Is Boston racist?!?!?!? (Cambridge: to rent, condo, public schools)

[jxu66]

Like many places in US, Boston folks tend to discriminate poor and uneducated folks.

There is perception that black = poor and uneducated folks
in Boston. Asians, on the hand, don't seem to get much discrimination since there is perception that Asians are if not wealthy but at least well educated. That's what I see when I grew up in MA.

Same here in Georgia. In my current city Duluth, most asians and blacks are percepted as educated and well to do while hispanics are precepted as poor and uneducated folks. So there seems to be a lot of negative views against hispanic here.

Maybe in Miami, hispanics may be viewed as wealthy group. Not sure who is considered poor down over there.

Unfortunately, that's just human nature.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by Cauzinariot

I just moved to the Maryland/D.C. area last year after living in Boston for the last 22 years. The segregation and casual racism down here shocked the Hell out of me. I have lived many areas in Boston and have never encountered racism like this. Yet people I've met say Boston is racist. Personally I'm confused. I don't think of myself as an ignorant "colorblind" type, I mean when I got down here the racism level hit me instantly. Is it possible for me to have been amongst rampant racism in Boston and have never noticed it? I mean, I have seen the racism among police and public officials frequently but I always figured that was a nation-wide thing. General people didn't seem too racist... Maybe they wait until I'm not around.... I can think of isolated cases, but they were always by already well-known *******s, and it always stirred a huge reaction---like it was NOT an accepted thing. So... I mean, I don't have too many white friends up there but when I talked to them about the situation down here they were all angry and shocked. So, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe the racists in Boston are just much better at hiding it. But I guess it depends where you go. I lived in Brighton, J.P., Roslindale, East Boston, and Cambridge. It may be different in Southie or something.

WHat did you experience here in Maryland? I've lived in Maryland for the past 15 years and New Orleans, Louisiana before that and never experienced any racism as an Asian American. Most of my friends are white and very acceptaing of people willing to Americanize and assimilate.

After Virginia Tech I got one racist hate mail from a high school kid somewhere in Massachusetts I assume....since his picture was a Red Sox logo. But to be fair I've met a number of people from Boston in college and they were much nicer than I expected....I thought Boston was more rich and snobby than Westchester and Long Island but the opposite was true.

[whinton]

Not to discount the facts in Boston’s history in the 50s or the past experiences of other posters forum, but there are other historical items should be noted that indicate less racism in Massachusetts. Massachusetts was one of the first states to outlaw slavery and one of the first to abolish anti-miscegenation (interracial marriage) laws in 1843. In my experience, there is not a lot of African American culture here in large part because there are fewer that live here….which likely makes it less attractive for African Americans. Many states are similar including Washington (Seattle) and Minnesota (Minneapolis). Even so, in Boston I see many families that have adopted children of different races….including African American and bi racial children, and no one blinks an eye.

[nooneknowsmyname]

Originally Posted by ChunkyMonkey

This article simply shows that Boston was racist in the 50s and 60s. Well, so was every city in the country.

I lived in Boston in the 60s, 70s and into the late 80s and it was racist well past the 50s and 60s. When the schools were desegregated by court order in 1974, there was much violence directed toward the African American students who integrated previously white schools as there was in some southern cities. In fact, African American children had to be escorted by police cars and motorcycles as they rode the bus into some neighborhoods. Moreover, federal marshalls with scopes and rifles were positioned on the rooftoops of buildings in order so insure that no harm came to African American students as they attended schools. I lived in Boston then and know many people who had to run through a gauntlet of jeering crowds screaming that they didn't want African American students attending schools in white neighborhoods. For anyone interested in an excellent account of the Boston's racist past and how it culuminated in the violence that surrounded court ordered desegregation in 1974, Anthony J. Lukas' excellent book, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families. New York: Vintage Books, 1986 tells the story.

[hokietoner]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

WHat did you experience here in Maryland? I've lived in Maryland for the past 15 years and New Orleans, Louisiana before that and never experienced any racism as an Asian American. Most of my friends are white and very acceptaing of people willing to Americanize and assimilate.

After Virginia Tech I got one racist hate mail from a high school kid somewhere in Massachusetts I assume....since his picture was a Red Sox logo. But to be fair I've met a number of people from Boston in college and they were much nicer than I expected....I thought Boston was more rich and snobby than Westchester and Long Island but the opposite was true.

Please try to avoid saying things like "after virginia tech". "After the virginia tech tragedy" is better--there's much more to the university than what happened. If something terrible happened at University of Maryland, you probably wouldn't like people saying "such and such after the university of maryland." I know that's being kind of picky but anyway...

