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My father is a white son of an Italian immigrant and my mother is African-American, actually...not easy, but i've never had any problem, especially in the city itself. My father grew up in the area and told me horror stories about the 60s and 70s and feuds between Italians, Irish, blacks, etc. But now it's so cuturally diverse and generally accepted that you see Asians, Middle Easterners, whites, puarto ricans, blacks, interracial couples, etc. on a fairly consistant basis.
So in other words it's not a racist city, I don't know if you know many black people living and/or from Boston or not, but if you do, do they say it's racist? If they don't I think the argument that Boston is not racist has won.
yes it is
I was told to go back home in south Boston
I was told and asked go home white boy and what you doing here white boy
the elitism is disgusting in Boston, bigotry is bigotry and should never be accepted.
Many rich people think they are better than poorer people
even on here a woman wanted a diverse place to live and when I told her about Brockton, Dorchester, East Boston she replied she didn't want to ,live with poor people as they all have drug problems , have mental problems and drinking problems
A woman wanted to move to FL and when I said Miami she said said no as everyone spoke Spanish.
Try walking into a Starbucks with another 8or 9 other black guys and see the reaction from the people who are sitting there, try walking through Mattapan and get the bus and see the reaction you get becasuse you are white.
bigotry comes in all shapes and sizes so to speak and should not be accepted.
walking around with your nose in the air making fun of others who are less fortunate, making fun of a religious person, making fun or looking down on someone who is a different colour is wrong.
Last edited by proud American; 06-30-2008 at 08:37 AM..
I suspect that racism is more prevalent in the predominantly white suburbs and exburbs of all cities.
So you first suspect the white areas to be racist? You mean blacks aren't racist in any way? The fact that many recently immigrated Asian and Indian cultures shame family members if they engage in relationships with people outside of their race is NOT considered racist?
Every culture and ethnicity has persons who are racist to some extent.
I just get seriously pissed off when people assume only whites are racist and that other ethnic groups are considered immune to such human characteristics.
yes it is
I was told to go back home in south Boston
I was told and asked go home white boy and what you doing here white boy
the elitism is disgusting in Boston, bigotry is bigotry and should never be accepted.
Many rich people think they are better than poorer people
even on here a woman wanted a diverse place to live and when I told her about Brockton, Dorchester, East Boston she replied she didn't want to ,live with poor people as they all have drug problems , have mental problems and drinking problems
A woman wanted to move to FL and when I said Miami she said said no as everyone spoke Spanish.
Try walking into a Starbucks with another 8or 9 other black guys and see the reaction from the people who are sitting there, try walking through Mattapan and get the bus and see the reaction you get becasuse you are white.
bigotry comes in all shapes and sizes so to speak and should not be accepted.
walking around with your nose in the air making fun of others who are less fortunate, making fun of a religious person, making fun or looking down on someone who is a different colour is wrong.
I find it hard to believe that they said that to you, because you're white, and also because South Boston is an Irish (who are also white) neighborhood. So why would they tell someone of their own race to go back home?
edit
after reading your post again then do you think I'm making this up or something??????????????
one
because I have an English accent, go to the blackthorn , or bad Abbott's , the kells or other places around Boston
There's even paintings in south Boston which have Noraid wrote on the building which a collection for terrorists plus do not forget that that area had to have the national guard out when black kids were sent to the school there. riots and everything happened there against black people.
Now many locals put their kids in private schools there so they do not have to mix
Of course the media goes on about say AL but race riots happened there too
two
of you are reffering that it was a black person or many black people saying this
then why do you find it hard that a black person would actually say that and be racist
do you live in an all black area?
I was told to go home and what you doing here white boy
hey white boy this and white boy that, now insert black instead of white
like typical white people or greedy white folk.
I was called white boy and light bulb on the soccer team I played on
so let me ask you why do you find it hard that because I am white black people would say that????????
do you believe racism only applies to white people?
no one should be looked down on because they do not have money , college or what they are wearing
no one should be looked down or made fun of because they do not live in a rich fancy town say like Lexington
no one should be looked down because of their politics
no one should be looked down because they have a religion
no one should be made fun of or looked down because they are a different colour or come from a different place
The above mentioned is heard many times around Boston,
I'm not religious but have heard openly people mocked for being Christians, seen people looked down on because they are not wearing designer clothing or wearing a certain clothing style.
Thankfully my wife who is born and bred and I moved away to raise our children in a better place but I am really curious why you think a black person would not say that or be like that
Last edited by proud American; 06-30-2008 at 10:35 PM..
edit
after reading your post again then do you think I'm making this up or something??????????????
one
because I have an English accent, go to the blackthorn , or bad Abbott's , the kells or other places around Boston
There's even paintings in south Boston which have Noraid wrote on the building which a collection for terrorists plus do not forget that that area had to have the national guard out when black kids were sent to the school there. riots and everything happened there against black people.
Now many locals put their kids in private schools there so they do not have to mix
Of course the media goes on about say AL but race riots happened there too
two
of you are reffering that it was a black person or many black people saying this
then why do you find it hard that a black person would actually say that and be racist
do you live in an all black area?
