radical america - vol 20 no 5 - 1987 - september october

8/8/2019 Radical America - Vol 20 No 5 - 1987 - September October

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TWENTIETH ANNIVERS YEAR i"

COLLGE

LIBRARY

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AERCVOL 20, NO.

INTRODUCTON

BLUEPRNT FOR TOMORROW:The Fight for communitycontrol in Back and Latino BostonMauricio Gaston and Marie Kennedy

The Mandela Campaign: An OverviewMarie Kennedy and Chris Tilly

COMMUNITY & KINSHP,HISTORY & CONTROL:

Two organizers view deveopmentand Boston's neighborhoodsInterview with Bob Terrell and Chuck Tuer

IN SEARCH OF COMMON GROUND:A Revew Essay

James GreenLukas Moraity Pay

John Demeter

WNTER N AMERICANotes on the media and raceJohn Demeter

ANT-RACSTS AND OTHER DEMONS:The Press and deology in

Thatchers BritanNancy Murray

Poem: "PioneeringSusan Eisenberg

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Late ths past sprng T oson Go ran a ront page artce that decared "Despterecent otbreaks raca atttdes have mproved sa cv rghts advocates Ater reerrngto three recent ncdents n the Boston areaan armatve acton chaenge to an awhte oca Democratc Part ward commttee and whte resstance to mnort partcpaton ntwo athetc eventsthe artce concded that the ct was we on ts wa to a recover romthe raca trmo accompanng schoo desegregaton the 70s, sheddng ts mage asthe "Ltte Rock o the North t s nterestng to note that the rst two "cv rghts advocates cted n the artce were whteand one the athor J. Anthon Lkas ves nNew York t was not nt the thrd sorce qote that a person o coor was cted

Rather than smp hghghtg a oca potca pecart, the artce, b ts ramng opbc nderstandng o raca sses provdes a wndow onto crrent meda handng orace and potcs n commntes o coor t s a sbject that seems to have expoded wthnthe natona press n the atermath o ncdents ths wnter n Howard Beach New York andorsth Cont Georga. One o the centra qestons then s ths: How are we to nderstand todas meda coverage n a hstorca perod characterzed b the popart o LkasPtzer Prze wnnng stor o Bostons bsng wars Common Ground, and the mch cted

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os o William Julius Wilson, The DecliningSgncance of Race? A secon citical question hinte at by the slant o the Globe aticlei how o we get beyon the "oicial ealityoecte by the lagely white meia, to unes-

tn the issues within the nation's minoityommunities? n the mist o the battle to setthe tems o the ost Reagan agena, which wee witnessing now, the eot to ame events,n both to eine social oblems an oosethei solutions, taes on an ae imotance

t was ionic that in the mist o the coveageo Howa Beach an osyth County, "Eyeson the ize, the B ocumentay o theAmeican civil ights movement aie national-l t seve as a vivi emine o that move-

ent's aeaching challenge to, an eect on,the national boy olitic With the memoy othat tansomation, it shoul have come as nouise that a ey comonent o the esugentRight's agena was the containment o the newocial movements o that ea But with theRight's onslaught has also come a collase olbeal oliticsmost noticeably aoun thessue o ace The coonation o J Anthonyuas, most noticeable in the Globe but echoein libeal an Let ess as well, an the

genelize ccetnce o n equating o blcn white eole's situations, has been themost ecent asect o a libeal it om theivil ights mobiliztion o two eces go

As James een etails in his citical eaing,n each o Common oun', the booelevates the subsuming o ace une class cuently in vogue with libels n economcoulists alie n that sense, it elects a econ-sieation o acial olicies not only in Bosto,but nationally as well

ehas the cleaest eaing o that eveloment was witnesse in the eaction o Boston'solitical an meia institutions to the Manelaeeenum camaign o 186 t was a eactionwhich one blac citic labelle "hysteicalo as much as Howa Beach an osythCounty intue on the oection o a "coloblin society, this gassoots camaign, whichew on a nationalist olitical legacy ansought to eincooate the eominantlyThi Wol neighbohoos o Boston into aseaate city, eose the city's llege acial"ehabilitation as moe style than substance

When we ut asie the meia's maginaliza

tion an ugment o its "authoities , ecenteots aoun lan contol emege as vibantan comle Thus we see the voices o thoseushing those initiatives Mauicio aston anMaie Kenney's "Blueint o Tomoow

etails the long an vaie histoy o eots byBoston's minoity community to stem theseculative tie that ist neglecte, an nowsees to emae, thei lanwithout them Asthe authos ague, the ight to contol evelo-ment o what has become some o the nation'smost sought ate eal estate elects a situationlaye out in moe an moe o the nation' s uban aeas

n omunity & Kinshi istoy & on-tol, longtime community activists Bob Te-

el an Chuc Tune elect on thei e-eiences in those stuggles an ame the ighto contol as one with national imlicationsan ossibilities The eamle o an an-cisco, whee "eveloment has actuallyesulte in a shinage o the city's blacoulation, as an ugency to this oliticalaena Both Tune an Teell ae membes othe eate Robuy eighbohoo Authoity, gou meging gssoots olitics with 180s technologicl sohistiction nitially

some in RNA ha esevations about theManela aoach As Teell inicatesthough, ultimately activists came to ecognizethe beneits o oening a secon ont aounull contol ove eveloment This leibility,athe than a igi slit which might have beenmoe liely in an ealie ea, suggests thematuation o the blac community's stuggleaoun lan contol

Tune is clea that, in contast with ealieecaes, the blac community moe boaly

unestans that eveloment without ullolitical owe sells uneeveloment Healso questions whethe this consciousness canbe move beyon a essimism o esai, iogessives cannot oe not only a vision butliteal blueints o eole to wo o analtenative Teell suggests how evelomentalaoaches oote in the Aican an Caib-bean cultues might contibute to suchblueints ojecte outsie the meia's "o-icial eality, howeve, such eveloments aeaely unestoo o ully teate in the essHence, they emain seaate om a boaeauience


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As John Demeter argues in "Winter inAmerica: Notes on the media and race, therecasting of America's racial experience, andthe obscuring of black political history to whichTerrell refers, has been an important compo-nent of the promulgation of a color blindsocie ty The sparatio n of curr entdeveloments from hi storicl continuumserves to allow the media to see them as"atavisms rather than as consistent patternsand policies. Common Ground, with its refusalto note the political struggles of Boston's blackcommunity, embraces such a construct from aliberal perspective

In Britain, it is perhaps the absence of a masscivil rights movement such as that depicted in

"Eyes on the Prize , that has left the space forthe current racist media onslaught under That-cher. As Nancy Murray describes in "Anti-Racists and other Demons, the British press,without a legacy that has inhibited expressionsof overt racism, has now moved to portray"antiracists as "black racists In a time of

TICH.OLOGY: eTarVOL. 19, PisNO.6 .-

economic malaise, such scapegoating o"enemy within has allowed theof convenient, yet illusory, targets Whilmaterial in the British press finds aonly in the "hard edge of American

both institutions' frames serve to reeReagan/Thatcher worldview of "nationalfidence It is a confidence that is based odomestic targetting of those differing from te ""traditions and "morality of the state It iinteresting to note the parallels to Com"Ground's attack on antiracists, however adthe media depiction of backers of the Mandcampaign as "racially divisive But as artiin this issue detail, the primary social consdirected against blacks, in particular, can b

seen in the US in media depictions of the famdisintegration, crime, the decertifying of pol >tical leadership and the delegitimation of'challenges to "official reality Whether British experience is a vision of future directions in US media and politics remains an opbut alarming, question.

GUATEMALA

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eerderWars: The

SPECIAL ISSUE 0Control ofWomen; Paul

ads Bo

enceLinda

TODAY. FeaturinNEST GERMANY

Science andPolitics ofArtcnts Ativists; F;beAnti-Seritis%tcls hon Bitburg;Gordon Notes for Repro c ood's RamboCoa- 0 the Greens. Also a t e Lef; CrisisalsoJimHoberman on Ho yw'dHorowitz and

the G,Uteml electioda, repo.

rt on the\'tion Anthony Ash

bolt onDav NICargun co ' nterVews withI , , l eeWorkersPolitics ofForgettg, .


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gor the women o '78

he had waled into their arty uninvitewedging a welcome mat in the doorwayor other women she hoed wouldollow along soon

The loud ones arguedto throw her out immediately Even her suortersound her audacity annoying But once they saw

she mingled with everyonedran American beeret conversations going during awward silencesheled clean u and thaned the host

and was baced u by lawthe controversy

calmed

he surrised themhe was reliablehe always gave her best

he was invited bache became a regular

always on the ringeeected to hel out

When she stoed comng

ust a little more.

they were conused Why now? Hadn't shechallenged custom? stared down rumors? ingratiated herselyears ago? so that now her resence was onlymildly discomorting he never elained

Ater all those yearshurling bac cannonballswomanizing the barricadesiring only i she saw the whites o their eyes

it was the lonesomeness

o ioneeringthat broe her resistance

All those silencesabout what matteredmost in her lie

had worn her,

lie the slow eating away o acid on metalthe damage only visible over time

Sua Eibg, 8

usan Eisenberg s a pot paywrgt and snc 1978 unon c-trcan (Loca 103 IB. ) s t autor of t's a oodThing 'm Not Macho (Wtston Prss 1984) and t payMother Country

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Tns fmiAg


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B

The fight for community control

in Boston's black and Latinoneighborhoods

ur Gn nd re Kennedy

he stor o Bostons Roxbr cod be the stor o amost an nner ct mnort neghborhood n the Unted States Roxbr has been the center o Bostons back commntsnce Word War and ncreasng the center o the cts Latno commnt Located on

ten mntes b rapd transt rom the cts growng downtown t has sered rom dsnvestment abse and negect both bengn and magn he peope o Roxbr have experenced enormos dsrpton oss o hosng and ndstr at the hands o the market and njstce at the hands o the state throgh rban renewa and hghwa cearance A thesgns o ntense povert are evdenthgh nempoment ow partcpaton n the abororce ow edcatona eves a hgh crme rate orshng drg trac and ndcators ke ahgh dropot rate rom schoo and a hgh rate o teenage pregnanc Some o Roxbrscenss tracts are among the poorest n the contr on a par wth the poorest contes nsssspp or wth ndan reservatons n the West (Boston Redeveopment Athort 984)n one area o the commnt oca known as the "Bermda range 70 percent o the

hosng stock has been ost to abandonment and arson n ess than two decades (Coon984) n the context o ths dsnvestment and n resstance to t the peope o Roxbrdeveoped an mpressve and creatve hstor o organzaton strgge and deveopment

pposte Cabot St. Boston 's South End Een Shub photo.


