Boston Racial Stigma- is it "cool" to hate on Boston? (Malden: real estate, moving to)
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I think enough people have responded to the contrary, that this really might be just a you thing.
I see both sides actually. And I'm only speaking from a Black American raised in Texas, who lived in Atlanta , spent some time in the Bay Area and is very familiar with how a significant amount of Black Americans think in states like Louisiana and Arkansas. JCP123 location say's Tyler which is located in a region of Texas I grew up in. Boston is not a city that's talked about or thought about at all where I'm from. And I believe most Black Millennials, Gen Z, hell even Gen X at least areas that I'm familiar with are not that familiar with Boston all together to know that it is a racist stigma.
Like if I went around Houston for example, and asked Black people what do they think about Boston I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't be aware of it's racial stigma. I think most people would make the assumption that "Boston is very WHITE" or some reference to sports or history. So I do believe that a significant amount of Black Americans don't really have a lot of interest in Boston and I don't think the racial stigma is the main reason why.
Now I know Boston has this reputation because I'm a person that's fascinated with cities and so I paid attention to certain stuff like that. Not every American especially Black Americans are city "nerds". I also don't understand why people are calling out southerners when from my perspective most times I've heard Boston was racist was from media. And largely media based out of NEW YORK CITY. I know Michael Che who's a New Yorker has made quite a few jokes aimed at Boston being racist. I can recall Spike Lee throwing a jab at Boston on Do The Right Thing. Which leads me to another point.
Most Americans identify cities with what they see in the media and pop culture. So when you look at Boston and it's relation to Black America from a tv,film, music and sports perspective what is it known for? And Boston unfortunately hasn't exported a local Black culture via tv,film, and music that resonates with the rest of Black America. Now there are famous Black Bostonians who have left an impact in all those areas of entertainment and pop culture. New Edition, Donna Summer, Jazmine Guy, Louis Farrakhan to name a few. But the problem is outside of New Edition, Boston wasn't a city that these popular entertainers heavily pushed out to the public. And even New Edition and Bobby Brown were more known for their music than where they actually came from.
So then you look at tv and films set in Boston and you realize right off the bat, most of the representation of Boston from a tv and film perspective are largely White. The stereotypical working class Irish Americans with the thick Boston accent dominated what people perceived Boston to be. When it comes to Black Boston yeah you have films like Blue Hill Avenue, The Inkwell, Squeeze but those aren't really classic films especially in Black America.
Cheers, The Town, Good Will Hunting,etc. are just way more abundant and proudly showcases Boston without showing Black people in these tv shows and films.
Then you have the famous Bostonians who proudly rep Boston but they are largely White. And even famous Bostonians like Bill Burr and Benzino make it a point to tell people how racist Boston is.
And then you have sports. And Boston seems to come up in the news every now and then when it comes to their treatment against Black athletes. And Black athletes seem to express how different it is playing in Boston as a Black athlete compared to other cities in America.
So in a perfect society where everybody uses common sense, we wouldn't judge places based off tv, film, music,sports, and the news. But most Americans in general don't think like that. Most Americans judge cities based off these things and stereotypes.
Boston isn't the only city or place that's known as a racist haven. The South gets it all the time and states like Mississippi for instance gets it worst than anybody. Rather it's earned or not, I find it funny how people aren't concerned on how Black Mississippians feel when people always stereotype Mississippi as a state you shouldn't pass thru in the day time and night time because you might get lynched.
It's acceptable to think that way about Mississippi though because it's in the deep south. And because we know Deep South is racist. But what sticks about Boston is that it's a Northeastern liberal city and it should get the same amount of respect at least among Black Americans as New York or Philly. But when I look at New York and Philly compared to Boston, both of those cities have had more of a Black presence in tv, film, music and sports than Boston. Donna Summer is originally from Boston but got her start in New York so she's associated with the disco scene in New York.
Now if Boston doesn't want the racial stigma than you gonna have to do what every other popular city amongst Black Americans did which was export their local culture in tv, film and music. Because if they don't have that than all they can think about when it comes to Boston is the few times it makes the national news for racist incidents at sporting events. If that's all Black America see's of Boston than you can't blame them completely.