I was told to go home and what you doing here white boy
hey white boy this and white boy that, now insert black instead of white
like typical white people or greedy white folk.
I was called white boy and light bulb on the soccer team I played on
so let me ask you why do you find it hard that because I am white black people would say that????????
do you believe racism only applies to white people?
no one should be looked down on because they do not have money , college or what they are wearing
no one should be looked down or made fun of because they do not live in a rich fancy town say like Lexington
no one should be looked down because of their politics
no one should be looked down because they have a religion
no one should be made fun of or looked down because they are a different colour or come from a different place
The above mentioned is heard many times around Boston,
I'm not religious but have heard openly people mocked for being Christians, seen people looked down on because they are not wearing designer clothing or wearing a certain clothing style.
Thankfully my wife who is born and bred and I moved away to raise our children in a better place but I am really curious why you think a black person would not say that or be like that
Don't black people tell white people in black neighborhoods to go home in pretty much every city?
I remember when I was a kid in the 70's the racial hatred of my grandmother who was the last white holdout on Wheatland Avenue in Dorchester in the Codman Square area. The African Americans who moved in would see us kids who were visiting for the summer from California and throw rocks at us and call us names. My grandfather, a grocer, was left for dead outside his store. Visiting the area to remember my grandparents recently, we stopped on the street in front of their house and took pictures of their old three family, and were greeted with stares. Have things really changed all that much in Boston? Or is it the area, and the people who you tend to associate with, that colors your world ? My bet is the attitudes in places like Roxbury, Dorchester (Codman Square) and Southie are much different than those in Lexington and Cohasett.
Don't black people tell white people in black neighborhoods to go home in pretty much every city?
White friends of mine got lost in a very Cuban section of Miami and some locals told them to get out of their neighborhood ASAP or suffer the consequences. It was a very scary experience for them.
There's even paintings in south Boston which have Noraid wrote on the building which a collection for terrorists plus do not forget that that area had to have the national guard out when black kids were sent to the school there. riots and everything happened there against black people.
Now many locals put their kids in private schools there so they do not have to mix
Of course the media goes on about say AL but race riots happened there too
see what I mean!!! this city will NEVER live down these busing riots!!! nevermind the fact that many large cities have had similar race issues. this city will forever be seen as racist b/c people seem incapable of believing Boston has changed since those riots. I swear 50 years from now people will still be saying Boston is racist because of these busing riots. I would like to think that as a city we have healed and moved on, seems like it's mostly outsiders that haven't really done so. AFAIK, in my lifetime, there has never been a race riot.
and, AFAIK, people send their kids to private schools b/c Boston Public schools, w/ the exception of the exam and some magnet/charter schools, all suck!! maybe there are some exceptions, but I can't think of a single decent BPS that isn't a charter school. there are parents who lie and swear they live in Boston just so their kids could have a shot at one of the exam schools, and these schools are all fairly diverse. if people were so afraid of letting their precious kids interact w/ kids of other races, they'd forgo these schools all together and stick them in a private school somewhere (heck, Boston Latin Academy is in Roxbury and there are white kids that go to that school, that are "mixing" w/ nonwhite kids at school and in the neighborhood!). it's stupid to think whites are putting their kids in private schools just to avoid other races (especially since private schools admit everyone so it's likely to have kids of other races as well. these make believe bigoted parents would be better off living in a mostly white, super-inclusive town and sending the kids to a public school that will only take town residents)
You're right EEVEE, Boston will never live down the busing riots of those horrible days. When was it any way? Back in the 70's when it all started? I can't believe this subject is still even being addressed and I also can NOT believe that it happened back in the 70's and here we are in 2008 still discussing racism in Boston? It's history now, right! Or at least it is to quite a lot of us that lived through it all and definitely moved on from it! I see quite a change in Boston these days, a lot of us do that lived through that era. I myself really like the attitude of the young people growing up there now. Change is good and moving on is even better and I would say that's what happened in the various neighborhoods around the City, I know a lot of people that live around the City and they totally agree with me on this point.
I remember clearly the first night before the buses rolled in to Charlestown, where I grew up. Quite a few of the federal marshal's hovered in my parents yard in Charlestown because they were preparing for the "big day" ahead of them, the high school was within walking distance from my house & yard. They rang our bell and asked my father if it was all right if they could camp out in the yard, they said they would be arriving all night long. I remember my parents and all of us couldn't believe it. We were up half the night with this going on, right in our yard! They arrived the night before to get ready for this big day of "busing" that we heard so much about on the world news & of course the local news kept it up all summer long. I remember clearly the leader of the pack of all these men; their team commander giving them orders, very loud and clear that if this happened or if that happened, don't hesitate to use force. It wasn't easy hearing & seeing what he had to say. Remember, we were only kids & the windows were all open, it was late summer! Can you just see your own kids now witnessing something like this, oh we were up all night long with this one! I certainly wouldn't and could NOT see this madness going on now a days with any of my many nieces & nephews!