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Yet, the biggest threat to Roxbury today isnot disinvestment but the danger of gentrification and masssive displacement This communi-ty, long bled dry of its weath, is now faced witha food of investment which can affect it asdrasticaly and as brutaly as the ast forty years

of drought This threat is eliciting from thecommunity new forms of struggle and organiz-ing, which may become a model for other ur-ban communities confronting a simiar situa-tion

ayia Famwk

Two central facts stand out about the recenthistory of Roxbury. First, after World War II,whie the Boston area was transforming, reviv-ing, and finally booming, Roxbury became aminority community and went into a drasticphysica and economic decline Second, realiza

Jaob Holdt from mercan Picture

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tion of the newly enhanced value of Roxburysand seems to require the removal of the blackand Latino people and businesses that currentlyoccupy the land To understand these facts, it ishelpful first to consider the concepts ofuevedevelopmet and the distictio betwee

eighborhood ad commuity, paying par-ticuar attention to the role of racism in theseconcepts

Understanding uneven development beginswith the fact that capital flows to those placeswhere conditions are more favorable for accu-mulation. Indeed, capitalist development andunderdeveopment are two sides of the samecoin, since the investment in one area generalydepends on the draining of capita fromanother area (Smith and Lefaivre 1984, 47)This process of uneven development, which hasbeen wellstudied in an international context,aso takes place regionally and within a metro


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politan aea like BostonUneven development does not occu, as some

woud have it, "natualy, o simply as aesult of the actions of the "invisible hand ofthe maket. Rathe, it is the esult of the com

bined actions of specifi investos, bankes,and politicians, which can be identified andanalyed in essence, the esult of the capitalistpoduction of space (Smith 1984 6796 It isfaciitated by vaious banches of the state,which insue that conditions ae favoable tothe accumulation pocess. In the case ofdevelopment within the city, uban planning isoften the pocess by which accumulation isfacilitated and legitimated (OConno 1973

In paticula, communities of colo ae

pevented fom developing in pat by acism.iscimination in economic life, education,housing, political activity, cultue, the media,all miitate against the effots of blacks andatinos to develop thei communities. he national and local states intevene in this situationin vaious capacities hese vaious levels of thestate can enact efoms which egitimate thestatus quo, o, as in ecent actions of thefedeal govenment, take measues to einfocethe stuctues of discimination

As pannes, we find the distinction betweenneighbohood and community usefu. Rox-uy, fo exampe, can be analyed in twoways, both of which ae impotant to an undestanding of its unique ole in the cuent tansfomation of Boston. It is a neighbohood,meaning it has a paticula ocation, is mde upof buildings and othe suppoting stuctues,and occupies a piece of land. It is also a com-munity, specifically a back and atino com-

munity, which means that it has a social andpoitical as wel as a physical eality

he fate of a neighbohood, viewed as acommodity, at a paticua time depends on theow of capita to the built envionment, whichs egulated by financial institutions, and on thegound ent stuctue, which detemines thelocation of investment As the lage economyand city goes though downtuns in accumula-tn, the neighbohood goes though a devalo-iation cyclefom new constuction, to landld contol, to bockbusting, to edining, tondonmentwhich esuts in a ent gap Bynt gap is meant the "gap between the gound

ent actually capitalied with a given land use ata specic ocation, and the gound ent thatcoud potentially be capitaied unde a [dif-feent use at that location (Smith andefaive 1984 50. When a ent gap exists, a

neighbohood is ipe fo a majo tansfoma-tion gentification and dispacementBut the neighbohood is also a place whee

people ive, oganie themselves, study, epoduce themselves, thei cultue and ideas,sometimes wok, and geneally makethemselves into a community

he needs of peope in communities and theneeds of capital do not always coincide, and astuggle ensues he community stuggles tosuvive, to epoduce itself, to develop, and to

gain powe ove events affecting it. Fom thepoint of view of capita, a community has asocial function, mainly to epoduce labopowe and social elations. Black and atiocommunities in paticua ae subject topessues which maintain significant pats ofthese communities as cheap abo (o a second-ay labo maket and as a eseve amy oflabo in moe o ess pemanent unemploy-ment Indeed, disciminatoy pessues shapeamost evey aspect of life in communities likeRoxbuy, fom choice of esidence, to access toeducation and taining, to elations betweenpolice and community his makes Roxbuy,ike the doens of othe Roxbuys in US cities, aghetto (see, fo example, abb 1970 Goldsmith1974.

On the one hand, it is desiable fo capitalthat these communities function smoothy,without upsetting the established ode, andcetainy without disupting the basic labo

maket ow On the othe hand, such a stablecommunity tends to geneate consciousness ofits own oppessed condition, a sense of collec-tive sef, netwoks of social suppot, ceativeideas, solidaity, and politica powe whichcontadict the needs of capital to maintain theneighbohood as a pliable "fee commodityfo the maket (Smith and efaive, 1984 p46. A community is a subject as well as an ob-ject.

Ri, Rxbu Di

A bief histoy of ecent economic changes in

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ity Lie/Va rbana Boston

Roxby and Boston vas th tansfomatonand vval of th Boston mtopotan aaand th smltanos dvastaton of RoxbyBoston mgd fom Wod Wa II wth po-bms that cam to b typcal of nothn nds-tal ctsbt ths pobms sfacd nBoston twnty yas a than n oth"Fostblt cts Btwn 1947 and 1975,

Boston manfactng jobs dcasd fomabot 1 12, to abot 50, ; concomtanty,whosa and ta tad jobs fll fom abot150, to abot 9 1, . Th oss of jobs wasaccompand by fallng mncpal vns,dclnng cty svcs, dtoatng bldngstock and nfastct, and oth sgns of thban css

Whl Boston tsf angshd, ts sbbsboomd Th old plas of Bahmn Boston,

th nancal nstttons and lt nvsts,pshd th dvlopmnt of hghtch sachand podcton, fd by th fda govn-mnt's mltay spndng Nw ndstal paksdottd Boston's postwa ccmfntahghway, Rot 128 As th sbbs boomdand whts lft th cty n dovs, th mgatonof popl of coo to th cntal cty, patcla-ly fom th sothn Untd Stats, ncasddamatcaly and th sbbs w cosd tothm.

Th tn of nvstmnt to Boston tsfcam wth th cognton that ts ft lay nadmnstaton and fnanc ath than nmanfactng and tad Th cntal manag

mnt of ag ntpss qd constantntacton among manags, fnancs, andsch otsd xpts as accontants, lawys,and advtss Th sbbs w not wlstd fo ths knd of nfastct Th cnta cty, f t cold b shapd to mt thmgng nds of ndsty, was th only pacwh th gonal conomy cod b ffctv

y coodnatd Bsds, pmannt captanvstmnt n th cty was too mpotant toabandon

Nw nvstmnt n Boston was factatd bymajo hghway constcton and by on of thmost vgoos ban nwal pogams n thUS bwn 1952 and 1979. t gav away nomos bnfts to copoatons wlng to ocatoffcs downtown and clad away lag aaof "blght, manng obsolt bldng stc

ts and wokngclass sdntal aasstatd wh oth fnctons had bcommo dsabl to capta Af abot twntyfv yas of ths actons, nogh pbc fndhad bn spnt to cat condtons fo poftabl pvat nvstmnt Captal bgan tofow back to th cty n th lat 970.

In chag of ths pocss was th BostonRdvlopmnt Athoty (BRA, gvn apcla dal fncton commndd by thBoston Chamb of Commc: th BRA wath pannng and dvlopmnt am of ctygovnmnt (Kng 1981, 22) Th agncy's cntald pow was symbolc of th changngnat of Boston potcs and makd th cty


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entrance into a perio of professionalizemanagement

While the postwar transformation revivethe Boston region it cripple Roxbry As alowincome commnity of color Roxbry ex-perience flly the negative sie of nevenevelopment The "invisible han of theprivate sector le the assalt with massive is-investment relining arson an abanonment etween an M oxryspoplation ecrease by 57 percent (RoxbryTechnical Assistance Project 986. Roxbryshosing stock by now mostly 75 to yearsol was generally in nee of serios repair btas far as banks were concerne Roxbry property provie no eqity Not only were tenants

force ot by lanlors who milke an thenbrne bi l ings bt even manyhomeownerstypically with flly paioffmortgageswere force to abanon theirhomes becase they col not finance necessaryrepairs (Kenney 98.

Part of the economic pressre on the hosingstock was e to the fact that proportionatelyhigher property taxes were levie in Roxbrythan in any other part of the city A 974 styshowe that while Bostons tax liability as awhole wol increase by 20 percent nermarketvale assessment Roxbrys liabilitywol qrop by 27 percent (Hollan & Olman974, 5 In retrn for higher taxes Roxbrygot strikingly poor services "Whole areas par-ticlarly in Lower Roxbry were allowe bythe city government to eteriorate Vacantbilings were torn own mping garbagewas permitte in Maison Park . ( "Mov-ing in Boston 980, 5. This i not happen by

accient It was eliberate pblic policy to"triage neighborhoos concentrating servicesin mileclass areas an particlarly neglectingthose neighborhoos occpie by people of col-orspecifically Roxbry Dorchester anMattapan (McDonogh 975

Toay 305 percent of Roxbrys poplationis below the poverty line an more thn oneqarter o Roxbrys families have no workerespite large family size an relatively fewelerly Roxbry has a homeownership rate of

only 20 percent an 53 percent of all hosingan 73 percent of all rental hosing is sbsi-ize (Gaston & Kenney 985, 3, 222 Of the

lan parcels "a little more than half is tax ex-empt largely pblicly hel an of this half isvacant (Boston Reevelopment Athority984.

h Cmmuy Ogaz

Roxbry the neighborhooa collection oflan an bilings hosing an bsinessesecline sharply between the 950s an the980s. What of Roxbry the commnity? Thelast thirty years in the history of Roxbry havebeen a rich legacy of strggle organizingleaership organizational evelopment anconsciosnessraising The very same forcesthat oppresse an amage the commnity in-

fence the forms of resistance that Roxbryevelope to efen itself The process of self-efense incle strggle for civil rights par

George Wams photo Dorhester Mass.