Y'all don't think Texas has a stigma especially when we make the national news for our wacky conservative politicians or a mass shooting,etc.
I see both sides actually. And I'm only speaking from a Black American raised in Texas, who lived in Atlanta , spent some time in the Bay Area and is very familiar with how a significant amount of Black Americans think in states like Louisiana and Arkansas. JCP123 location say's Tyler which is located in a region of Texas I grew up in. Boston is not a city that's talked about or thought about at all where I'm from. And I believe most Black Millennials, Gen Z, hell even Gen X at least areas that I'm familiar with are not that familiar with Boston all together to know that it is a racist stigma.
Like if I went around Houston for example, and asked Black people what do they think about Boston I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't be aware of it's racial stigma. I think most people would make the assumption that "Boston is very WHITE" or some reference to sports or history. So I do believe that a significant amount of Black Americans don't really have a lot of interest in Boston and I don't think the racial stigma is the main reason why.
Now I know Boston has this reputation because I'm a person that's fascinated with cities and so I paid attention to certain stuff like that. Not every American especially Black Americans are city "nerds". I also don't understand why people are calling out southerners when from my perspective most times I've heard Boston was racist was from media. And largely media based out of NEW YORK CITY. I know Michael Che who's a New Yorker has made quite a few jokes aimed at Boston being racist. I can recall Spike Lee throwing a jab at Boston on Do The Right Thing. Which leads me to another point.
Most Americans identify cities with what they see in the media and pop culture. So when you look at Boston and it's relation to Black America from a tv,film, music and sports perspective what is it known for? And Boston unfortunately hasn't exported a local Black culture via tv,film, and music that resonates with the rest of Black America. Now there are famous Black Bostonians who have left an impact in all those areas of entertainment and pop culture. New Edition, Donna Summer, Jazmine Guy, Louis Farrakhan to name a few. But the problem is outside of New Edition, Boston wasn't a city that these popular entertainers heavily pushed out to the public. And even New Edition and Bobby Brown were more known for their music than where they actually came from.
So then you look at tv and films set in Boston and you realize right off the bat, most of the representation of Boston from a tv and film perspective are largely White. The stereotypical working class Irish Americans with the thick Boston accent dominated what people perceived Boston to be. When it comes to Black Boston yeah you have films like Blue Hill Avenue, The Inkwell, Squeeze but those aren't really classic films especially in Black America.
Cheers, The Town, Good Will Hunting,etc. are just way more abundant and proudly showcases Boston without showing Black people in these tv shows and films.
Then you have the famous Bostonians who proudly rep Boston but they are largely White. And even famous Bostonians like Bill Burr and Benzino make it a point to tell people how racist Boston is.
And then you have sports. And Boston seems to come up in the news every now and then when it comes to their treatment against Black athletes. And Black athletes seem to express how different it is playing in Boston as a Black athlete compared to other cities in America.
So in a perfect society where everybody uses common sense, we wouldn't judge places based off tv, film, music,sports, and the news. But most Americans in general don't think like that. Most Americans judge cities based off these things and stereotypes.
Boston isn't the only city or place that's known as a racist haven. The South gets it all the time and states like Mississippi for instance gets it worst than anybody. Rather it's earned or not, I find it funny how people aren't concerned on how Black Mississippians feel when people always stereotype Mississippi as a state you shouldn't pass thru in the day time and night time because you might get lynched.
It's acceptable to think that way about Mississippi though because it's in the deep south. And because we know Deep South is racist. But what sticks about Boston is that it's a Northeastern liberal city and it should get the same amount of respect at least among Black Americans as New York or Philly. But when I look at New York and Philly compared to Boston, both of those cities have had more of a Black presence in tv, film, music and sports than Boston. Donna Summer is originally from Boston but got her start in New York so she's associated with the disco scene in New York.
Now if Boston doesn't want the racial stigma than you gonna have to do what every other popular city amongst Black Americans did which was export their local culture in tv, film and music. Because if they don't have that than all they can think about when it comes to Boston is the few times it makes the national news for racist incidents at sporting events. If that's all Black America see's of Boston than you can't blame them completely.
