Hey, there! Log in / Register

Walsh: White residents need to be quiet for a moment and listen to their black neighbors

COVID-19 Media Availability 6/4/20

WBZ reports on Mayor Walsh's thoughts on the events of the last few days, has more to say at his press conference.

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

I am quiet. In the still of night when I'm sound asleep, I hear the gunshots coming from Dorchester all the time because I live in Uphams Corner.

up
Voting closed 0

n/t

up
Voting closed 0

Which reminds me of something that's been on my mind...

A lot of those gunshots are actually fireworks (not enough of them, alas). Fireworks season definitely started early this year - normally more sporadic from late May, then really kicks in from mid-late June (end of school year) through Canada Day, 4th of July, Cape Verdean Independence Day, and sometimes through Bastille Day before folks get bored or run out of money to burn.
I assume the early start has been cabin fever and pent up frustration, etc...
Where the hell are people getting them? Maybe COVID isn't as bad in NH as here, but are the fireworks stores essential businesses? And... If a lot of the NH destination stuff is closed AND people here are scraping for money for rent and bills because of being out of work - who the hell is driving to NH to spend money on fireworks?

up
Voting closed 0

I'm no fireworks nut, but I've bought them a few times and didn't always use everything I bought right away.

up
Voting closed 0

In Fields Corner it's been, big, bad, and friggin loud every single night all night, for almost 2 weeks. I can hear it coming from all directions, from Codman Square, Four Corners, St. Marks, Ashmont, Hemenway Park, etc. etc. etc.

up
Voting closed 0

I have been wondering the same. The fireworks have been going on for days, starting early afternoon through the middle of the night. Rinse & repeat for days. Like it really ain't the fucking 4th yet so what's the point? I'm in a not so nice neighborhood in Dot so who will be able to tell if it's fireworks or shots?

Myself, kids, hubby & a couple friends were out last night just catching some air on the porch to cool off & catch some fresh air & an unmarked yes, white cop pulled up, parked & was just staring at us.

We ignored him, there was no fighting or loud noise, we were just enjoying ourselves outside, not any big gathering or anything.

He just kept sitting there, looking at us. There was nothing going on around here in or around our building.

Eventually the hubby did ask him if there was a problem and said because we live here. Then he just left.

I just felt like, what is it? You see some black folks together (including children) in a bad neighborhood, so there must be a problem out here?

up
Voting closed 0

Howdy from down on Stoughton, where what I hear is the sound of one white person exaggerating.

up
Voting closed 0

I am pretty sure he is white.
Or does he have some magical powers to comprehend things the "average" white Bostonian doesn't.
What about mixed race people? Do we have his OK to speak?

up
Voting closed 0

Then you should probably be quiet.

up
Voting closed 0

Whackadoodle commented on my post. I need some Vodka now.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

up
Voting closed 0

Comment. Tequila. Mmmmm. Magoo.

up
Voting closed 0

...it was your comment.

(and your comment was trash)

up
Voting closed 0

I'll change my worldview based on your criticism.

up
Voting closed 0

said as though being impervious to change is a badge of honor

up
Voting closed 0

Because an anonymous person on the internet said your comment was stupid , then your beliefs are not very solid.

up
Voting closed 0

said as though being impervious to change thought is a badge of honor

up
Voting closed 0

You are saying your thoughts and opinions on the world are correct (obviously) and mine are incorrect (obviously)..
If I change my thoughts and opinions to adhere with yours, I will be OK?
How very elitist of you. How about you believe what you believe and I'll do the same, and ask Mayor Walsh if we should even be communicating with each other.

up
Voting closed 0

Seriously. Stop victimizing the white race. Especially right now. This is exactly what the mayor means.

up
Voting closed 0

...if asking you to be quiet and listen for a minute is "victimizing" you.

And you don't speak for "the white race".

(edit: you ARE joking, right? Please tell me you were joking)

up
Voting closed 0

I think you read my response wrong. Read it again slower

up
Voting closed 0

What the word victimize means?