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ticularly against school segregation, for hous

ing, jobs and services, against highwa and ur

ban renewal displacement, and for politicalepresentation and power

The forms of expression of this politcadevelopment have been diverse, forming what

black leader Mel King (1981) has called a"chain of change. Given the central role

played by education in reproducing social rela-tions and the peculiar character of the Boston

School Department (the last patronage strong-

hold of the old Irish populist machine, thestruggle for equal and high quality educationhas evolved over decades and has been centralto the recent development of Boston blackpolitics. Efforts by blacks (and later, Latinos

and Asians to gain access to jobs have been asecond key area of struggle

An important component of these struggles

was the black community's increased capacityto generate coalitions, including interracialcoalitions, with other forces in the city and

metropolitan area. In the late sixties, demo-

lition began in Roxbury for two new majorhighways, Interstate 95 and an inner city

circumferential road called the Inner Belt. Ledpartly by Chuck Turner, who represented

LNS, AIston neighborhood of Boston 1960s.

12

the Black United Front's Operation STOP, acoalition of metropolitan scope, the SouthwestCorridor Coalition, was formed. This formation included inner city black neighborhoodsand white working c lass suburban

neighborhoods, both concerned about loss of

jobs and housing, along with wealthy suburbswhere residents worried about preserving"suburban tone and environmentalists were

concerned about the loss of wetlands. Thissomewhat unlikely coalition became powerful

enough to force Republican Governor Sargentto call a 1970 moratorium on highway cnstruction in the metropolitan area and eventually to

redefine the region's transportation plans entirely. This struggle even had a national impact;

the coalition was instrumental in the release ofFederal Highway Trust Funds (from gasolinetaxes to finance public transit (Gaston 1981).

The Southwest Corridor Project, a coalition

of city, state and metropolitan agencies, wasformed to develop the land originally cleared forthe highway for a new rapid transit line. Undrpressure of groups originally organized to stopthe highway, and elaborate participatory

planning process was developed for the hugproject Ongoing movements have wrested con


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Afrian Meeting House Smith Court about

an old cty Th downtown budng boomha trand th nfratructur and phycacapacty of th cntral cty to t mt andthratnd t htorcal gacy. Traffc jam argndary n th two harborcrong tunnland n th downtown Cntral rtry, and par-ng capacty wthn th cty wofuly nadquat for currnt dmand Thr ttl pro-pct for arg amount of addtonal dvlop-mnt downtown

Smutanouly, thr an ongong fcalcr of th oca tat In 1979, a tatwdplbct pad Propoton 2, modldaftr Caorna ropoton I awlmt growth n ral tat tax to 2 prcntof th ad valu of proprty, th majorourc of muncpal rvnu Boton ha bnpt afoat fnancally through carfuyngotatd atanc pacag from th tatglatur, and by lng valuab downtown

proprty, uch a parng garag, todvlopr, whch ha ony xacrbatd th n-adquacy of th nfratructur. Thr ar,howvr, no mor publcy ownd garag and

14

fw othr proprt downtown to forprmum prc. Th tat lgatur unlyto provd uch atanc xcpt for mrgnc. Th admntraton ha to contnu to pro-mot nw nvtmnt to gnrat muncparvnu

In hort, th prur to nvt normou,and th downtown approachng t lmt.BR drctor Coyl tratgy to contnu attractng nvtmnt, but lmt dvopmntdowntown, funnng t ntad nto th xtngopn and nart to downtown (Mnz 1984,1985b) Th tuaton can b compard to thcontrold xpoon of an ntrna combutonngn thr a uddn volnt xpanon ofth actvt now concntratd downtown, but

thr ar trong contrant agant th xpanon. Th nrgy ha to b drctd omwhrRoxbury locatd mnut away from th

cntra bun dtrct, wth ay acc topublc tranportaton and major rgona hghway. Th, along wth Roxbury larg amountof pubcy hd (and largly vacant) landwoud m to ma an dal nw turf focapta. In th contxt, n ary 1985, th BRrad a "Dudly Squar Plan and Flynnnw BR drctor, Stphn Coyl, announcd

that h had lnd up twntyon dvlopr wt$750 mon to nvt n th Dudy Statara (th commrca, tranportaton acutural cntr of Roxbury)

mpiai f h Pa

Th BR plan, producd wth vrtualy communty nvovmnt and pt crt untt rla, ha vra maor componnt

Dvlopmnt of Dudy Squar nto a htorca town cntr, wth th taton rvatd nto a "Gara

hghr "bun par, wth an nt750,000 q. ft. of pac for offc, hpng and a 5 car garag

Convrtng th Orchard Par pubc houng dvlopmnt nto coopratv.

Contructon of nw ngl famy houaffordab for fam arnng "a t a$20,0 a yar.

Th BR clam that th propod dvmnt n Roxbury would not cau dpact


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snce new constructon would be mostyrestrcted to currenty vacant land Athoughths pocy wl lmt the mmedate directdsplacement indirect dsplacement f not con-troled wl be drastc. A quc analyss ofpotenta resdenta dspacement shows that

the daner s severeThe mere ta of a $70 mlon wave of nvestment has aread accelerated specula-ton n te prvate ousng maret and arson.The Boston Arson Preventon Commsson(186 recenty released a report showng analarmng ncrease n the number of suspcousfres near Dudey snce the BRA announce-ment. Homeowners n the area report thealmost day recepts of slps under the doorfrom realtors urgng them to sel; n cassc

blocbustng fashon some of these slps aludeto the threat of an nflux of atnos n trad-tonaly blac neghborhoods. Every wee theres tal of another dapdated trple decer sod forenormous sums of money eghteen unt bocof apartments was auctoned n 180 for$15 renovated and recently sold for$ n two years the manager expects tto be worth twce that on the maret (Kaufman185 Gven the low rate of homeownershp

he dspacement of tenants n ths sector hasalready begun beore major corporate nvest-ment even starts. Some commercal property nthe Dudley staton area s aready ncreasng nvalue by 50 percent every few months.

Whe dsplacemnet n the open prvatemaret s most dffcult to contro under cur-rent aws and condtons the sempubcmaret of subsdzed unts fares lttle betterhese unts mae up a arge percentage of housng n the neghborhood and a substanta per-

centage of them are n fnancal trouble as theyare throughout the country. The Department ofHousng and Urban Development (HUD sunder contract to contnue subsdes for 15ears but t has aso gone to Congress to re-uest a change n reguatons aowng theederal government to strp foreclosed properes of the subsdes and to permt ther dspos-n n the open maret wth no guarantee offordablty or securty of tenure for tenants.

lhough observers beleve t s uney thatCongress would grant HUD ths request poten-aly 10 people could be dsplaced n the

short run amost al of them peope of coornto a housng maret wth a vacancy rate ofless than 1 percent and wth the lowest ncome-torent rato n the country. The longerrangedsplacement woud be far worse snce manysubsdzed unts not currenty on the aucton

boc are n fnancal troube and coud expecta smar fate n a few years.Dsplacement n publc housng s a

somewhat dfferent problem. There are nearly20 unts of famly pubc housng n Roxburyover 2 of these unts are currenty vacantawatng repars. Overall the condton of mostof Boston's publc housng s so deplorable andthe federa posture towards ncreased or evencontnung subsdes so negatve that what hastradtonaly been the most secure stoc of low

ncome housng s now n jeopardy. The BRAplan suggests that the 7pus unts n the Or-chard Par pubc housng deveopment beturned nto tenant cooperatves Uness the op-ton ncludes lmted equty t would be df-fcult for the current owncome resdents toresst sellng n a ucratve maret.

The housng component of the BRA pancaled "Buldng the Amercan Dream ad-dresses the constructon of ony 12 new unts

n addton to the converson of pubc housngto homeownershp By totaly wrtng down thecost of the and usng factorybult construc-ton methods and pggybacng every avalablesubsdy the BRA argues that the unts could beMS CORNEHEALT C EN TER

Dheter mmunty New photo.

r

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aordabl by housolds arig "as littl as$20 a yar. Accordig to th BRAs owigurs mdia houshold icom i Roxburywas oly $4515 i 1980 (Bosto RdvlopmtAuthority 1984). Ad th umbr o blackhousholds i th tir mtropolita ara wita aual icom i th $20 rag isrlativly small. Accordig to th 1980 csus

oly 20545 black housholds ard ovr$150 pr yar i th tir mtropolitaara. I as th BRA pla suggsts Roxbury isto b rpopulatd to 1960 lvls (ovr twic tprst populatio th qustio ariss as towhthr it will rmai primarily a commuityo color.

Th problm o job cratio througdvlopmt i Roxbury has b a primarycocr o Roxburys ladrs or yars ad isprhaps t sigl most importat issu acigth commuity. Th proposd BRA pla pur-ports to crat t kids o workplacs whichhav b t stapl o Bosto's growth i tis

16

dcad hotls ad oic towrs. ittl rsaras b do xplorig altrativs or cratio ad o atttio has b paid to tcommuitys work prrcs.

For a ighborhood lik Roxbury whic sb surig rom disivstmt or dcast prospct o ivstmt spcially o tscal proposd may appar to som lik rli

rom a drought. But workigclass muitis o color hav isistd o gaiig scotrol o th procss udrstadig that tcurrt ivstmt wav has th pottial displac ormous umbrs o popl to poit o trasormig th populatio o ighborhood. This wav as th pottia dstroyig th commuity i ordr to sat ighborhood.