Y'all don't think Texas has a stigma especially when we make the national news for our wacky conservative politicians or a mass shooting,etc.
Texas does not have the same racial stigma- at all. It’s the #1 gainer of black people in the US. It contained 2 of Americas most popular cities for black people. It’s also got much much much more diverse representation in film and TV from Deserts to swamps to cities to Cowboys to Mexicans to Blacks…
The media is LA and NYC and they’ve got a role for Boston to fill. It’s a proven success and can be used to sell a range of products and sell out f theaters.
Southerners just like to say Boston is as racist or worse without having been to Boston, and while dramatically warping history, ignoring data and some other things.
MS does not carry the negative stigma that Boston does in everyday parlance, not even close in 2023: most black people will say at least the racist are honest or something to that effect. Or at least there are black people there. I can actually bring an exact example of such from a recent black Haiti. Conversation that responded to an article about this. Those type of article pop up on Boston every few days.
Additionally it’s your undersell or are ignorant of back culture in MS.. the culture will remind or even reprimand you. The inverse would probably be Reyes if Boston. And there’s really no reverence, recognition or respect for its black history in black culture or popular culture. So you can ‘get away with’ a lot more negativity. You also wouldn’t have black centered TV show like P Valley that would bring Black Boston even though you can find larger black community than small town Chucalissa Mississippi in Boston itself. I don’t think it would get the greenlight to air.
As for Bill and Benzino they are 54 and 57 respectively and can recall the bussing years (albeit Bill wasn’t effected, he wasn’t raised in Boston).
As for athletes there are black athletes who love Boston and have written letters about how good the fans are (Isaiah Thomas) or bought billboards once they retire thanking the fans (Devin McCourty) and remained living there and/or doing business there - Eddie House, Kevin Garnett, Mo Vaughn, Cedric Maxwell, David Ortiz, Avery Bradley and such. Or have fields or statues named after them (Jim Rice, Bill Russell). )But you can make a Boston accusation that seems baseless (Draymond) or seems legit (Adam Jones) it doesn’t matter because even if it isn’t explicitly racist (Lebron James and Kyrie Irving) if it’s anything negative towards a black person people will believe it’s 100% racist because it is Boston.
In general there is a lot to reinforce the idea that it’s a racial anomaly, and a lot of that is based in Media and the 2 large media markets. And frankly most of the reputation is based off either 1) people from neighbor states or conservative suburbs and 2) things that happened a while ago. No matter where it comes from you’ll find difficulty finding a n audience that is receptive to a diverse or inclusive Boston. But in pockets of the metro all over you’ll find genuinely diverse and integrated people in friend groups- Ironically that seems to happen more in the suburbs now than in Boston itself where racial groups are more white vs non white.
There are many black people from Boston. Doing things in media but often behind the scenes or it’s overlooked that they’re from Boston. Even though someone like New Edition where Boston hats and baoton gear wherever they go and literally named their last album Three Stripes, had a Battle of Boston concerts at the AMas, shot their videos at local Boston landmarks, basketball courts and so on. You still don’t associate them that much with Boston.
Lastly I don’t think Black Americans fell Bosotn offers anything that New York doesn’t or worse even offers anything New York does.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 04-30-2023 at 07:10 PM..
A great post all around, but I think there are a lot of really basic things (like the fact that Good Will Hunting exists as a movie and is set in Boston) which even people who aren’t “city nerds” would probably know at least in the States that jcp123 isn’t aware of.
They’ve gone out of their way multiple times to say that they’ve never heard of the Red Sox and ask “what is this whole Boston thing anyway?” It’s not very interesting and it usually doesn’t add much to the convo…
A great post all around, but I think there are a lot of really basic things (like the fact that Good Will Hunting exists as a movie and is set in Boston) which even people who aren’t “city nerds” would probably know at least in the States that jcp123 isn’t aware of.
They’ve gone out of their way multiple times to say that they’ve never heard of the Red Sox and ask “what is this whole Boston thing anyway?” It’s not very interesting and it usually doesn’t add much to the convo…
Yea JCP i think you’re cappin here. At least a little bit..
