Polite Racism? (Boston: for sale, colleges, closing)

[UKWildcat1981]

Originally Posted by Cliff Clavin

I know the opinions of us white folk carry no weight, but there have been several minority posters chime in on this thread disputing the claim Boston is a racist city.

I am a minority and I thought Boston was not racist in any way shape or form I agree Cliff.

[scoobydew]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

This thread is about Boston having "polite racism", whatever that means, not that it's worse here than in other cities. I don't think it's the least racist city in the US, but I'm sure it's not the most.

As to evidence, that's what makes "polite" or indirect racism tough to pin down. Anecdotes aren't useful evidence and statistics aren't definitive. There are a number of statistics that suggest that there are racial differences in how people are treated by the police, for instance, but it's only over a large aggregate that such trends can be seen. I think that's what makes it "polite"--that it's tougher to pin down specific instances. .

There is absolutely nothing indirect about Bostonians. This is a term much more applicable to the south. In fact, "impolite" is the most frequently used term by outsiders. I believe that "manners" are culture-specific and subjective, but this notion that "polite" anything exists in Boston sounds to me like a load of horse doo doo since nothing else is ever considered polite. So now Boston is "polite" in its racism? And again, how is this manifested that sets Boston apart from people with biases in any other part of the country or the world? People ARE biased, and that is generalizable to people everywhere. We make judgments about everything, and anybody who thinks they don't needs to do some serious self examination. What varies is the extent to which we make these judgements, the experiences we base them on, and how well we know ourselves. What also varies is how we let these judgements affect how we treat people, especially for those in authority. Bostonians are not more morally upright than anyone, but we are certainly not more racist either. The advantage with native Bostonians is that we generally say what we think and we generally wear our colors, an advantage that is not available in less direct regions of the country where people do not speak strong opinions and where they are more reserved. Those cultures are where you see "polite" bigotry of all kinds because it's more important for people to be considered polite than most other things. In fact, a black person coming from such a culture into Boston may feel he is being targeted for his race, when he doesn't get the usual plastic niceness or indirectness he is accustomed to. In Boston, outside the young professional culture which has distinct similarities everywhere, everyone gets treated the same; directly and brashly. I've spent significant time living in the south and other regions, and I'm from Boston. I know there are significant regional differences in the way we all live, some I consider negative but generally it boils down to we live where we are comfortable based on what we're used to., unless we are willing, in many cases, to do some serious readjusting of our norms and perceptions. Most people choose to remain who they are with minor adjustments based on local customs. In some cases people decide they don't like the level of adjustment required to be able to enjoy living in given areas. I made that decision in the south for a variety of reasons. But I also recognize that it's not all "on the south" it's on me as I want to be in a place where I feel at home and comfortable. Perception vs reality.

There are a host of possibilities why someone would "perceive" an area is racist that have more to do with the level of personal security and self awareness of the people doing the perceiving, than they do with reality. It is also dependent on the EXPECTATIONS of the people doing the perceiving based on what they are used to. If you're expecting something that you're not getting, you are likely going to attribute that to a host of personal things including race. And if you're in the mode of being a perpetual victim then each negative instance where you don't get what you want, or receive your expected results will probably be blamed on your race due to your refusal to consider other possibilities, including your OWN behavior. That said, I'm all ears to see some substantive EVIDENCE that suggests the Boston area is particularly more "racist" than other areas. Indeed, the Boston area has produced some of the most liberal politicians and some of the most liberal policies in the nation. If there is anything here I would say that the Northeast in general are good propagators of the soft bigotry of low expectations.

Originally Posted by jayrandom

The fact is some residents of Boston perceive there to be racism. That's not a good thing, either it's true and there is racism or it's imagined and they feel unwelcome for some reason. And I didn't get the impression that anyone was specifically being called racist. There was some behavior that was labelled as racist, but no indication that any specific people here were perpetrators. It's a really long thread so I may have missed such accusations, though. It did seem like there were some specific examples of issues at the beginning of thread.

I know what I read and I've already addressed the perception issue. The arguments being made are unsupported by substantive facts and defy logic. And whether they called specific people racist or not is not relevant if you're categorizing the entire region as racist. In any conversation about race this practice would be called bigotry. I've been in many situations where I've perceived bigotry and prejudice based on who I am. I know what perceptions are. But I also know it's incumbent on me to be able to draw factual lines to such feelings and that it doesn't put me in a position to describe an entire region is bigoted without pointing to factual data that would support those assumptions. There are negative aspects to the culture in this area (and most other areas) that can be generalized and supported by data, but racist just ain't one of them. Boston is a place where animosity of all kinds has existed in various forms due, in large part, to the number of different people who have been crammed into one region. I'm not buying the notion that racial animosity is any more pronounced than anything else or more than any other region.

[JacksonPanther]

The thread started with someone asking about Boston's reputation as a racist city. Some people, presumably black, expressed their opinions. Others, presumably white (or at least not black) said they were wrong. Others still got off track and said blacks need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps (and then presumably they would suddenly like Boston).

Nothing to see here, folks. You can now return to complaining about not being able to afford your rent and not being able to buy a house in the cool parts of Boston.

[Whatsnext75]

There are plenty of black boston cops racist against irish/white people. In the 90s I know one was suspended because he would go to dot ave and wait for drunk irish people to come out of the bars drunk then give them duis when they got in their cars to drive home. The dept caught on to what he was doing. Dot ave was not the area he was supposed to be in but he'd be there all the time making dui arrests

[Cliff Clavin]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

There are plenty of black boston cops racist against irish/white people. In the 90s I know one was suspended because he would go to dot ave and wait for drunk irish people to come out of the bars drunk then give them duis when they got in their cars to drive home. The dept caught on to what he was doing. Dot ave was not the area he was supposed to be in but he'd be there all the time making dui arrests

Imagine that. A cop doing his job. Glad someone put a stop that insanity.

[Whatsnext75]

Um no he wasnt doing his job. he was going out of his way to go to go to unassigned posts to arrest whitEs. other than that he was/is lazy.

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

Um no he wasnt doing his job. he was going out of his way to go to go to unassigned posts to arrest whitEs. other than that he was/is lazy.

So he's actually making legit dui arrests, yet you call him "lazy." Black people really can't win in Boston, can they?

So now that the uppity cop is gone, the "drunk Irish people from Dot ave" you were referring to get to drive around drunk with impunity? This made Boston better how exactly?

[scoobydew]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

So he's actually making legit dui arrests, yet you call him "lazy." Black people really can't win in Boston, can they?

So now that the uppity cop is gone, the "drunk Irish people from Dot ave" you were referring to get to drive around drunk with impunity? This made Boston better how exactly?

So I guess in your mind a cop who goes out of his assigned patrol area specifically to arrest people based on their skin color is making legit arrests? Interesting. I'm not sure what's worse, a bigot, a hypocrite, or a troll.

[Better Than You]

Originally Posted by scoobydew

So I guess in your mind a cop who goes out of his assigned patrol area specifically to arrest people based on their skin color is making legit arrests? Interesting. I'm not sure what's worse, a bigot, a hypocrite, or a troll.

Bigots (esp if white) are lower than child molesters in 2015 America.

[miu]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

So he's actually making legit dui arrests, yet you call him "lazy." Black people really can't win in Boston, can they?

So now that the uppity ni**er cop is gone, the "drunk Irish people from Dot ave" you were referring to get to drive around drunk with impunity? This made Boston better how exactly?

So it's alright for a black cop to profile (white) Irish Americans as drunks? And if 100% of his arrests are whites, he's not being racist?