I’d heard.” For this report, he turned to Rahsaan Hall, director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts.

“We can’t necessarily compare whether or not people are calling black folks the N-word more so here than in New Jersey or in Detroit or somewhere in the deep South,” Hall told WBUR during a protest. “But what I do know is that the structural disparities that exist in Massachusetts are worse than some of the national disparities.”

Hall points to research that shows African-Americans in Massachusetts fare worse than the rest of the country in economic and education measures. And, nationwide, blacks are nearly six times more likely than whites to be incarcerated; in Massachusetts, they’re almost eight times more likely.

“To me that says that Boston and Massachusetts [have] more significant problems with race than other places in the country,” Hall said.

Hall is talking about “structural racism,” the idea that society is structured in a way that discriminates against minorities.

So, is there a connection between structural racism and the kind of racism where a white man feels free to shout the N-word at a black man? For Hall, the answer is yes. He says acts of individual racism are supported by — and inspired by — structural racism.

“It’s easy to point out the person that’s obviously doing racist things,” he said. “It’s harder to have a conversation about the people who are maintaining systems of oppression … and until we get to that and start teasing that apart, there’s really not going to be any substantive change.”
https://aclum.org/uncategorized/bost...stemic-racism/

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by riblue

I lived and worked in the Cambridge area for 30 years (native to Mass) and spent 4 college years in N.C. I have heard that in the South, white people like the individual black person but dislike the race. In the North, the white man likes the race, but not so much the individual.
Unfortunately there is racism and prejudice everywhere. I do not think the city of Boston is any more racist than anywhere else. Which may not be saying much. It is very multicultural in the metro Boston area though which is pretty cool.

That's an interesting perspective. There might be a lot of truth in that.

2 of my kids went to college and live in the South. I just think most people are used to having a large black population around them so it's not as big a deal as it is here where our black population is quite small in comparison. My youngest daughter brought her boyfriend to visit us and he couldn't believe the difference.

[Whatsnext75]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

That's an interesting perspective. There might be a lot of truth in that.

2 of my kids went to college and live in the South. I just think most people are used to having a large black population around them so it's not as big a deal as it is here where our black population is quite small in comparison. My youngest daughter brought her boyfriend to visit us and he couldn't believe the difference.

Now how would you feel if your youngest daughter's boyfriend was black?

[stanley-88888888]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Appreciate it timberline. I love Boston-im just honest and try to be objective. If anyone think I prodded these responses or came down to DC looking to make Boston look bad they couldn't be any further from the truth. It i literally because i am black that when people ask me where im from and I say I'm from Boston they look like..disturbed/troubled and usually tell me why its racist and they would never move there (hispanic friend living in Dc moved from Oklahoma) or they ask me is it as racist as they say it is. You all get the questions about the Departed and Red Sox, I dont.

meetoo. i hear bostons mad racist; i'll never go there. people must think that black people get burning crosses and hangings all the time.

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888

never been to texas but the northeast has a history of ethnic enclaves (ahem: redlined districts) which try to keep races (and sometimes even specific ethnicities) trapped in their specific area. sometimes its organic self-segregation due to surviving in a foreign country where theres a language barrier -- chinatowns, germantown, little italy, mattapan, ... but many times due to political/real-estate/corporate forces driving real-estate costs for those that can afford to move more easily during times of white-flite.

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888

i highly doubt it. firstly, the hollywood perception is that boston is 100% irish-american. secondly, a large portion (most ?) of the caribbean people around the city are in the trap and tourists simply do not visit and arent interested to encourage economic growth in those cities:
Visiting Boston in August

+1, boston is a celebration of whiteness (especially irish-american culture).

i also feel that most cities have a mostly african-american black population that have many options for businesses (clothing stores, radio stations, soul-food restaurants, lawyers, produce markets, real-estate agents, street fêtes...). most of bostons black owned businesses are west-indian so a lot of african-americans from other cities feel like they are not for them.