19/92

Community Power and Inclusiveness:

The Organizing Committee for a Greater

Roxbury Neighborhood Authority

Communty actvsts responded to ths BRAtheat by ntensfyng the efforts to bud abroadbased communty coalton that coudcontrol development n Greate Roxbuy At apess confeence held on Fredeck DouglasDay, Febuay 14 1985, the Organzng Com-mttee for a Geate Roxbury NeghborhoodAuthorty OCGRNA) was formally aunchedThe OCGRNA demanded a moratoum onland dsposton unt a degee of popuar pat-cpaton and control coud be estabshed Theposton was and s, n large pat) based on

seveal factos. Frst, the fact that the plannngpocess had been undemocatc meant that thequestons posed for the pan to answe wee sonaow that varous atenatves deang wthob ceaton, housng, and fnancng wee nevereven explored. Secondy, and buldng on the

fst pont, focusng on a specfc plan at thspont n the plannng pocess woul have meantnaowng the debate to the leve of ntpckngnecessary por questons woud neve beposed; OCGRNA efused to get trapped nto an

agenda set by the BRA whch woud have effec-tvey deraled a truy ncusonary pocess andwoud have channeled al energy to craftngcompomses about nessental dsageementse.g, whethe offce budngs woud be ffteenor twenty storesnot whether there woud beany ofce buldng; whether owneoccupedhousng woud be detached o duplex, notwhether more cooperatve forms of ownershpmght be approprate). Thdly, the BRA panonly addessed deveopment n a small part of

the Greater Roxbury area, whereas the communtyfaces cruca communty development andpotca ssues n many aeas of Geater Rox-bury OCGRNA recognzed that specfcdevelopment decsons n one area would affectpostvely o negatvelythe deveopment

Dsruption oj John Brown Memorial Meeting at Tremont Temple, 1860.

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20/92


21/92


22/92

Citysape painted by Charles Trainor llston Mass.pan cont of two 30 tory tower 6quare feet of offce pace wth adacent com-merca pace parkng and reated ue(Boton Redeveopment Authorty 986 996)

The BRA parcel degn baed on an ex-tenon of the cty new ervce economy of of-fce tower nto the neghborhood Whle theBRA ha planned gnfcant mnorty equtyand partcpaton n ob the PAC argue thatthe parcel hould be conceved a an extenonof the economy of Roxbury not of downtownand that omethng other than tower of "back-offce pace mut be but. Lght ndutrymal commerca pace and tudent houngare ome of the propoal that they feel bear n-vetgaton Meanwhe the BRA ha extendedprome of equty partcpaton to nonTakForce member; the PAC feel that the BRA ung th wedge to buy peope off and to pt

the communty So many Roxbury redenthave been offered "a pece of Parce 8 thatthe queton are a to whether even theBRA propoa of 2 percent mnorty equty

2

n two proect wth proected total proectcot of over $09 mllon arge enough tatfy the prome (Boton RedevelopmentAuthorty 986 0)

Evid f Dvpm-Rlad r

An even more chlng example of how fa thBRA prepared to go n defendng t roe anprerogatve n the redeveopment of Roxbur offered by the repone of the BRA to the recent report of the Boton Aron PrevenonCommon on the aarmng ncreae n arnn Roxbury foowng the announcement of hBRA udley Square Plan BRA recStephen Coye led a vruent attack on hcredbty of the Common work cangthem "bozo and ntng that they "mprther] methodoogy or regn (Frby 98He wa adamanty oppoed to the report fn

dng of a connecton between aron andeveopment becaue expong uch a connecton woud "endanger planned redevelopmnand "hamper potental fnancng (Frb


23/92

198). Bede preurng the Commondrector to regn the mayor ha proceeded totac the Common te wth appontee expected to be more plabe to the mayor andte poton. though no one n therrght mnd woud juty aron the B n

pretendng that aron mpy a aw enorcement problem ha acted to undermne avgorou oppoton to t partcuarly n tryngto dcredt the tattca data that ndcate aconnecton between aron pecuaton anddevelopment

Some o the mot creatve energy generatedby the ghtbac n oxbury tang hapewth le relatve vbty n varou malerneghborhood. O thee ocaed eort theudey Street Neghborhood ntatve (DSN)tand out a a partcuarly nteretng exampeand an ndcaton o trend n oca eort nact GN conder SN a good exampe othe type o plannng eort they hope wl evolven every dtrct o oxbury

The neghborhood concerned ocated jutwet o Dudey Staton t ha a populaton oabout 150 ncudng romercan CapeVerdean Puerto can Domncan andother Latno t' probaby the pooret neghborhood n oxbury ade rom publc houng

proect uch a Orchard Par whch t borderThe namou Bermuda Trange e wthnthe DSN area a doe much other and cearedthrough aron and dnvetment n act n thearea' 1 quare me there are over parcel o vacant and mot o t owned by theCty o Boton (Dudey Street Neghborhoodntatve 198)

The DSN grew out o a ere o meetnghed n 1984 o the area varou human ervceagence The anbow Coaton and the 1983Mel Kng mayora campagn can be largeycredted wth hepng to move thee agencebeyond ther ormer wlngne to cooperate tother curren development o the trut necearyto p jont trategy Becaue o th n

Bg

innsi an ig uit of ii aivita( n the unit is araee a wave ofssioal an tnial atii in sur f atWhe aaia in gene as n eainge p e-asd os itia in e

th og o u an ounit Sria t Uniersit o assachusets-wne t t utos teachhas ben opsie ireion an fining t fan aing. gining it

gous auy and stunts at avein p in ius as in suding an giingassistan to ouni rs in

x echni Assistane roject

'AF-Iir.ct(d ston as oin ssesinun in suh aas as ounitHuan Svs, iina Justi and sea gaphis an

sng r o u, hel seinaszig r ouni aiists, elope aan" r te ule PC, gnerat

nonsulativ ns, assistdiee OGRN t t aa sn t a a town eeting"

it M stunts o it a rie ffms the inusi aea neath Ma ua a.

S ut a aced as ounsl o, lga uatin asss a aion wers of ainisttiv gensvepent t S stuen-saff aw

ofie hae taken on many of te utiit cases in Eition Fr ne. proie uan srice progas f a par Roxur as en colt anda eaie egaphi proe o he DueyNighoho Iniiati ara has ben oputezedin a srease.

T Lga Svis nter has egun work on aata base o a ral stat transactions in oxute at as is eing sign sO tha it can e useinteacivly fr statistial anaysis as el Etion Fe Zone oation, in onjuntion wi cula PCS entr r ouni Panning has asgna a ehnia Supot Gou (S) In itsinitia stags th S loos o harnss teniians toresearh an roi seris in v aeas: tnur

nd equit; delopmen; consrution and abo;nanc an oganizing rad t Evition Zone is geneating ictois fo tnans ighting itions uiings a bing conee into iite eui coopeaties (Ball 1986. cnica supot asitat tse os.

e ain iitation to tes arios fots toeo assistane has een lac o esoucessi a f rsoues, h nit stglhas geneated nsierable eai atiit in ossiona is ich is itsef a eetion o aso aaibuilding in comunitis o o naong gressie rces In so as, eoe ae

bett situat to ae a irn no tan nteas ago in te eya anti-uan renwal suggls is ses ioni in e light o te onseaieiat inading urbanism.

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cusiveness skifu pitica and technicaeadeship and the fact that the DSNI aea haseen the fcus f much ecent stugge in Rx-uy the DSNI has managed t tain significant esuces fm usinesssuppted fun-datin.

A diect and fu time staff f fu haveeen hied and they have ecenty eeased awedeveped equest f ppsas (ackedy $10) f cmpehensive physicascia ecnmic devepment and husingpanning. A campaign t stp dumping f ga-age and hazadus waste n the neigh-hd's vacant ts is we undeway. Muchf DSNIs ganizing and panning wk isdne in cpeatin with the gups in theaea. uenty DSNI is wking with the O-

chad Pak United Tenants Assciatin t ppse pans f a new pisn and a wastet-enegy pant ppsed f catin in the in-dustia zne adjacent t the neighhdDSNI ganizes ae amngst the mst active inthe Evictin Fee Zne aitin.

Lessons for Other Cities

The cuent situatin f Rxuy may have

sme pecuiaities ut it is in many ways symp-tmatic f the cuent situatin f wkingcass cmmunities f c in maj US cities.Chief among the similarities they face is the

problem of racism. It is a centa deteminantf the cnditin f ife f neighhds ikeRxuy pemeating evey aspect f theiecnmy demgaphic stuctue institutinaenvinment and pitica situatin. It ceatedthe ghett and endeed its ccupantsvuneae t the auses f the maket and the

state When cnditins detemine that the ghet-t is n nge desiae t the pwes that eits dissutin is faciitated pehaps meikey its atmizatin and dispesa intsepaate smae cncentatins ess ikey tgeneate esistance and pitica pwe. Sinceacism is gaining in stength in ecent yeas it isme ikey that the centes f ack andLatin cncentatins wi find themseves unde me vigus attack in the nea futue.

Rxuy' catin and its pximiy t thegwing enta Business Distict is as nanmay. Back and Latin migatins t n

22

the cities mved int catins aandned ya a fce which had fed the city in simiacnditins thughut the cunty. Disinvestment whethe panned (as in Rxuy's histyf edining) maket diven is a cmmncnditin amng ack and Latin neigh

hds. The majity f vacant and n Rxuywas in fact ceated thugh natina nt capgams f "ight emva uan enewaand highway cnstuctin. The "tiaging fsevices is a natina pactice f the peid.The cncentatin f puicy assisted husingnw in dange f sing susidies is a natinapem.

But if new fms f ause ae taking shapein Bstn and Rxuy s ae new fms fesistance and stugge. enta t the ecent ef

ft has een the Oganizing mmittee f aGeate Rxuy Neighhd Authity. Inits visin f cass aiances and its ca f epe-sentatin y "sect (tenants hmewnescegy agencies sma usiness wnes) itefects the essns in unity f past stugges andpitica campaigns. In its efft t think intems f neighhd and ca ganizing itefects a gwing tend y ppessed gups inthis cunty t "caize thei effts in de

t miize thei ases. In its ptentia f actuay deiveing sme ppua victies in the1980s it is a funtain f hpe.

A t the time this aticle was written, MauiciGastn and Maie Kennedy were both facutymembers of the Center for Community Panning UMassBoston 's College of Public andCommunity Service. Both were longtime com

munity activists and worked with the RoxbuyTechnical Assistance Project to aid the Roxbury community i the fight against displacement. Mauricio died on Sept. 13, 1986. notice appeared in Vol. 20, No. 2-3 of RAMarie is continuing her wok at the college ain the commuity.

A longer versio of this article will be appeagin Antipde: A Radica Juna f Gegap

Vol. 19, No. 2.

