David McMullinMay 3, 2023

The other day, talking about issues on the fediverse, @mekkaokereke proposed an (apt) analogy which led to a tangential conversation about racism in Boston. I noticed, as I have whenever this comes up, a curious thing about what “Boston” seems to represent in the public imagination.

A thread (a rant?) about #Boston #demographics…
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https://musicians.today/@mcmullin/110283766606470442

David McMullin (@[email protected])

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] Boston resident here with one clarification: Boston is _not_ especially white. What it is is segregated. But there are plenty of Black people here and they’re not hiding. (Imagine listening to everyone agreeing about how white NYC is, as if the Upper East Side below 96th St. is the whole city.) Whether Boston is as racist as everyone thinks, I’m not qualified to say. (Black Bostonians can tell you.) But compare it to NYC, Philadelphia, New Haven—not VT.

Musicians Today
Show threadKarl Magnacca
@mcmullin @mekkaokereke One thing that nobody has mentioned is that unlike a lot of other cities, the inner city of Boston is very white. The mostly Black areas are similar to the whiter suburbs in terms of distance from downtown, and like them they're residential areas; you mostly wouldn't go there as a visitor. I suspect that impacts perception a lot.
May 4, 2023 at 6:00amWeb
Show threadDavid McMullinMay 4, 2023

@kmagnacca @mekkaokereke

That’s true. It’s not just residentially segregated; the parts most people visit are visibly white. Tourists can be excused for not knowing about the Black neighborhoods, but I still find it strange to encounter resistance to the idea that there could possibly be Black (and other) neighborhoods.