I'm surprised how many people on this thread keep saying how Virginia is about as redneck and racist as they come. How many have actually been to Virginia?? I live in Boston now, but I went to Virginia Tech for 5 years and lived near Richmond for 14 years. The major urban/suburban areas around DC, Richmond, and Virginia Beach are not in the least redneck. In fact, a large percentage of people there won't even have a southern accent. Of course, there are rednecks there but they're not the majority in these areas that contain most of the state's population.

When you get to the mountains and more rural areas, of course you'll find rednecks. Try to rethink the stereotype though. Most of you are probably committing your own form of racism with these people, and justifying your prejudice by thinking that rednecks are racist anyway. (Yes, I know most rednecks are white, but most especially those in appalachia are a legitimate ethnic group. And besides, prejudice is the basis for racism, even prejudice against other white people.) Blatant racism is not common, just as it's not common in most places in the US. Of course, hate crimes happen. Even at Virginia Tech there were a few instances of racism written on bathroom walls or something. But when something like that happens you're surprised because you don't know anyone who would do that, and everybody agrees that it's wrong. I would say it's more likely for an uneducated redneck to be racist (or anyone uneducated for that matter), but it's still not likely they will be racist in any outward obvious way. Virginia isn't as bad as you all think.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Hokie, I'm sorry about the wording...just got used to things like "after Oklahoma City" or "after Columbine" or "after 9-11" (well 9-11 was a date).

I agree with the Virginia thing. I'm not one of those people saying that about Virginia. I actually would much rather live there than in Maryland. But at the same time I've had some misconceptions about Massachusetts too. I used to paint all of the Northeast from Philly to Boston in the same negative brush but like I said on my other thread I've met a lot of nice people from Boston who came down to Maryland for college.

So in Virginia, is the southern hospitality thing really big? I've only been to Northern Virginia extensively and the rest of the state was just the tourist stuff like VA Beach and Shenendoah. Is Richmond a very laid-back, friendly city where strangers talk to each other and nobody cuts you off on the highway?

[hokietoner]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

Hokie, I'm sorry about the wording...just got used to things like "after Oklahoma City" or "after Columbine" or "after 9-11" (well 9-11 was a date).

I agree with the Virginia thing. I'm not one of those people saying that about Virginia. I actually would much rather live there than in Maryland. But at the same time I've had some misconceptions about Massachusetts too. I used to paint all of the Northeast from Philly to Boston in the same negative brush but like I said on my other thread I've met a lot of nice people from Boston who came down to Maryland for college.

So in Virginia, is the southern hospitality thing really big? I've only been to Northern Virginia extensively and the rest of the state was just the tourist stuff like VA Beach and Shenendoah. Is Richmond a very laid-back, friendly city where strangers talk to each other and nobody cuts you off on the highway?

People do have stereotypes about the north, mainly that everyone is rude. Of course, that's not true, but I knew it wasn't true because I was born in Yonkers, NY and my family is from there. But people are more blunt and they'll usually say what's on their mind up here. In the south it's more likely that everyone will be friendly with you, but I think it's also more likely that if someone doesn't like you, they might be nice to you anyway. So I guess it's probably harder to tell who likes you because it's considered rude to be rude. It's also more likely that people will wave at you for no reason (especially in neighborhoods). One place you'll notice a difference is in the supermarket. I don't know so much about in Boston, but in Yonkers you're likely to get a cashier who doesn't give a crap about being friendly. But in Richmond, go to Ukrop's and most of the cashiers are really friendly and it's all about customer service.

The driving is a different thing. I guess people are more polite while driving, but yes road rage still exists. It's funny, because in the south people will get much more angry if you cut them off than in the north, because it doesn't happen as much. Up here I know that if I have to get over, that I can just nose my way over and it's kind of expected. In the south people would get upset for doing that. Of course, I'm not from any heavy traffic areas like around DC so I don't know how it is up there.

Southern hospitality is more out in the country. Go out to a restaurant called "The Homeplace" outside Roanoke and you'll see what I mean. Good 'ole waitresses with southern accents serving you mashed potatoes and fried chicken and are as friendly as can be. You won't find so much of the typical southern hospitality in Richmond because most of Richmond isn't that southern. The suburban area is pretty much the same as any other suburban area. The funny thing is, go to the north and they will say Virginia is redneck; but go to North Carolina or anywhere south, and they'll say Richmond and most of Virginia is the north.

I don't mean to hijack this thread though, so people can continue talking about racism in Boston (although the subject matter is probably exhausted by now).

[JiminCT]

Here's a game...count the black fans at Fenway who are not playing on the diamond. That alone should tell you enough about Boston.

[smarty]

Originally Posted by JiminCT

Here's a game...count the black fans at Fenway who are not playing on the diamond. That alone should tell you enough about Boston.

And your point?

[Ozzie1]

Originally Posted by smarty

And your point?

Starting to wonder what the point of this entire thread is...? Racism, in it's various forms exists everywhere to some degree. Nothing posted here gives me any reason to believe that Boston is better or worse then any other city in this regard.