Boston Racial Stigma- is it "cool" to hate on Boston? (Revere: cost, housing)

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by goat314

Is Atlanta still the "it" place for black people? Not saying it doesn't still have a large appeal to many black people. I just know a lot of people that have moved there and were not impressed by the opportunities. Has the metro reached a saturation point of diminishing returns?

Yeah. Atlanta is like the hub of Black America. And it is extremely popular for young black Americans to move to.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Yeah. Atlanta is like the hub of Black America. And it is extremely popular for young black Americans to move to.

*black Americans,

age isn't even a factor.

[Sneakerfreak]

I don't think people look at Boston and think "if I hate on that place I'll be cool". The hate that black Americans have for Boston was EARNED because of its history of mistreatment of its black citizens. Cities such as Boston hold a special place of hatred in the minds of black Americans because it stood out as a shining example of the non-differences between white liberal racism in the North and Jim Crow racism in the South.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by Sneakerfreak

I don't think people look at Boston and think "if I hate on that place I'll be cool". The hate that black Americans have for Boston was EARNED because of its history of mistreatment of its black citizens. Cities such as Boston hold a special place of hatred in the minds of black Americans because it stood out as a shining example of the non-differences between white liberal racism in the North and Jim Crow racism in the South.

Yea I think this is fundamentally flawed because it relies on remembering everything in Boston and forgetting A LOT of stuff in other cities. If you were to objectively compare it to other (eastern) cities over its history 95/100 chance you’d find it falls in the middle of the pack or in the bottom half. Negativity bias is a real thing throughout life and so is confirmation bias, I think that plays a major factor.

Many southern cities with less of a rap have done much much worse in greater numbers over longer periods of time before they became what they are today. You could start with Jim Crow (maybe even the 80s) and just work back from there. It will never make sense how a state that elected a klansmen to represent it and had brutal slavery (New Orleans/Louisiana) and fire and abject deep balck poverty in much of its land area can get a pass. Did it not EARN it? I guess…where is the line? Never heard black people talk down on New Orleans as a city after Katrina…

Realistically- the only racist story that seems kind of unique to Boston is the intensity of bussing but even that was really only intense in 2 maybe 3 of the citiy’s 20+ high schools at the time. The way it’s covered you’d think the city only had 3 high schools Charlestown Roxbury and South Boston. During bussing my mother attended English high school which had been integrated years before. There were no riots at her high school. Or my aunts or uncles.

No one will mention Boston first of its kind inner city to suburb bussing program. Where white folks voluntarily took black students from inner city Boston- METCO. 8 years before bussing. Or Edward Brooke first black senator. Is that mistreatment too? It’s one sided story that’s told.

Today and I mean today like 2020 and forward- Boston areas pretty much tops out most list of black well being/livability metrics only behind 2 maybe 3 metros.

On a micro level there are many major differences between white liberal racism and Jim Crow. And while I don’t think spoken actively think it’s cool- there is a level of ‘in’ vs ‘out’ factor in hating Boston that I quoted twice upthread.

[Space_League]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Not to the scale of Atlanta and what it is for black people. At all.

Its where people want to move, theres a lot of jobs moving down there sure. But thats where we draw the line.

Its not the 'white version of Atlanta' where white people move to Nashville to do better than they did elsewhere.

Austin, Seattle, SF, Denver all fit the bill better.

they do regionally to a large extent and somewhat nationally

tbh I could see Boston itself as the white version of Atlanta over any of these cities

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Sneakerfreak

I don't think people look at Boston and think "if I hate on that place I'll be cool". The hate that black Americans have for Boston was EARNED because of its history of mistreatment of its black citizens. Cities such as Boston hold a special place of hatred in the minds of black Americans because it stood out as a shining example of the non-differences between white liberal racism in the North and Jim Crow racism in the South.

Hating Boston, individually, nope definitely not. But it definitely has got "cool" to some degree to call Boston racist. Lots of people say it just because others say it. At this day and age, hating stuff in general is "cool" and when the world finds a reason to hate a person/place/thing, everyone joins the bandwagon. That's not to say that there isn't a reason that Boston has gained the racist reputation, just that the majority of the people (though not all) don't know what they're talking about and just jump the bandwagon.