Do you know what it was like to hear the loud enormous helicopters overhead at the crack of dawn that first morning of busing in the town? I don't think any of us that lived in the various neighborhoods around Boston will ever ever forget it for as long as we live. You would think to God it was World War III starting up. How about seeing hundreds & I mean hundreds of police officers, what did they call them again? Oh yes, how could I forget. The "TPF", who were Boston's finest back then, these "Tactical Police Force" were everywhere. So many of them seen by all of us walking & running through the streets of the town that first morning, row upon row of them (that was 1 square mile, mind you) all in their riot gear & walking right by our many window boxed homes (with flowers still in the window boxes!) with battalion/riot gear on, with their bats & armor. Oh I thought it was terrible witnessing all of that stuff and then watching it all on the world news at night, every night for months on end! Your own neighborhood and city where you grew up right on the world news every night? Yikes, how embarrassing to see the way people were behaving too! They were so upset and extremely angry. People that you remembered well in the town, SO SO upset and angry & a few of them didn't come across very well remember? It was pretty scary living through that part of Boston's tough history years of the 70's. And not for just the Irish and not for just the Blacks in the City either. It was scary as hell for every single one of us that had to deal with it all, all the various aspects of it too and we were all subjected to it, one way or another and also had to witness it day in and day out as well. I think it was just terrible subjecting all the many many little kids & high schoolers all over the various neighborhoods in Boston to such terrible measures, all to get an education? Some education huh? It was a total disgrace what Judge Garrity ordered in the City of Boston back then. Did he ever subject his own kids to that or any of the kids that lived in his town or city? Course not. That wasn't going to happen in Weston, Westford or Winchester, towns like Duxbury, Cohasset or Scituate or up in Andover on the north shore? Are you kidding me? Never in any of the suburbs would you see this going on. Hey, this busing in Boston was between all the Irish and all the Blacks in the City of Boston and no ones telling ANY of us different that were subjected to it.
Did the kids in the North End of Boston get subjected to this busing rule by the federal government? Course not, that would never happen in a million and one years. It was only between the Irish and the Blacks and that's it, end of discussion with that scenario. Thank God the City of Boston and every one in it moved on from those horrible days, thank God because it was quite a sad time living there for ALL of us.
Recently, I worked with a wonderful black woman in the Methuen area of Massachusetts and one day, we got to talking about Boston and those days. She was right on one of those buses heading in to Southie as a teen. She quit school and didn't get her HS degree until years later. My heart ached for her because of what she had to tell me. I will never ever forget her stories about it all for as long as I live, EVER. I'm not going to repeat them here because it's not necessary, it's heartbreaking. Let's put it this way; we saw eye to eye, trust me! We both totally agreed that the City of Boston moved on. A lot of people from both sides of the busing "coin" moved away from it all and rightly so, the kids grew up and have bitter memories of it all. Oh and of course the property went up up up in value and gentrification flew through the whole City even quicker than it did before busing happened. That is one thing that we absolutely 100% agreed on and we both felt that that was the bottom line with this issue. NO doubt in our minds about it either. The real estate! Check it out, will you? Go in to sights like Boston.com or google Boston Real Estate and pull up all the beautiful magnificient "lofts", townhouses & condos and see for yourself. It's nauseating how much they're worth now!
There's a wonderful book out about the subject of busing that won the Pulitzer Prize. It's written by J. Anthony Lukas, who wrote for the Boston Globe. It's quite a book, it's the book that every one in the town loved to hate, even though they ended up buying it and it's on their bookshelves to this very day! I remember this wonderful author walking through the neighborhood too with some of the people in this book discussing it all!
I really think that every one all over the country & the world should get it out of their libraries or look for it and buy this phenomenal book. You won't be able to put it down. It's a fantastic account (right on the dime about it too!) of what happened & what it was like during those turbulent years in the City of Boston. Here's some info on it...
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American
Families by J. Anthony Lukas
Amazon.com
The climax of this humane account of 10 years in Boston that began with news of Martin Luther King's assassination, is a watershed moment in the city's modern history--the 1974 racist riots that followed the court-ordered busing of kids to integrate the schools. To bring understanding to that moment, Lukas, a former New York Times journalist, focuses on two working-class families, headed by an Irish-American widow and an African-American mother, and on the middle-class family of a white liberal couple. Lukas goes beyond stereotypes, carefully grounding each perspective in its historical roots, whether in the antebellum South, or famine-era Ireland. In the background is the cast of public figures--including Judge Garrity, Mayor White, and Cardinal Cushing--with cameo roles in this disturbing history that won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.
From Publishers Weekly
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the American Book Award, this book examines school integration in Boston from the vantage points of three families one black and two white. PW stated that Common Ground is "highly readable and brings us as close as we are likely to get to the average person's experiences of urban racial tensions."
Just my two cents again...
Last edited by CityGirl52; 07-02-2008 at 08:20 AM..
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Has all that much changed?
