Why is Boston so famous for its racism?! (Quincy, Milton: estate, properties)

[stanley-88888888]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Seriously. I'll make sure to tell my grandparents who came here in the 50s that they were actually privileged.

well, they did have cleaner drinking fountains.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by id77

If everyone coming in from Nigeria are those princes with millions in gold who keep emailing me, then no they won't have that issue. I think you and I also both know those penthouses aren't going to first-generation immigrants coming here for a better way of life so much as oil money doing some investments for their kids. You're basically seeing the advantaged of other nations concentrating here for university. The typical first-generation immigrant/refugee isn't taking up residence in a 3BD condo in Fenway.

I'll phrase it another way -- there's a reason the "elite" school district towns in the state also towns with the highest white/asian populations by percentage, and it's not because first-generation immigrants just like the vibe in Lawrence or Lowell more.

I don't understand what is has to do with racism. Racists don't "like someone" just because they have money.
Jewish people have faced a lot of racism for ever and are the richest group by religious affiliation.

[id77]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Says the person who has a 1.5 million dollar brownstone in the south end. Are you doing anything to help the problems today or just here to blame white people too?

I'm doing two things:

1. I'm voting for Boston policies and candidates that are trying to improve access to equal opportunity and address racial injustice, and financially supporting local minority-owned businesses and causes in the local area.

2. I'm talking about the issue to those within my family and social circle to raise awareness of it. I can often connect with them on a more personal level and get them to be a little less defensive about something they have no reason to be defensive about.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by msRB311

What stopped black people from moving to the suburbs?

ID77 mentioned "redlining" multiple times in the post. You wouldn't be asking this question if you understood what it meant. The combination of legalized discriminatory lending (redlining) and discriminatory hiring practices made it nearly impossible for a black family in Boston to be able to afford and get the necessary financing to move to the suburbs.

Originally Posted by msRB311

we live in a society where it seems like it's ok to blame white people alive today for things that happened decades/centuries ago. Or the white people alive today are supposed to feel guilty and apologize for something they had nothing to do with. This just seems like a dangerous way of thinking. Any psychologist will tell that in order to move on you need to let go or even forgive. No one alive today can change that slavery happened.

Nobody - not a single person is saying that white people today are responsible for the things that happened centuries ago. Nobody is saying that you need to feel guilty or apologize for those things. All anybody is asking is people understand that the events of the past had ripple effects that still impact life today. The car racing analogy is an excellent one. It's not that it's impossible for a black person in Boston to be successful today, it's that they're at a significant disadvantage compared to their white counterparts due to the lingering effects of the past. You don't have to feel guilty for slavery. But you should be able to acknowledge that the playing field is still not level (and hopefully want to change it).

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888

well, they did have cleaner drinking fountains.

I don't know why "privilege" (particularly white privilege) is such a triggering word. White privilege doesn't mean you have it easy. Of course a white immigrant coming to the U.S in the 1950s has a whole laundry list of challenges. But the color of their skin is not one of them.

[stanley-88888888]

Originally Posted by msRB311

What stopped black people from moving to the suburbs?

redlining, i actually grew up in somerville but my parents had to live with my uncles in mattapan first. after some clawing they were able to get approvals... mayor brune helped get them situated.

[Space_League]

Originally Posted by Lampert

I don't understand what is has to do with racism. Racists don't like someone just because they have money.
Jewish people have faced a lot of racism for ever and are the richest group by religious affiliation.

Jews are the "white supremacists" of actual white supremacists. They are the boogeyman for the exact kind of white people who would have been assaulting children for trying to go to school in the 70s

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by Space_League

Jews are the "white supremacists" of actual white supremacists. They are the boogeyman for the exact kind of white people who would have been assaulting children for trying to go to school in the 70s

Yeah, exactly. Money hasn't protected them.

Also Nigeria isn't a great example, Nigerian Americans aren't just way richer than the average African American, they have higher earnings than the average American of any race, or white American.
Jamaicans are in line with the general population too.

[id77]

Originally Posted by Lampert

I don't understand what is has to do with racism. Racists don't like someone just because they have money.
Jewish people have faced a lot of racism for ever and are the richest group by religious affiliation.

The wealth is the point. One of the goals of racist policy in the US historically was to strip minorities of any opportunity to build wealth. Those who built it overseas before coming over are of course going to short-circuit that part of the system, but those are also a very small percentage of the group.

I'm seeing this turning into the same case people making about kneeling in the NFL: there's some black people on TV who are paid millions, so they shouldn't complain about racial injustice. There's some very privileged minorities too, but that doesn't mean most can jump right in on the American dream. The oppressed have largely lost their voices in the public forum, so only letting them speak up is a self-defeating prospect. The privileged need to speak up for them, too.

Racists don't start liking someone just because they're loaded, but that money does make one willing to pick which hills they die on more selectively. There's a lot of people out there who look past something or someone, or at a minimum keep their mouth shut, if the price is right.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by id77

The wealth is the point. One of the goals of racist policy in the US historically was to strip minorities of any opportunity to build wealth. Those who built it overseas before coming over are of course going to short-circuit that part of the system, but those are also a very small percentage of the group.

I'm seeing this turning into the same case people making about kneeling in the NFL: there's some black people on TV who are paid millions, so they shouldn't complain about racial injustice. There's some very privileged minorities too, but that doesn't mean most can jump right in on the American dream. The oppressed have largely lost their voices in the public forum, so only letting them speak up is a self-defeating prospect. The privileged need to speak up for them, too.

Racists don't start liking someone just because they're loaded, but that money does make one willing to pick which hills they die on more selectively. There's a lot of people out there who look past something or someone, or at a minimum keep their mouth shut, if the price is right.

I don't disagree. I have always thought that the compound racism from the past has created a gap that makes it harder for an african american than for an african immigrant.

Which in turn means that isn't just a racial problem, but more of an income problem with a racial component (partly historical, partly current). If you just face it from the racial of view you are going to end up helping more the new immigrants compared to the old poor locals because they are going to compete against each other but the immigrants have an income+education advantage.

Also, this really isn't a Boston problem, and it doesn't explain why Boston 2021 should be more racist than Indianapolis 2021 (the link you posted earlier).