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Maa amaig umay

On Noebe 4th o last yar, os to 50,citizens of Boston living in or near the predominantlyblack aea o ratr xbur vote on wethr tharea sould eave Boston and incororate as a sepa

rate muicialit to be clled Mandel, in hnr ofSouth African black eaders Nelson and Winnieandela he sparatin psltecnicall anon-binding proposal to "denne and reincorpat Roxbur, whi was untl 88 an indnent townwhipped up a storm conoversston it oficials damne it as econoillepostous an at orst, a prgam o railsarain. he rter Rbury norporaionect GIP), sonsors of the Mandela initiative,ntain, "e wn and onto becaus lantro is the key to selfeteination. he separa

on refrendum as dfeatd b 3 to 1 magn.

the poposa nle a eate at has in US bak omuities for over a hun can te black comunity (or an oternuIty o o ttr ac ell i bsmilion into e wite soet, or y stalishing

ontol ovr dveloent? heta roc oson n the month

dig the vot on andela hold essos or comof oo aross the untry

groups o ats plae t ost iptantte r of te Mandela referend: te t Mnela i, h ston

wich shapl ttak te ia, andtion f lack leaders d atiists end

aing dint ids on the issue.ele, ulic lsn pror ndew acitt/uban ann Curtis Davis,

ar ur nrrin Pnsired by t incopation f ail

E Palo lto, hih a a own in 13sad a beakfas disussion gu, thn in on aor nn o o a plisie in

e question of foring a seaate cin , th ard te

neessa to ut the qustion o th bllot-biding rrendu instruting sta

o te isticts to egin e roess opatiOn. Jones nte, "e didn't crat thisjst desibe it he it of Bostn is so inga, as as o ii-ondr avis att to ertn im"We nlud ta i {a sss

inororan] wuln' ppen i ee taditionl rah nte, w

a sttrooer apc. He adecd al n at wn't o nW spnt u own one t aoi he. Af" bho t outsid intss. e us sathe.

Mai Ky a Ci iy

RI appled for votes basd on several rationales revesing the decades of racist neglect expriened Roxbury, conrling the impningfod of investmen, and siml gaining accountable

goernent. ltugh the eincororation strategclarl raws on lak natinalis, GP otnadote merate and even "americanrhetoic GRI's main position paer begins, "Indpendn is as u a a o te Masschusettsspirit as it is the mcan ne, if not moe so.GI's literatur epasz, "ur omnity isintegra an our ity ill be, too

h son group of actrs, the Boston whiteestblshment, reacte with a sef-righteous anger oune lielis. sn's leang iynewpaper, The Boston Globe in a nearhysterioutouring unednted sin the 197 acilviolenc assiated wit busing, published b ouroun at ls eve negatie articles on Mandela int three weeks preding the elecion e artilesinud two ediils and tw sign couns,chaging Manela advocates with "deceitfulness,ngatiism, untuths, nd nfusin, aking"lu, angry arges, being "ostile and divsiv,and "pomoting raial segregation he /oealong wit othr oponents of Manela, ersisted inling e reinorpratin propos "secssin, er hih GRIP reected he Phoen, oston'saing teati ely, ined th b in

ploring anelait ocias wer ot to e outdone th ush toenounce reinorporation for Roxbury. BruceWl a iti o andela, tol a henix rprtertha he hd ner seen ayor ynn s angry er anssu tpil oent f ln was, "esoul not sla the door on te futue to make upfr the rbls of th ast. Fln's ainisratin release a report tat proted Mandea wouun an annu efit of ove ilon In tenth fore the lecon, ty wrkers re istruct o assu an inquiris out ur(eg., aout assessments and lan disposition wereoing fro andla supors and the ere toitl iforatin until aer te ection lynnsplital organization wa s oilize to so Mandelat t pls; it worers we seen at a pollingaes ung ring hous

T obe and t Flnn adnistratin adere main rtiisms GRIs seation sal:it wou pull Blcs ut o Boson st a tiee wr sting to ma rogss, it woul besal insi, nd even i it as not ape itsere to iname ai disins ut wh was haction of Boson's ows-that- so vint e

elive tree tivations w ind behind ttoFrst, ity ocils and t r coat in

ss rsene b ha sta tirolitil and deepent agena on he img of a

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Btn s hd its i disins. a ig is ruid o atat ute pnnsar o hor u sns sa fs as ano assurnn's ion. h Gs se is ssigiian; ti ars as nnn i Bosnasd fianal an - ns on in Boson'si pr. Mna to sae taond, t initiaves rarts ui on o dno on in x, u in unis arossBoo-ad tua " s n un an dztin my or t sura in-ias ra t fms in Ha t na u av snte a puli ma-da r ounit n b a lage ron ofBn's po.i po ut Jas Jng o of as, hi o- Bs a ding ti st t ntl rsp in yo suss insunbk as, aiita megne ai k lers n tica, Mi ; wh eorsd t ru ns a gu n l gi oltsin y. ie g ws sin aua ius i as at a r n n h lcr. Eve ar the t th ndun bed os sur Ma as , in Gs s,s unsd ' on is i- issu t figs wo oid siion th nu e aapu pi t ia as " spr mui. h ad te n blcks t s okig qui tn sys, h hn nnn i"Las M Kng and Ste avn sin, a sur an in somc

as t n osal o asa Rxuy, ui suot assos gups su as a ouNho Ahrit ta on, of Ps sin an so sa in-sinc t iain as n w t sovoxbu's Bt t R as wl o-si iai gous such as nii io of K's 193 y -gn) vuly or a dus one sa uy corol sdnaion.h snss ii ais o aas n a t a Fnn a-isan va a c ass an dn h iniiaie en orsn Sme or surs un hwv. k sa ai dia Bl2

Owensan inteesting aa o cal g pli ins a h an ah AiRasm in sn bu la jin eubliPar bus, e t Demats e snsi asol a G unis e ish sue t ein

pation an oul e i m n ing o r i bause I n ae all inain "T n oston Cagn, ganiz gpsig Manea , sua ust aout ee weor t ion, an sib b Globeas ad up ag of mioriy rgen usines an itia ars Is w os iisspl w Bu Wa an s i, u ba iiss alleFn n rai issus in as, an inia a en oin e l a Rxu lbisie in in 195 W nound ta "A o us h lan ss of ptuniy te s svn s s, an we intn ayhr," ut as anodg ta h ha in te usd h sion as a sue leev n d c oniie su lveg, ar, aing i sei

Back unss os ini oben tha inatin a it . Tar esin f iiyDops soiain sae, "I n' i u t asis f e anea pp un in ing o so usinss pl Iin is is ase in tng o gain ial ltenin . as n n discussi w i act el usiness lat. businsen s o os irf ape nrit vls w a i Flnns $40ilin . n u, a ini ntrat ar at , , u nl a gun o atat usie apil . eeou u it en t bin.AthougWalan Sti eco so o e yisan s of new ouniie as in Bstn, os rs paa o a indndnt sii Snao R BUing, S. atia ainstam bak oia nas suoe to ut h qusin n aot, u pte nent o te psa, sang, swing t tin an ion w i i us a sie? Bng's s Bruc,urt Ciy oun sint, iiil a nu His ss satn soe i isy g in opposin. O

If th aVcates f Mandela saw inorpai an ol in a a sag di e obe ah hs s te eeenu as iissue e King xpn is i I y


27/92

bef at they osl foc on iliisiness an spartion wy o kig l om sing n he r isu. that is tcntrl ofthe land." Mla rem went wn t lctoradf by 5 prcnt to n. Wat a w oclude fm t osi man?, Te swr s nt simp. For e ig, bau

th sha of Boson's stris , rcen os w e on t Mdel qstion ewit, athuh 74ecnt of thse livi in Mnlaack, ls 1 pt Lain. But th in l th w inv s

a nl black popution s as so don' bev ae kysom t, i ori t a

t th Put c t pr-Cl


28/92


29/92

Y & KP,

Y & Lwo Community Activistsalk about Boston's Future

Bob Terrell and Chuck Turner are activists with broad histories of political work focused on the

, mpowerment of Boston's black community. Both were founding members the Greater Roxbury Neighrhood Authority (GRNA) and are in its current leadership. As grassroots organizers they give us aoncrete picture of how different segments ofthe black community rceive the city elites current assault onoxbury and how they respond to the "full control stance of both the GRNA and the Mandela initiative tomke grater Roxbury a separate unicility Bobs current work predated by years of tenant organizing the South End a multi-racial working-class nighborhood that vigorously fought the Bostonevelopment Authority displacement of the people in that area. Part of an older generation of politicaltivists Chuck is recognizd as one of Bostons most energetic and durable progressive leaders He was achairperson of the Black United Front a coalition of civil rights groups founded in 68 and he was th

rector of the Third World Clearinghouse a community coalition founded in 5 which was notably essful in uniting black Latino and Cinese labor groups Fro each of thm we sought information on comunity issues imdiately at hand as well as some perspective on the national implitions of these:; unity-related struggles,

mmora marh for bla womn murdrd n Boston Eln Shub photo 27


30/92

nervew w B erre Descbe he coe whch ece bckoc eos od d coo hve emeged

Bb: Ove he s wo d hf es deveome

sses hve bee he foefo of esos dscssed he bck comm Wh s he fe ofhe bck comm ems of b deveome?h s he m sse gh ow O sdesRob s soded b mo deveome o-ecs h hve bee shed b he se hee eobems wh seco d so he vemke osos hosg css s eeme ce mhe bck comm ogehe of h messg es ses ces d mo sgges wh he

c od dsoso of bc d So deveo-me ecess hs become he sse h edves he comm

e he 1983 mo eeco mbe ofeoe fe h ws me fo he comm obee coode d ge hde o of hedeveome h ws bo o h he commsmeos J 198 m ofogos me o o ssess hs so d o ge o wh we shod do s comm d

eveoefom eeced ocs o heds of socsevce geces o deede cvss eoe fomDs (omm Dveome ooos dhe eghbohood ssocoseveoe we codhk of ws ved o h meeg We evewed he osdg obems d he osdgoecs d we shed fo he ceo of eghbohood ho h wod o ob some ocowe d coo ove he deveome ocess

Dd eoe hve sese o geeme h

e sge? ow wod o dec he secm ofoc esecves voved?