You might be using it the wrong way.

up
Voting closed 0

things really are never going to change, huh?

everything is a grievance. it’s not ok when black people ask you to listen. it’s not okay when white people ask you to listen to black people.

up
Voting closed 0

I wonder what.

up
Voting closed 0

Geez. Why is that TOO MUCH to ask?

up
Voting closed 0

His special powers are that he was elected by the people of Boston to be Mayor , his leadership position gives him an automatic spot to pontificate from. Agree or disagree with him if you must but that is where that comes from.

up
Voting closed 0

...to bike/ped advocates and instead literally said "you have to realize cars are going to hit you"

up
Voting closed 0

We're in the midst of a viral pandemic and riots over racial injustice--and this is where you go? This is why most people don't give a fuck about cyclists.

up
Voting closed 0

As a cyclist I get told all the time I shouldn't complain about the risk of being hit or killed because I shouldn't be on the road anyway. I'm also told that my views aren't important since cyclists are the minority of roadway users. People often say cyclists don't follow the law and therefor people shouldn't change laws on their behalf.

I don't know what it's like to be a black American and face unrelenting racism. It's certainly far, far worse than what gets lobbed at me as a cyclist (and also as Jew). But being a cyclist makes me that much more sympathetic to the protests and the plight of the Black citizen.

up
Voting closed 0

And it's pretty even. About 50/50 racism to anti-cyclist sentiment thrown my way. I will say that the racism is often more subtle than the outright nasty/violent things some folks have said to me when discussing pretty much anything relating to bicycles in this city. This of course excludes the current scenario in which so many clueless white folks are attempting to have a hot take on protesting it's hard to keep up. The ratio right now is probably 90/10.

up
Voting closed 0

So woke. Thank you.
But I’m not sure you can add up enough individual victim points to equal the current pain that a black person feels right now.

up
Voting closed 0

This isn't why most people don't give a fuck about cyclists. They don't give a fuck because they don't have to.

The cop that told me I could go about my day while he let the driver go after the driver cut me off. He also told me he'd mail me a copy of the police report (never happened).

The numerous people who turn in front of me without a signal (or a glance) forcing me to brake so hard as to leap off my pedals.

The pedestrians who regularly use the crosswalk as a waiting area even though a bike lane goes right through it (or just walk in the bike lane instead of the sidewalk pre-pandemic).

None of them HAVE to care about me, so they don't. And when you bring it up? You get blowback from assholes like you who want to point out that they don't have to care about me.

up
Voting closed 0

Don’t. Like not now

up
Voting closed 0

for this comment.

up
Voting closed 0

NOW I get that reference.

up
Voting closed 0

Most Uhub comment ever. Can’t make this up.

up
Voting closed 0

we are going to have much more urgent levels of pain soon, which will embed the pain we are trying to be open to understanding from our black neighbors.

Tim Kaine is a mushy neoliberal, pro-war, pro-technocrat, pro-send your job overseas, pro tax cuts for the 1%. BUT, he wants to introduce legislation to prevent Trump from using the military as his "palace guard." Let's all let that sink in to your our well-meaning skulls for a minute. A risk averse guy with plenty stock investments dares to piss off the orange-gutang just months before he refuses to cede power after the next election, thereby putting himself on the list of Democrats that Trump will imprison.

Or, you don't think that's where we are? Then you are either dumb as fuck or distracted by your understandable white-privilege guilt. Better wake up to MORE of what is going on because this is where we are. The only person I have heard articulate the process of history that we are in is Cornell West. We are at grave risk of experiencing all the horrors of a failed state including summary executions on the street, disappeared people, and shortages of vital necessities.

I fear there will be a massacre of American citizens by the military within the month, at latest before the end of July. The 24 hours news cycle will pick up it, and we will feel the shame of the same forms of murder the black community has endured for hundreds of years--only the pile of fresh bodies will be mixed race.

