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I visited Salisbury a long ways back, very carney atmosphere and lots of bikers, back in the 90s.
Haverhill, in those times, also had a very surreal feel to me, the people all look alike. I know a guy who's a big time teabagger from there too. A blind date I went on turned into a ride into the Georgetown/Rowley wilderness to watch horses and drive past a secluded looking apartment building where he lived, then onto Crane's Beach which was completely deserted in late fall. I thought the entire area was isolated and mysterious in an eerie way. More recently I went to a friend's wedding south of Haverhill and though the area was picturesque, much more favorable.
That's not the point. I'd say they were very similar to a lot of towns around the country, I.e., not welcoming to black people. Someone was trying to claim that they were only discriminating based on "class" when those towns were actually very affordable places to live at the time. They weren't poor like Chelsea or Lynn but they weren't Dover or Weston, either (by a long shot). Yet somehow, almost no middle-class black families wound up moving there.
Andre Dubus' memoir "Townie" gives a good snapshot of what Newburyport was like in the early 70s (in terms of class, not race).
Well, maybe you're right. I know that today they certainly keep out anybody who isn't high income due to the home prices. Places like Salsibury and Amesbury? They're not high income and I don't know if they're keeping anyone out. Probably people who need jobs and need to be close to a city are kept out by their own choice. The other towns, like Ipswich, that used to be poor could have kept blacks out back then. Now they still tend to keep out people who do not have ties to the town--there are a lot of towns that are like that--Gloucester has been mentioned on this forum as being like that. In a lot of these towns you still have to have family ties going back generations to be easily accepted. Back in the 70s I remember a white guy who was really bitter because he had bought a house and moved his family to the Cape. Whatever town it was, people would barely speak to him. He was an outsider. Racism probably was a factor back then but it wasn't just racism in these small towns, it was prejudice against anyone new.
Whatever town it was, people would barely speak to him. He was an outsider. Racism probably was a factor back then but it wasn't just racism in these small towns, it was prejudice against anyone new.
That's a good point, but imagine how much stronger that prejudice would have been in the 60s and 70s against someone who wasn't even white.
And combine that with the fact that the realtors and homeowners were perfectly happy to sell a white person a house, and then ignore them, but not so much when the potential buyer was a person of color.
Anyway, this is all very far afield from the OP's question. Just trying to offer a little historical perspective.
Interesting. I'd never heard of that, but I have to say, I'm not surprised. Similarly, I've been told (by people who grew up in Lexington) that driving into Lexington with a black passenger after dark was a good way to get pulled over (and this was in the 2000s not the 1970s).
Similarly, I've been told (by people who grew up in Lexington) that driving into Lexington with a black passenger after dark was a good way to get pulled over (and this was in the 2000s not the 1970s).
I am still trying to wrap my head around why this is even surprising? Scratchie I have to assume you are not black yourself, because welcome to our life
"Driving while black" is a popular term for a reason, and it is hardly a pre-civil rights era issue. I have personally never been pulled over in Mass, but I am not fooling myself into thinking this does not or will not happen.
Interestingly enough I was reading this story on another message board I participate in regularly. Instead of "Driving while black" It was "Shoveling while black" This happened in Hartford, which is a racially mixed town, so demographics have nothing to do with this at all.
I am still trying to wrap my head around why this is even surprising? Scratchie I have to assume you are not black yourself, because welcome to our life
You assume correctly, but I didn't say I was astonished. I was a little surprised because it was Lexington (a very liberal, low-crime town) as opposed to, like, Methuen or something. It was also a long time ago (probably late 90s, now that I think about it), before DWB had achieved such a prominent place in the national zeitgeist (or my own innocent consciousness, anyway).
Anyway, listening to some of the people on this board, you'd think that it was inconceivable that any town that voted for Obama could possibly harbor any racists at all.
So, my wife and I just bought a house in Amesbury and we love it here for the most part. It's quiet, beautiful, the neighbors are great, downtown is nice....but there's one thing that bugs me.
There's a store that I drive by every day now and the owner flies a confederate flag. I realize it is just a flag and everything (with horrible racist historical meaning) but I can't help but be a little concerned. Is there some huge problem with racism in the area that I am unaware of?
White alone - 11,863 (96.2%) Two or more races - 151 (1.2%) Hispanic - 129 (1.0%) Black alone - 68 (0.6%) Asian alone - 74 (0.6%) American Indian alone - 20 (0.2%) Other race alone - 22 (0.2%)
You chose a town of 96.2% White and you are suddenly an expert about southern racism?
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