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888

i am haitian-american and i grew up in boston. someone upthread mentioned that west-indians tend to like boston and african-americans tend to hate it; that seems about rite. i dont suffer from caucasian guilt so i doesnt bug me when people call my city the most racist city. what does sting a bit was when i went away to college one of my african-american friends would call me the white boy. i feel like i would be called an uncle tom if i ignored some of the racial tensions that happen in this city. there are significant socio-economic disparities among access to healthcare, education, banking, real-estate, jobs, ... and the proportion of people in lower income parts of the city tend to be minorities. according to a study by the atlantic, boston was #6 in the country for zipcodes with the least racial integration -- chicago was #1; i believe n.y.c. was #2 (i cant find the thread rite now). which surprises me because people always see n.y.c. as the quintessential melting pot (according to city-data, bostons black population percentage is about 1% higher than n.y.c.). surprisingly, many cities in the south had the best racial integration.

what i suspect is a bit of confirmation bias is that when a racial incident occurs is boston, it proves what people been thinking all along. however when racial controversies happen in other cities, it doesnt define the city as much.
things like jena-6, stop-and-frisk, 3-strikes laws, arizona sb-1070, sean bell, amidou diallo, abner luima, eric garner, laquan mcdonald, tamir rice, fergusson, baltimore riots, donald trump, lebrons l.a. house, ... i feel like the nypd is the new lapd.

i notice with the fenway fans n-dropping on adam jones, a lot of people defaulted to bostons-mad-racist. (i find it annoying that people characterize this episode as a few bad apples; the premise no one else in the section cared. and the whole stadium was singing "sweet caroline" by the 7th inning).

[bjimmy24]

Honestly, I knew almost nothing about Boston until moving here. Most people outside of new England don't think about Boston much. The only opinion I had was that red Sox fans were annoying (still do think this).

[BostonBornMassMade]

I'm trying remember the times i've called someone racist, flat out.. I have often implored people to check their racial biases and consider a minority perspective as being as valid and as important as their own. I've reasoned that a lack of cultural exchange and and systemic discrimination have lead to disparate levels of civic engagement by race. That this discrimination has ultimately lead blacks in Massachusetts to have little social or business capital. This is why despite being one of the most successful states in this union, if not the most successful- blacks in Massachusetts are far behind blacks from middling states in so many categories, especially concerning government jobs and economic inequalities. I have asked people to admit that white dominated governments have been hesitant to implement policies that have been proven to economically empower lower income towns/regions.

I enjoy Boston. Theres just other places i enjoy more (oh my god blasphemy!) and racism is one of the reasons. Still a very good place, other places i've been i thought were worse (Myrtle Beach..Tampa...Baltimore...Albany...San Fran), and yes every place has racism. But Boston's largely worse than its peer cities. Some people like to sit and postulate about places where their brother/mother lives and the times they've visited..lets look at and talk about what we know. There is more than enough to look into in our own backyard.

As for the weirdo comment, thats al relative-if i were on a forum with like minded people i would not be a weirdo. I'm on a forum knowing there is a different perspective on racial issues, but in general we have the same interests. On another forum maybe someone else in here would be the weirdo. So it's a wash.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

I think you mean "clique" rather than "cliche."

It's funny, though -- it's very true in some instances and not as much in others. I saw that much more when I was in law school eons ago and lived in Brookline. I don't see it so much at all living here a second time and being in Newton. The two towns are right next to each other, and I don't really have an explanation for the difference in experience.

Yet, this is somewhat modified by the fact that there are so many students here, and usually they're new to the area and up for new friends.

The racism aspect is complicated, too. It's definitely here, and black people would be able to talk about their experiences with it. I don't have a good explanation for exactly why that is the case, either. You also see a good bit of the entrenched liberal style racism, which is way more nuanced than the garden variety.

Subtle "liberal-style racism" pretending to be accepting is much harder to deal with than overt comments. That's a great term for it, BTW.

The Boston area definitely has it, but they are not unique by any means. Been to the PNW? Where they like to think of themselves as racially open--and many people genuinely are--yet there remains a strong, hidden undercurrent of resentment towards those who are "not like us."

[Chriz Brown]

Originally Posted by riblue

Unfortunately there is racism and prejudice everywhere. I do not think the city of Boston is any more racist than anywhere else. Which may not be saying much.

Then why does Boston have the reputation of being more racist than other cities.. especially East Coast cities? Why?

Again.. I've never been to Boston EVER. But everyone tells me the place is racist. White people included. Why is that? Why is no one telling me this about other cities?

Sorry.. if everyone is saying the same thing about a place, there must be some truth to it.

[Whatsnext75]

Then don't come here or live here if you are worried about it. We don't need you here.

[pikabike]

So you are visiting, not moving?

Then go visit, do everything you planned to do, and do not look for negatives. If you experience it during your visit, you can judge for yourself. Whenever you look for bad things about anywhere you tend to find them.

What do you WANT to do in Boston? I assume you are not visiting to test for racism.