b We hee ws ge de of sgge deso wh he go becse eoe hd deeoc escves s o how he sw bdeveome hee wee some eoe who fe hhose gesce deveome oecs wod be smbo of ogess s ve sm o wh o hve hd Wod coes ee becme eh he goveme d cooe ee wee ch

g mo eo o edesg Rob wh mosof dos vesmes behd d hee weesome eoe who becse of he ow eceo ofdeveome o bese of he css eess swh deveome oos s beec o he egh

2

bohood s ogess s chge s gog o mesomehg bee fo he comm

mbe of s wee mch moe cc Wesw ohe kds of mcs d ohe kds of eecs

o o eghbohood o eme coe ofweeks befoe h hsoc meeg ws eked ohe ess b c gec (whch hs sce beehsed o of esece) h he R hd $750mo vesme fo he Dde Se eow some eoe ooked h d sd he bc seco hs cesed s dsvesme oc Rob hs s mo ve b he dmso hee g o do some good hgsfo Rob d bg he eghboho o hedeveome boom h hs h oso hs howsome eoe vewed he ook he heoc of he dmso seos d he ook heheoc ofhe R seos hee wee hose ofs who ooked h $750 mo vesme dsked wh kd of vesme? o wh kdof d se? So he sgge hs ws come dowo Wh kd of deeome do we fvo? ow dowe w he d sed? d who w hve ccess owhs b o ? d wh w be he mc o hes of he comm ems of mke foces

ves d h so of hg? h hs bee how hocs of he so hve boke dow s ows c d d hg ofbe vs cosevo e vs Rgh ecse o of cosevve foksw o oe sse s Yes we shod eve hDde Se e whe he hk bowh s gog o do o he b ems ofoe es he he s We w msecve vesme m cse me some oge obems ohe kd of w

: osevve foks? Yo me homeowes

Bb o s eoe whose o e ( he o se/Rgh) msem he bck coe ossmos bo who w oose dc vsod d coo c be msfoded oks woe o eb osed o he ssem s s wbecome e cc of he cs deveomeooss becse of how mgh ec dec ke he cse of bck ve deveoefom he eghbohood he hve ve secc s ofeess d becse of he csm he c ofoso he e coed e mch o deveowh he comm d he hve e obec of go hd Wod coes whoocc sm oso h css sce T;


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Bllboard by Dolands Communty Poster Proet ngland from ultue in ntentn Photomontage by Peter Dunnand Lorane Leeson.

wt to mke moe he w to be be toccmte eogh c to do the kds of roectsh w ow them o comee wh her whte

coerrts t here beg forced o do ht comm ht c ss wht t s the wt todo So o the oe hd were ws sg o themWe wt ffordbe hosg bt d o theher hd the bc secor hs ct bck tscmmmet to ordbe hosg

ow where the bck deveoers cod mke e kg d mke o of ro s o bd stffdowow t he ower strctre ver re-ce hs ke bck deveoers o of dowtow Sohere re bd d or costt ch to thems bee ook f o bd ordbe hosg for he commt we sort or getg thedes d the resorces d the kge fds dwhtever ese o eed o bd d f o bdrdbe hosg for s we sor or rght odeveo dowtow hs ws bee or tch tove eoe

the s wo d hf ers we hveebshed cotct wth mber of oher org- d we so hve bc rocess whch we c

he tow meetg rocess where we ve eoefm he commt d bsc we ke orc drecto from wht eoe s t thtmeeg I me f he commt s voet

oosed o somethg we w to do he we dotdo ost of he eoe from he R ve heeghborhood d heve got coectos wh ther

eghborhood ssocto ther chrch he bockcb or whever d wherever weve goe d hd chce to tk to eoe oeooe or smgros or eghborhood ssoctos Whereverthe R hs hd chce to mke h kd ofcotc weve fod ht eoe re ver sscosWhe the her bot mor vestmet comgwhe the bc sector oces ht the re gogto do somethg for the bck comm rght woe re sscos ese we kow the mrove-mets re ot for s We kow th the grd schemeover me s to move everoe ot of here ge s offthe d becse the d hs become vbebot two ers go he Glb r rtce sgRobr s re ese god me d rght fer htthere ws he begg of motg seco drso he eghborhood So eoe derstdttve d from essos of the s or eme Im from he Soh d org d we wereshed ot of the Soh d b rb reew eoe of m geerto the bck commt ook

he whoe deveomet rocess wh the erereerece of beg trmc dsc b t

R It seems o re hghghtg dereces ot

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rod vsos of deveome b rher rodccs d sreges

b Js bo everoe weve come coc whs oosed o he dsmg of he comm bdsceme here re dere sreges d

ccs forwrd s o how o comb h heR beeves h we eed democrceeced eghborhd hor or eghborhoodcoc h s gve or somehow obs he ocd eg hor o coro he deveome hs re ow wheher h mes corcgreeme wh he c or he se wheher hmes he R cedg h hor o s wheherh mes geg b w of se egso or cordce (whch were dog or hrogh ws

(whch were dog or b combo of hosemechsms wh we w s sch brod d msssor oc he grssroos eve h deveoer or bc gec sm o eer hecomm who comg o s rs d sow o of sm deveoers begg o roch heR d he (whch s somehg he Rcreed resose o c ve d s recogzed bod ow o s b he comm bb he c o some eves If we hve eogh msssor whch s or obecve 987, o ed

d bd re mss bsehe he c s come here d gore s becse we c rse he cos ofdog bsess o sch ve h deveoer w ss o good bsess cme We c force hem oegoe ow m rs of Robr deveoer c s come o eghborhood d srhrowg bdg heve go o de wh heJo Deveome ommee ghd rk orhe rrso roer eghborhood ssoco orwhever he oc gro s d wh he R s

sg s we e o coorde of h so hwheher s bc or rve ve wheher s mor bc secor vesme or mor vesmeof rve c o he eghborhood cs wk ecse weve go oo mch occo d we c mke oo dc for hem o dobsess So he hve o egoe

R s he Rs focs o movemebdgd f coro ecoered ooso from someesbshed bck eders who mde her w

erer oc frmework d who hve edmore ccomodos roes?

b: I hk he dereces of oo h weve hd

3

from Movemen Towa a New Ameca Mithe

Goodman ed.wh oher secos of he bck comm hvbee over he sse of wheher we shod corodeveome s oosed o beg dvsorcc Some eoe s ook he bes orgog o ge s he or d he se o recogzo s egme bod of dvsors Or oso ) hs o go eogh d 2) s czes we cws gve dvce o he goveme I me o cdo h hrogh or eeced ocs Yo c wreers o c hve meegs d h Werkg bo c ower d coro over deveome d o of foks hve robem wh hhe hk s resc

R Does hree her ower?

b: I some cses wod I fc some ces hfc h were srggg for d of sef hre o hem b shod be If were membrofhe c coc f I were se rereseve or se seor I wod wecome he R I me I

wod hve he ress cofereces m ofce Iwod e hem se m oce becse s fr Icocered merc soce bck eder hohg o ose b kg srog os osohe hve ohg o ose es erms of herreosh o he bck comm or edrg Rs orech I ever hve ecoered gro of workgcss bck foks who hve s os o bk Wh o re dog does ksese hs does o me here s sme forwr

sh from he comm here s hsordmc of s ow d k whe o ge o cer o where eoe re red o go oooher he R d oher gro r


33/92

building on the political culture and politil historythat was in the neighborhood. Whenever we havetown meetings we average 2 to 250 peope; we'vehad as many as 5 or 600 at the town meeting. Andwhenever we put forward what to some people are

extremey radil positions, they've been adopted.R: Like .. .

b Like suing the city, or like asking for, or trying tonegotiate for essentialy all the owers that the BRAhas Now, for some people that is a radical proposi-tion, because we would then have private citizens outof the black community controling everything that'sdone in City Counci Districts 4 and which isroughly 25 percent of the city. Peope in the backommunity don't have any probem with that. And

he few back leaders who do have a problem withthat have now been positioned in such a way that theynnot pubicly oppose it bause the sentiment of themmunity is, "We have to protect ouselv and thebst way to do that is to have power and authorityver al development, over al planning activities,ver all zoning activiti. We no longer want thebureaucracy downtown making decisions for us. Wewant to make those decisions. Again, a nationalntiment: it's very old in the black community.

at's why Mandela was given a hearingR Does the nationaist sentiment conict withnother dimension of GRNA's politia push forinclusiveness? How do peope reate to your reachingut to dierent communities of color and newmigrant populations

b Historically, black folks have aways been esstagonistic to the presence of immigrants and peopeom other countries coming into their neighborhoodsd settling. We've always been far more toerantn any other community you coud name, in thisty or any other city. We're very toerant, butentimes, a lot of immigrants who come here don'tan to associate with back folks because blacks areitied as being at te bottom of the Americantem pole They wil frequenty shy away from ususe they do not beieve that we have anything toy to them that makes any sense or is helpfu to them.I mean if you come into a new city and you want tolk to some foks who know their way around and

ve the power to do something for you, and youn't perceive black folks in that way, then there's a

oblem Now, some do. There are some Caperdeans and some folks from the islands who

immediately embrace the back community becauseof their own sensibilities or their own attitudes or theirown poitics. Sometimes the job they have will bringthem into contact with the black community. Forexample, the hotel workers union has a ot of black

folks like Cape Verdeans or Hispani and they'remoded into a strong political force that has realyshaken up the hote industry in this town.

R: How do you assess the work done to coordinatediverse peopes behind a radical poitics of landcontrol

b I think modes are being deveoped aroundcoalscing dierent cutural groups The DudeyStreet Neighborhood Initiative has done a good job inits community. It's very diverse. here are Cape

Verdeans, Haitians AfroAmericans, and a fewwhites iving in the area and they've done a prettygood job at putting foks together. And I think thatthey've been successful at doing it because they'verespected the independence of everybody's culture;

Prudential Center Boston. Ellen Shub photo.

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hey eve have a sysem of smuaous rasao her mees. refer o hem as a mUeNaos.

R ha has bee ra br roupsoeher suh a ue fasho?

Bb Aa, h heres a o of aoue amo aera poro of he eaershp (my ae a you-er. ha we ow have o o s joy bu ourmass bases a we somehow or oher have moreommuao a ha rassroos eve Beause haswhere he rea aaosm s. 's he perepo somebas have of spas a some spas have ofbas a s a he rassroos eve ha fos areo o have ome oeher a share some easBeause hey have exay he same suao. f

e hs pae, hy'r aso o o e hs pae Ahs s a rea haee Boso s o e New Yor

Suspeted arson site near Dudey Square Roxbury MarieKennedy photo

3

Cy, where he Laos a ba ommueserme a overap o severa eves. Boso hasaways bee very urforee Eve so, a ey faor he suess of ora has bee ha here s aommuy of avsts wh a hsory of wor

oeher a e he ssues broay.R Do peope ome ou of he same experees?