Well, I'm definitely aware of how Boston is perceived but I've been there and haven’t had problems. I actually know that the Boston metro has the Cape Verde and West Indian segment on top of the melanated Americans. I'm from the ATL and spent some time in SW CT and have encountered Bostonians before (obviously). My Bravos started in Boston and cool with integrating the team, Sam Jethroe by the way was a Boston Brave after trying out for the Red Sox, then again, the Boston Braves' first two owners were New York City businessmen with very very close ties with Tammany Hall, lol. So yeah, the Boston Red Sox may have been racist but at least the Boston Braves balanced that out some. Of course, I say that in jest but Boston is okay, at least there's a presence of enough viewpoints to offset any racist views.
Well, I'm definitely aware of how Boston is perceived but I've been there and haven’t had problems. I actually know that the Boston metro has the Cape Verde and West Indian segment on top of the melanated Americans. I'm from the ATL and spent some time in SW CT and have encountered Bostonians before (obviously). My Bravos started in Boston and cool with integrating the team, Sam Jethroe by the way was a Boston Brave after trying out for the Red Sox, then again, the Boston Braves' first two owners were New York City businessmen with very very close ties with Tammany Hall, lol. So yeah, the Boston Red Sox may have been racist but at least the Boston Braves balanced that out some. Of course, I say that in jest but Boston is okay, at least there's a presence of enough viewpoints to offset any racist views.
Both the Red Sox and the Braves were owned by a New Yorker. The 'racist Red Sox' were owned by someone born in Detroit and raised in New York City. The city recently removed his namesake from everything. Yawkey Way is now Jersey Street again.
In general thought its beyond absurd to me that Bsoton is held accountable for what a New York business magnate did with one of the local Baseball teams in the 1950s- when million of African Americans in the US did not even have the right to vote, and lynchings were still occurring by the hundreds, and there was no Civil Rights Act. During this time Ruby Bridges was getting death threats for attending school as a 5-year-old girl in Arkansas. Yet Ive nevee once seen a think piece on racism in Arkansas despite its terrible tenant protections, environmental racism, poor black outcomes in every metric. It requires a tremendous amount of mental gymnastics to make that make sense.
And of course, the Celtics and Bruins were the first to integrate in their respective leagues....and the Patriots drafted 2 Black QBs in the 1970s. They were also the only team to draft an HBCU player this year.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 05-01-2023 at 12:52 PM..
But, Boston still has a very good reputation nationally and internationally in spite of the stigma. That hasn't taken a hit to the city's reputation and significance. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade
I disagree with your statement. Some individuals perceive Boston to lack dynamism and to be more of a town, in part due to a perceived lack of diversity. In leads to negative assumptions about its vibrancy, cuisine, diversity, scale, culture, and more, many African Americans, in particular, feel this way. While Boston's reputation is positive, it could certainly be improved upon, as could its significance to non-white groups.
As Stanley stated- the city does lose out on some money and events due to the stigma attached to its name.
for the freeform television show cloak and dagger, the producers elected to film the series in new orleans; eventhough, the titular character is from south boston.
See, I disagree. I don’t think it really has a stigma beyond “pushy northeasterner”, and I still maintain that it ranks high on cities that people just don’t think about much.
this is definitely a you thing lmao
Ive lived all over the country and Boston, while not brought up a whole ton in non-Coastal, less cosmopolitan places, people absolutely know stuff like the Red Sox, the Dunkin Stereotype and all the historical sht we learn about Boston for the first 12 years of our education lol
A black man on the train was put in a chokehold and killed by a white man in New York City yesterday. In front of dozens of people.
The white man was released with no charges that same day.
“Somebody said: ‘I chose the wrong slave today.’ Literally, sent me that message,” forward Chris Boucher
^Now let's imagine if this happened in Boston. What would the headline be? What would the discourse be?
I dont want to make light of these very serious and, frankly tragic situations and I don't want to pretend this couldn't happen in Boston- but if it did, it would dominate all news cycles for a week or two. And it would be brought up for years to come to try to encapsulate life in the city.
In NYC and Toronto this barely made a blip. It certainly won't be on BuzzFeed or fodder for SNL.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 05-04-2023 at 08:15 AM..
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
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Who is actually refuting the fact that Boston is and has been racist as a city??
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