Please, please, remove head from ass now. Looking at you, liberals.

up
Voting closed 0

White supremacy is the delusion that they won't come for ME.

up
Voting closed 0

HA! This is laughable and so blatantly politically convenient for him. You can't have the narrative both ways. Let's start with some accountability from YOU AND the BPD for the mess you caused Sunday night, Marty. Let's START with your orders to shut down the T and block protesters in and teargassing them, the instigation of violence BY the BPD, then make the protesters walk home across the city. And then your "shock" that they got pissed and fought back in face of fight or flight, with the flight pathway blocked. Let's START with that. I'll wait...

up
Voting closed 0

The Mayor's not responsible for the MBTA's mess.

Walsh is partly responsible, though, for the messes caused by unions including the ones at MBTA, BPD, and police departments across the state. Public employee unions today are a barrier to accountability.

up
Voting closed 0

Unless they're Black or Latino, of course. Boston is one of the most sharply segregated cities in America. If not the most. It was 40 years ago, and it's not any better today. And if you're measuring block by block, it's probably worse today.

The Seaport - which was/is being conceived and built from scratch deep into the 21st Century - has a Black population of around 3%. And so are the residents of the Seaport and families in Mattapan 'neighbors', just because they both are in Boston?

There are large swathes of Boston where one can do days without seeing a single white person on foot. The mayor of Somerville champions his Black Lives Matter banner across city hall, but presides over a town that has a Black population of around 6%, and going down. For him to listen to his Black neighbors, he'll need to find one first.

The census tells us that Boston is mid-20s percent Black. But how many people live on a street that's 25% Black? It's either 1-5% or 95% POC. Statistically, few white people have what are traditionally considered to be neighbors, who are Black.

up
Voting closed 0

Yes, there is segregation in Boston, and it's really kind of amazing how white the Seaport is.

But to answer your question: No, my immediate neighbors are not black, although the people two doors down are, as are the people across the street. My immediate neighbors on one side are Filipino-Americans, on the other side Dominican-American. As I mentioned, the folks two door down one way are black, followed by Irish-American followed by another black family. The other way, they're Korean-American and then Dominican. I haven't surveyed the entire street, but if you told me it was 25% black, it would not surprise me.

At least in our part of Roslindale, there's nothing really unusual about our street, so, no, the entire city is not segregated.

up
Voting closed 0

... a few blocks from yours, is about the same mix.

Our church (Sacred Heart) has parishioners from around 50 countries.

up
Voting closed 0

I don’t live in Boston anymore, but where I live now in Everett, as well as Malden and a lot of Medford and other cities up this way, it’s a very similar mix to what folks are describing in Roslindale.

Greater Boston has changed dramatically over the last 50 years. It’s undeniable. Are there still examples of segregation? Sure! But there are also multi-racial communities that are genuinely mixed, and that’s a pretty new phenomenon. Various Census tools will show you the change in raw numbers and colors on maps. Oh by the way, fill out your 2020 Census form if you haven’t already!

up
Voting closed 0

Boston has plenty of (comparatively). Like Adam refers to here. What I'm talking about is not 'Diversity', but Black segregation. And Black scarcity in large and growing percentages of the neighborhoods. The Korean family and the Nepali grocer on your street have little to do with that.

up
Voting closed 0

Or did you miss the part where I specifically mentioned black neighbors on my street?

up
Voting closed 0

pity a lot of people on here have problems following directions.

up
Voting closed 0

To all the loud music and fireworks that are going off every night? What are police supposed to do about that? If they ask the people causing the problems to stop, the people can just claim harassment or can just not comply. What are police to do when the city’s and county’s administration won’t back them up?

up
Voting closed 0

Helicopter company dismisses trainee and suspends employee after ‘repulsive’ comments during Boston protest "The comments are inexcusable and offensive, and have no place in our society."

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2020/06/04/boston-protest-helicop...

up
Voting closed 0

Marty Walsh is a white resident. Willie Gross is his Black neighbor of sorts. Marty should lead by example, keep quiet and listen to his Black neighbor Willie the next time he asks for protective gear for the Antifa detail. Willie did this last weekend and was denied by white, liberal, political elites. This resulted in numerous injured officers, many who are Black and tens of millions in damage to Boston businesses, some minority owned. Walsh should follow his own advice before lecturing others.

up
Voting closed 0