As for myself... I have never been to Boston. I don't know much about the history of Boston outside of the historic events (Boston Tea Party, etc). I don't have many friends from there (besides one that just moved there and another that went to Harvard). Yet I encounter people calling Boston racist in one way or another occasionally. Examples can range from Lebron headlines to general conversations to city data forum headlines.

I personally don't get a thrill from calling Boston racist due to the fact that:

1. I don't know the history behind Boston's racism enough to comment.

2. The same things that people say about Boston can be traced throughout the USA and the Western world in general.


And as an example to my friend that moved from Texas to Boston, within our group, people joked that he moved from the racist state to the racist city. There is definitely a "cool"/"bandwagon" factor to calling Boston racist regardless of if the reputation is earned or not.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by Space_League

they do regionally to a large extent and somewhat nationally

tbh I could see Boston itself as the white version of Atlanta over any of these cities

Boston would be except it’s losing white people as a percentage and in raw number and it’s not “fun” to be Atlanta you have to have at least somewhat of a fun reputation (Boston is the opposite) you also can’t be bleeding white people. Or have a shrinking %.

Nashville ATL Denver Austin are all gaining whites at a consistent and significant rate. In some case the share is growing. They’re also more “fun” places and more accessible to “non elite” everyday white people. Because Atlanta is accessible to non elite black people.

Boston is more like a white(r) DC. I add the (er) because DC as a city and Boston as a city proper have pretty close white %

[perennial millennial]

I don't know much about Boston (no family, no history, etc.) but have always thought they had a loud and proud Irish majority. They have their Hispanics, a few Asians, old money families... Just remember someone online saying "If you think the south is racist, black families get firebombed out of certain neighborhoods here" so maybe some issues with segregation?

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by perennial millennial

I don't know much about Boston (no family, no history, etc.) but have always thought they had a loud and proud Irish majority. They have their Hispanics, a few Asians, old money families... Just remember someone online saying "If you think the south is racist, black families get firebombed out of certain neighborhoods here" so maybe some issues with segregation?

In the reality is Irish people are 19% of Massachusetts and 13% of Boston a sod 2021 . There’s 2/3 Irish city councilors out of 13. So that’s just not accurate . Very far from a majority. Even 20 years ago the city was only 15-16% Irish.

3 or 4 black and Latino families were firebombed in the early 1980s that’s true. Boston is the 18th most segregated big city.

Reality is there were racial attacks each way after whites ignited it. I remember a Jewish woman was burned alive by black youths in Roxbury the year before bussing began, 1973 Evelyn Wagler Murder, Tragically Burned Alive.

So it became a back and forth retaliatory war for a while. I know my uncle told me about beating a white student at his HS with a cinder block. I think for a while there it wa just a part of the culture - racism. But I also realize other cities were having race riots and violence in the 1980s too. But probably not as ongoing and deeply embedded.

Boston has more than a few Asian families it is the most Asian major city on the east coast after NYC at about 10-11% Asian- double the national average.

[perennial millennial]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

In the reality is Irish people are 19% of Massachusetts and 13% of Boston a sod 2021 . There’s 2/3 Irish city councilors out of 13. So that’s just not accurate . Very far from a majority.

3 or 4 black and Latino families were firebombed in the early 1980s that’s true. Boston is the 18th most segregated big city.

Reality is there were racial attacks each way after whites ignited it. I remember a Jewish woman was burned alive by black youths in Roxbury the year before bussing began, 1973 Evelyn Wagler Murder, Tragically Burned Alive.

So it became a back and forth retaliatory war for a while. I know my uncle told me about beating a white student at his HS with a cinder block. I think for a while there it wa just a part of the culture - racism. But I also realize other cities were having race riots and violence in the 1980s too. But probably not as ongoing and deeply embedded.

Boston has more than a few Asian families it is the most Asian major city on the east coast after NYC at about 10-11% Asian- double the national average.

Why are they so segregated? Is it a part of their old world history? You know, people put a lot more stock into things like status back east, where you work, went to school, live, etc.



Was it related to gangs? I know Irish, Italians, etc. were treated like crap in the past, and kept to their own neighborhoods. "Even our white people are ethnic"



In CA, well, there isn't too much fighting back. If you see yourself as "Irish" or "Italian", first, versus generic white American, you won't fall for the whole "evil slaveholder descendant" narrative and let yourself pushed around (more so if your immigrant ancestors had to fight their way up)



How "politically correct" would you say Boston is?