Why is Boston so famous for its racism?! (cheap house, cars)

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I dont own any of this either...i get the feeling you think I do though. I wasn't even born.

That's because you're strange lol. You internalize every bad thing white people did at some poit as your own issue, but that's your problem. Hopefully you can work that out idk.

[GeePee]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I don't know what was going on in people's heads and why they were so afraid to be integrated with black people. They apparently thought the black population was going to make their schools worse.

I think for the most part the parents who lived in Brighton didn't want to send their kids to East Boston when there was a school blocks from there house. Sure there were some racists who were very vocal. But for the most part it wasn't about the integration..it was about the transportation.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I don't know what was going on in people's heads and why they were so afraid to be integrated with black people. They apparently thought the black population was going to make their schools worse.

People pull their kids out of schools frequently when they don't like what's happening or if there are big changes that don't seem like they will take things in a good direction.

I'm pretty sure that if BPS and Wellesley public schools suddenly decided, hey we're going to send a bunch of our BPS kids to Wellesley high that the Wellesley parents wouldn't be too happy. Call it racism, call it classism...but it's still there.

That would be legitimate classism and they'd have a legit cause for concerns about academics and the social environment. Poor white kids (in a city that was already declining and losing population)who had newer textbooks and nicer buildings not wanting to go to school with black kids ( many of whom weren't even poor-just forced to live in Robxury/South End/etc) who were previously unfairly forced into older buildings and over textbooks..thats is just racism...

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

What outcomes if what happened? Be more specific. Because I highly doubt.

All cities had white flight and white people going 'its the city residents' fault'. With that, that isnt the answer to why Boston has a racist reputation in some places. Because literally, every city does that.

Its deeper than that.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

It most certainly does not. Not in the modern day. Maybe equals.

idk everytime any state in the deep south is brought up by anyone, its always associated with being racist/backwards or hicky. I think I always stick in a stereotype about it being racist when I joke about Mississippi, Alabama or Kentucky.

[msRB311]

I know racism is like the ugliest thing out there there is but there was more to it than just racism. It was kids getting moved to other schools, having to travel longer distances to get there. Id have been mad too. Those were some big sudden changes that parents had to deal with. Many of them liked the school their kid was already at. I can absolutely see why people moved or chose a private school. The violence and rock throwing is disgusting but it seems like the parents had no choice in where their kids ended up.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by GeePee

I think for the most part the parents who lived in Brighton didn't want to send their kids to East Boston when there was a school blocks from there house. Sure there were some racists who were very vocal. But for the most part it wasn't about the integration..it was about the transportation.

Sure that's a part of it but I also don't know that elastic to Brighton was even a thing because that won't achieve integration. But, obviously, if you bussed kids from Eastie to Brighton they're not gonna throw bricks and rocks through busses and have grown ass adults physically assault children coming off the bus. Or spray paint racial slurs on school buildings- this isn't even a question. As JacksonPanther said- there has to be a point where you stop deflecting. If you don't? well..peoole don't take you seriously.


As the racist were much more than vocal- they were actually murdering people. East Boston residents fire bombed a Puerto Ricans famiy’s home. Anything that lessens these facts is more or less BS as far as anyone who is not a white new englander is concerned.

Transportation is an issue but remember your neighborhood isnt an independent town. Boston is not that big, it's totally justified to send a kid anywhere in the city provided transportation. The resistance not only speaks to racism but also to white privilege/entitlement

[msRB311]

and no one is saying that the racist things that happened were ok by any stretch.

I just dont blame parents for being upset about how quickly it all happened and how far some of their kids had to go when they were maybe happy with the situation they were already doing. Many people dont like forced changes like that.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

and no one is saying that the racist things that happened were ok by any stretch.

I just dont blame parents for being upset about how quickly it all happened and how far some of their kids had to go when they were maybe happy with the situation they were already doing. Many people dont like forced changes like that.

It was a tough decision but it was from an era where we tried to solve problems immediately rather than commission a decade's worth of "teams" to "study" issues. Improving the school system, in general, would have been better but I don't think the tax base was there, nor was the pedagogy.

It was a tough decision but black people did it without losing their minds...same could have been done in white neighborhoods but they basically went bananas. Even to this day, white Bostonians have a difficult time "giving" or not getting their exact way. More so than in most cities-they will throw a fit. They're unwilling to culturally exchange/give in a way that improves the city as a whole. And they are not willing to engage in conversation as these on a level playing field-generally.

White Bostonians have a bad habit of centering themselves and their perceived slight above any and everyone else's...that lack of awareness combined with entitlement is a major reason for the reputation today. Your dedication to absolving these unnamed parents is offputting.

[GeePee]

I am trying to get a sense of your definition of white though. There were many neighborhoods like mine where the vast majority of my neighbors were from other countries and barely spoke the language. They were poor. They worked what jobs they could. I may be a fair bit older than you and maybe I just saw it before there were investment properties being bought up. The word privilege never entered my mind when I saw what a lot of these families have been through. But I guess by todays definition, if you aren't black you have had a life of ease and privileges.