Submitted by Level-Sign t3_11uiqwt in boston
Hello! My father went to high school in Boston during the late 1980s after moving from a city in the Mid-Atlantic. Has shared only bits of his time there with me, and has more or less sworn off ever returning. The little I could shake out of him included violent encounters and general hostility from those in his community. He is African-American, and many of those incidents seemed racially charged and quite terrifying. I visited your city a few years ago, and he was insistent that I restrict my movement to only a few neighborhoods, and seemed quite concerned about my safety.
My question is mainly for those who have family or friends in the Boston area who lived and/or grew up during that time. I have always wondered exactly how incidents like those age in peoples' minds, and how (and if) they are acknowledged in communities years later. Is there anyone who knows or is related to people who were on the other side of that general divide? I would like to get a sense of how those racial dynamics are looked back upon, and whether there is any hatred or group solidarity that lingers, or whether some of those involved just look back on some of those conflicts as just something they deeply regret. Are there things from that time period they remember about Boston that could provide more context or a clearer picture to me as I try to understand my dad's life?
I want to be very clear that I am not looking to blame anyone, or make anyone feel shame. This is just something I have always wondered. I know Boston has changed quite a bit since then, as have racial attitudes. I realize Boston has had a certain reputation for hostility towards some groups, and I do not mean to highlight it or speak to its veracity in the current day. I quite enjoyed my visit. Thank you for your responses.