Bb: No aways I he spa ommuy, hereare a o of fos who ome ou of he srue forepeee Puero Rohe srue aasU.S. mperasm. So whe hey ome o hs ourya o of hem fee ha heyre oy here emporaryThe rea srue s Puero Ro. The here was ash he sevees, whe peope sa, "No, werebeom par of he Amera wor ass a we

have sube ommues New Yor or Boso orwherever a were o o be here for a whe awere o o a be o orae. A o ohose fos a a o of ba avss were abe oome oeher a a. remember he aesevees, paruar, I ew a he spaavss my ehborhoo. You ow, we a huou a ra a pare a ae pos a wor oevey Bu ha s o he moe oommuao bewee our ommues. fa

oe reaso why Maea fae s ha bas o proper oureah he spa ommuyNoboy reay expae wha he proposo was aabou

R s here ayh ese you wou a haforms he ora you o?

Bb eeuay, here are some hs happe he ba ommuy ha are very, very eresA arou he oury, heres a rea oe abohe uura aa ha's happe aas bafos. was Ca November; here was aoferee here o he ba famy wh fos roa over he oury. The ba soa woresoveo s o o be here Boso emphashe same oer he ba famy a he whoeuura proess. e we hrouh he sevees awe we hrouh he ehes we we hrohBuppesm a Yuppesm a erao a aha sor of suffa ow peope are say, vehe fa ha o severa eves Amera s fa apar

uuray, wha are we as ba fos o o o?ha s our respose o he usra sysem faapar a arou us?


35/92

Theres bee several levels of respose. Oe s acultural reassace: sharg our hstory wth theyoug people ad pushg to vestgate as a umberof back tellectuals are dog ow, acet Afrcatradtos. Gog back ad lookg at acet Afrca

socetes ad redscoverg both our scetc adtechologcal past has real mpcatos for developmet. Whe you do that, whe you beg to look atacet Egypt ad Ethopa ad the Suda ad youlook at al the great empres of wester Afrca, youbeg to deveop a percepto of developmet that sowester You beg to uderstad that what tookplace the West was very partcular to the West.Ad that may of the theoretcal coceptos thathave come out of that experece, both bourgeos ad

Marxst, are Eurocetrc. Ad so theres a terest-g sythess The whole approprate techologymovemet ad a lot of ew deas aroud deveopmet are ow lkg up wth the experece ad thevaue system of our acet Afrca past Ad ths sortof fulls a prophecy that most of our major backstoras have talked about sce the eteethctury that the lberato of back folks thscoutry s very much coected to our uderstadgof our Afrca past The trajectory that back fokswere takg, whch was dsrupted by slavery s owg redscovered.

R: How does your oto of commuty deveopmet coect wth detos of the famly that comeout of the back experece, rather tha whte mddle-class modes? Ths seems pressg sce the whtetablshmet has aggressvey revved the MoyhaReport ad the vew that the collapse of "thetradtoal uclear famly s key to all that hurtsblacks.

b Theres a rea eed the black commuty togt away from ths oto of the ucear famly. Weave to get back to our cultura tradto of thextded famly Ad that's gog to have a majorpact o how we redeveop the commuty: housgpattes, workg at home, job patters. Everythggets shed aroud whe we retur to a extededfamy etwork. t has major mplcatos for urbavelopmet.

R: What deas do you have about that?

b Wel, more work should be provded for peope ter eghborhoods. Housg shoud be rede-ge rba areas are much too cogested; weld push out ad use more lad. There should be a

hgher rato of lad to people The you woud beabe to accomodate ew desgs for housg thatwould accomodate large exteded fames.

Now was ucky the South Ed. Mymmedate famly lved oe house; my couss

reted a apartmet rght ext door; ad my othercouss owed a house further dow the block. So wewere abe to keep our famly etwork together Fokswho come from the Carbbea sometmes haveproblems because theyre used to vg together exteded famles. Ad you hear al these commetslke, "How coud al these folks wat to ve thesame buldg or the same house or the sameapartmet? What theyre dog s cutura Theyretryg to mata ther exteded famy because they

uderstad that f they get al broke up, theyre gogto have serous probems vg Amerca.

R Lets tur to Madeathe cocepto ad thecampag tsef. How dd you ad GRNA folks vewt?

Chidren on Wheee S Souh End c

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37/92

om unning pogessie o adical candidat ooce to oganizing atenatie institutions wheheit's a ood coop o a school o a housing coopeaie.We hae to use a o hose sategies acoss he boad.We hae to not only mach on city hall bu we hae to

sue the city as well. We should use eey single tacticwe can think o o moe ou issues owad. I don'tthink we should back o om anything Eeythingthat mobiizes and bings people out is an adanageto all o us. I don' cae who does it. It doesn't mate ipeople ae concened about picking up eaes inFanklin Pak and they tu out 5, people. Theidea the moe peope, the bette.

But it's also a matte o how you peceieoganizaion. We may hae only peope tha ae

embes o he GRNA, bu i pecent o theneighbohood beliees in what we beiee, they don'need o be embes. They don't need to come to allthe meetings All we need to know is that the majoiyo the neighbohood backs wha we'e doing. That'sall we need to know.

R And the moe tacics you'e go..

b .. .the moe peope wil come ou.

R: Do he lessons you'e eaning hee in Boston

help o deepen and boaden he stugge nationaly?Does i hep to dene a model?

Bb think wha the GRNA is doing, what Mandeawas doing, what the Initiatie is doing, wha anumbe o goups in Robuy ae doing denieyhae diec applicabiliy in othe uban aeas I yougo to Chicago, New Yok, o Phiadelphia, hee ae

simila pobems. And hee ae aeas o Halem,aeas in D.C., aeas in Detoi with the Renaissancepogam, and aeas in San Fancisco whee blackpopuations ae theatened with displacemen. SanFanciso, by the way, aeady constitutes a case wheea city sueed a net oss o its black populationdiectly due o dispacemen, oce towe deelopment, the encoachment o downtown on neighbo-hoods, etc. It's the same hing that we see in Boston.So I think that, although the models ma change andhow peope oganize to deal with the cisis mightshi, wha we'e doing hee can ceainy dup-licated, amended, changed, and impoed upon inothe pats o the county. The challenge is the same.The black community' going to hae his chalengeno mate whee we ae.

R So you hink tha deeopment is ealy the keyissue?

b No quesion ha, o us, deeopment is going to he key quesion o the emainde o the eighies

and o he balance o the twentieth centuy.

tlanta Mothers Soldarty marh in Boston organed by CRSS. Ellen Shub photo

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38/92

Interview with Chuck Turner

RA How would you compae the cuent poiticastrugge for and contro with earier efforts in the

sixties and seventies?

Chuck: In the two peceding decades, poitica goupscame out with nancial stategies that focused on

affodabe rent. Using hindsight, we can see that theitarget was not only too narrow but would eventualybecome een to twenty years late, economicalyobsoete. So in this ound of discussions peope aretalking about equity owneship and coopeativehousingstategies that alow people who live herenot just to be renters but to have authoity ove their

situation. This shift by the way, does not repesent an

incease in miitancy over the past. During the twopeceding decades oganizing was vey focused on

increasing access to powe and control; but todaythere is moe sophistication in terms of what stategiescan in fact, ead to contro. So the focus is cuently

on equity housing as opposed to renta and on havingcear authoity ove how decisions ae made athethan just being a paticipant in an advisory way

I'd like to make another contrast with thepoitical environment today and that of the sixties.

Then there was a strong nationalist pespective thatsaid that we have to ceate ou own economic bases ofpower and suppot. It was a minoity viewpoint, but itwas head and respected. At that time, the majority offolks in the back and Hispanic communities in

Boston were tying to push into the estabishedeconomic system. Oganizations and individualswere focusing on how to get into the police and fedepatments how to gain city jobs how to get a foot

into the pivate secto. Now, two decades late theeis a ot of skepticism about the abiity to move into theovea commecia economy and expeience anysuccess thee. People realize that even if they can getjobs-becase of acist attitudes it's geneally aslabores cleks even lowerleve administatorsthey stil have litte chance at gaining a evel of incomethat's going to enabe them to buid a ife for

themseves

RA: In 1984, aer a seies of meetings, GRAformed as the community' esponse to the curentdeveopment crisis. Looking back, have there beenmajo supises in how events unfoded?

Chuck First, the city hasn't pushed the land disposition as strongly as we thought initially. Despite

from Movement Toward a New Aerica, Mitchel Goodman, ed.

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39/92

eaks of gand designs, the BRA has wound upocusng on ony one pacel, Pacel 18, the mosthighlyvalued piece o community land. Even on that,they have not been able to keep pace with theihetoic of 198. And that's good it's woking to theadvantage of the community The fea was that theywould ty to push much moe quickly to do dispositions And I imagine that thee's been a desie todo that. But the opposition has made that much moe

dcult.Second, fo me pesonally, it's unusual that theback chuches haven't gotten involved as much as Iwould have epected I'm not sue of all the easonswhy, but I would have imagined that, fom thetandpoint of the maintenance o the congegation,and thei own situation, it would have made a ot ofense fo the chuches to play a vey active ole in thedialogue about wha would happen. While thee haveen some chuches who have gotten involved, ingenea the chuches haven't tied to eecise as active

a ole as I woud have epectedFinally, although I wouldn't chaacteize it as a

pise, it is encouaging that duing the last sevealyeas, the base of suppot fo full contol ove

development has maintained itself While someoganizations ae not as stongly behind it as othes,thee has been an enduing coe of adheents fo theidea that the community should empowe itself.

R et's shi to Mandela. How would you descibepeople's elationship to the concept? Aso, how doyou make sense of how little suppot it eceived in thevoting booths?

ChukI think eveybody acknowledges that fundamental powe ove how decisions ae made is the

most efective way fo the community to gain itsobjectives. Even consevatives (those who epesentbusiness inteests and the moe pivate developmentconcens) take the position that community authoitywould bing ewads What holds people back fomactually voting fo Mandela and this is why thevote was 7 pecent opposed and only 2 pecent infavois the fact that people don't see a feasibleeconomic stategy that would go along with the

political powe.

RA: What about the pocess? Did it move too fast fothe community? Some black activists wee aising

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poltcal questons about the Mandela campagntoo topdown and/or mystyng, perhaps, or classderences wthn the black communty?

huk In my vew, the man dculty was the lacko an economc analyss, o a clear perspectve on how

the operaton o Mandela would aect people's lvesI that had been there, some o the poltcal processssues wouldn't have been rased as much Forexample, one o the key poltcal concerns that wasrased was the lack o an educatonal process or thecommunty. When people talked about that, theywere talkng about the problem o economcs andwhether or not there would be enough dscsson toreally help people understand. O course, there weresubstantve poltcal questons, lke Who would

make moves or power? Who would run or mayor?Who would be the councl people? Even so, peopleeel a certan amount o ease around the dea o acouncl that came completely out o ths communty,but they get anxous wonderng how much moneythere would be or polce, re, publc works, andother mportant servces. The lack o an economcanalyss relected negatvely on the poltcal debateand was decsve n Mandela's rejecton.

The absence o a strong economc analyssstymed people's ablty to be behnd Mandela on a

very ndvdual level. For example, I'm a twentythree year old who wants to rase a amly n Roxburyand wants to have an ncome o at least $15000 ayear as a way o movng orward, how do I handle myeconomc stuaton? Mandela ddn't speak to that.(O course, "One Boston ddn't, ether.) And thenthere's the larger queston that puzzled ndvdualswe're all together, how do we provde money or ctyservces? Mandela hadn't lad that out. The Mayoralso contrbuted to the conuson by clamng that we

would only be able to rase $350 mllon a year butwould need $450 mllon The people n Roxburywho say that the way to subsst s to ntegrateourselves nto the abrc o the larger systemarounddevelopment ssuesby and large, they have lmtedroom to maneuver

RA: Do you thnk the ssues and modes o strugglearound development undertaken n Boston are relevant natonally?

huk Sure. ook at Detrot. Obvously the eco-nomc nrastructure there can't or s unwllng tosupport the people who are there In many ways,people o color on the East Coast are acng problems

38

from mercan Pctre Jacob Hold

that people o color and whte people are acng n thendustral part o the country as the economyswtches. Here, because you have a whte, Yuppepoplaton that's movng nto the cty, nto a lot ocommercal jobs, there s a sense o buoyancy n theconomy a sense that thngs are movng orwardBlacks and Hspancs, especally the young, becommore o a backwater.

When you go out to the Mdwest, you realthat there the whole economy s the backwater to thcommercal development that you see on the East andWest coasts and there's lots o consteaton andunclarty because you can't see how the econombase can provde a ramework or growth andsurvval So what we are dealng wth herearonddevelopmentcertanly connects wth other arennatonally

RA: Speakng o young people, what role do thyplay n communty organzng? Are they morsusceptble to despar or cyncsm?

huk Our youth look out nto a world where trare no answers that are worth anythng that s, a kdcomng out o hgh school, thnkng about what to doand how to move, can nd t very depressng The tys very glamorous t emphaszes style, orm andstatusall wrapped up n a nancal and materalstramework. Yet the realty s that there's no ayyoung black people can ratonally see themsel apart o t. At the same tme, these young blacks andHspancs and Asans, who are comng up and tryn

to get nto that world, are bumpng up aganst oldrpeople o color who are out there tryng to mov nand move orward. That competton brngs on ngreater alenaton and desolaton


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I hi h youg people re dig vriey ofwys o de wih he pifrom drugs se ivolveme i very fs life hey re looig for sese ofliveess i his siuio h he drem of he fuuredoes o provide I ps imes i he blc com

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csos cmpigs mig dierece?

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sese of wholeess So hes lie prophe d esseis lie rdicl i he Rom See d eveully Ihi esse will wl ou d ry o fuse morl dpoiicl cio Bu righ ow is deprsig Youhre lef ou here wih o couerperspecive omerilism If merilsm is he sole go of hesociey i mes h wihou moey you hve o preyo ech oher So were i ouh siuio

Bob errel is he direcor of he Wshigo SreeCorridor Coliio d curre chirperso of hereer Robury eighborhood uhoriy

Chuc uer is direcor of he Ceer for Commuiy cio d vicechirperso of he reerRobury eighborhood uhory

ie Lorello Ke Schlosser d Wihorcoduced hese ierviews

1; . "Feurig "Coic Fer d Securiy i heucler geThe Chlege of he FemiisPece Moveme i Ily by Elisbe ddisd icole iicos d Her Sory of Wremilirizig Lierure d Lierry Sudiesby Ly Hley; O he Germ Quesio:Lef Righ d he Poiics of io Ideiyby HsGeorg Bez; US Medi d he Elecio Coup I he Philippies by FrBrodhed; Leer from Berli; ribue oGee

3


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SEARCHING FOR

'COMON GROUND:A Revie Essay

J G

Common Ground, the Pitzerprize winning book b J Anthon kas abot threeBoston famiies dring the desegregation crisis, has received widespread praise and intensive

pbicit, and despite its imposing ength of over 600 pages the book has become a besteer Reviewers iked it for teing the "compeing stories of cit famiies in trmoi andor describing the "gritt reait of race and cass confict ike other books in the newonfiction genre, this work provided reaife stories as sensationa and gripping as fictionhis is the riveting stff of genine traged wrote Boston noveist eorge Higginsor Nsdy, a tre stor vast broader in scope than the nonfiction noves ofman Capote and Norman aier Perfect materia for a teevision docdrama which is what wi become of Common Ground next V season, according to pans anonced b orimar Prodctions, who bring s that ongrnning saga of corporate greedandfamily hate, "Dallas . !

Common Ground has a the ingredients of a great tragic nove thoh kas swears"Nothing has been disgised or embeished Indeed, man reviews, ike the one in the ms tot is as A book that ps the reader aong ike fiction, bt with a caref,

ispassionate reconstrction of events It is, said m "a mode of thoroghness

Lile Rok Cenral Shool Lle Rok Arkansas 95 Bur Glinn phoo 4


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ep 195. Member of he WA T em of BPD wch from he roof of hrleown High chooland baance Lukas combnes accodn tothe Blmr Sun the naatve sk of anovest and the beadth of vew of a socal

hstoan to tel ths stoy 2The book descbes thee vey dffeent

fames expeencn ths tubuent decaden Boston ace eatons the Dves a beaYuppe famy who become ubanhomesteades n Bostons South End; theTwmons a femaeheaded back famy whove n a neaby housn poect and the shwokncass coff famy of haesownThe coffs as he Twmons ae a femae

headed poect fam n a poo Bostonnehbohood suestn the common ound wokncass fames of both acesoccuped n Boston dun he s

Lukas coud not have pcked a theme moetac than the natons fawed effots toacheve aca equalty n a slhty moe subteway Cmmn Grund efects anothe dem-ma aey teated wth any teay powe thefaue of bea socal pocy and moe eneay the mts of the bea vson ofaca equat wthn a cassstuctuedcptast socety

Cmmn Grund s compeln anddamatc Lke man peope found eadn

42

the book fascnatn and pofoundy toubnLukas exposes the pan and aony of ace classand ndecty sexst oppesson n the cty by

stenn caefuly to hs subects and hepnthem tel the stoes (o at east aspects of thestoes)

Lbea ctcs and some on the Left pasedthe book fo offen a cass anayss of busn whch took some of the soca blame fowhte esstance off the shoudes of ethncwokncass nehbohoods and paced t onthose of sububan decsonmakes and powebokes who lved outsde the cty and dd no

have to shae what Lukas caed the buden ofdeseeaton Some beas of the popuststpe ke those who campaned fo Bostonscuent ayo Ray ynn (who had been aeade of the South Boston antbusn movement) found suppot fo the vew that socapoces attackn acsm ae dvsve and hathe soutons to acal nequaty ae economcDsusoned beas and some consevatvesked the book fo ctcn the pobem ofpocymakn by cout decee and fo questonn the soca costs and educatona otcomes of deseeaton n Boston

Cmmn Grund has been pased andpesented not ony as h Boston book btthe best book out the moden uban css


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and th far of ra soca ocy Thmost mortant oo on an mrcan cty thathas r n rttn dcard th Nwnglnd Monthly t s artcary aangto many ras ho dssond thsoca ocs drctd at racsm and ho argty aot th am orngcass htsha rcd for oosng ths ocs son rr rmard th oo ms thatattmts to so th rac qston shod dfrrd nt th cass rom s addrssd nths ay Common Gound can rad as acassconscos oo

Bac rrs and othr crtcs ha tanLas to tas for myng that cass s mormortant than rac for gnorng th ac

momnt for c rghts and dsgrgatonfor nfary jdgng th rsts of sng forsofddng ht racsm y drang sym-athtc ortrats of ht rsstanc adrsand mnmng th racst onc thy roo-d or condond

In nmros forms arond Boston Lasattmtd to ansr hs crtcs n sadthat h as not n rtng a oo aotdsgrgaton or racsm that h as jst tryngto g a jornast's nsd of hat fas for thr fams n th mdst of rancrss Som of ths s an ndrstandartr's dfns: don't attac m for th oo ddn't rt Bt mch of hat Las sad asrang rasng qstons aot hs mota-ton and orntaton

In ths r ho to do som of thonts crtcs ha mad and rod ananayss of hy th oo s ng rad as t sWhat manngs xct or hddn dos th

athor rod aot sng and dsgrgaton and aot racsm and cass confct? Whatar th mcatons of th oo for orndrstandng of rac and cass antagonsmfor dsgrgaton ocy and for antracstor?

I ant to xamn for manngs thatrrs and othrs ha drd from radngCommon Gound and xor thr otcamcatons Whthr Las intndd to gths manngs or not s sd th ontthogh I try to sho hr th athor gshstorca and soca manng to hs dscrtonsf thr fams caght n a trnt

dcad Th fo cntra soca and

otca manngs th oos narrat conysar:

rst Common Gound sggsts that throms dsgrgaton ncontrd rstdmany from oor dcsonmang y Jdg

rthr Garrty and ac of adrsh from t

radical america - vol 20 no 5 - 1987 - september october

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