Boston, race, and busing (due Tuesday, October 26)
 

If you didn’t know much about the history of the desegregation of Boston’s public schools, I imagine today’s class was fairly eye-opening. Rewind to the late summer into early fall of 1974. Nixon had just resigned (thanks to Watergate) that August and Judge Arthur Garrity ordered the desegregation of Boston’s schools through the busing of children from one neighborhood to another. Desegregation was not new, nor was busing; Brown v Board of Education declared separate was inherently unequal in 1954 and in 1955, schools were ordered to come up with desegregation plans “with all deliberate speed.” But it seems that while many schools and cities began to desegregate, particularly in the southern United States, Boston did not, until the case brought before Judge Garrity brought the issue into focus. Garrity’s decision began the process here.

Today, as Boston residents, you are living with the legacy of Garrity’s decision and what followed in the streets in Boston, in our various neighborhoods, and at schools like South Boston High and Charlestown High, to name just two, in many ways.

What do you think? Talk about “facing history”: we’re facing our own backyard here! Is race a flash point in Boston? Speak from your own experience, please. Incorporate your responses to the articles you read as well. And to what degree do you think you and your family and friends live with the legacy of the struggle of desegregation, a struggle that began a mere 30 years ago in your hometown?

By the way, if you are interested in reading two more recent articles about this topic, see:

Boston Magazine published its article on “Divided We Stand: Is Boston Racist?” in November 2002
http://www.learntoquestion.com/class...es/000110.html

Harvard Magazine published its "Has Boston Shed Its Racist Image? that same month-- http://www.learntoquestion.com/class...es/000111.html

Boston Globe, obituary on Louise Day Hicks from last fall (2003):
http://www.learntoquestion.com/class...es/000126.html

Racism in the Boston Public School System
 

The Boston Public School desegregation process was quite a new topic to me and I found it to be an eye opening experience. However, while our city may have been in the spotlight here in this topic, I'm sure that in other cities across the U.S. problems similar to this were popping up and may have even been worse (especially I'm thinking in the South). What I especially found to be surprising is the fact that both sides participated in the acts of violence, and not only the white community. However, I believe that this is a thing of the past. Today I know that there are racist people everywhere and nobody will ever be able to change that no matter what, but in 30 years the steps that have been made I think are amazing. Today, as in the video, there may be some differences in the quality of education in the different public schools of Boston but to fairly sort this out, there are tests to get into these "advanced" schools (i.e. BLS, etc.). So, although people may say that some schools are predominantely black or white, etc. I say to them that although this may be true, everyone these days is given a fair chance to get into these schools. So, I think that racism in our school system is really a thing of the past and today everyone is given an equal chance at things, but the real issue is whether the people of Boston take this opportunity and use it to their advantage.

shocked....
 

I know this may sound very ignorant of me, but i had no idea that things once had gotten so bad in our own city! I had heard about this act of course, but i never realized its consequences. I was shocked to see how people in our very town were so against this act, which basically allows any minority student today to get the same oportunities as the "white kids" in this city. I did some research on this topic and i was very taken back to realize that the non-dicrimination policy that we all virtually ignore on all college applications and other scholarship opportunities is a a result of similar protests.

What i dont understand is that why discrimate and try to hurt kids? All they are trying to do is understand this chaotic world have been brought into and trying to survive by getting a good education. It took alot of courage to stand up to all these racist people who had no reason to be against desegration of schools in boston. Every child is a citizen of this country and therfore should ahve equal oportunities and rights. I thought that the "white" people who continued to send their kids to school during the boycott, were also very brave.

Now for the most pertinent question, does racism still exisist today? yes i would have to say it still does. Maybe its not so visible to us kids sitting in a school in the middle of a relatively diverse city, but once we go out there in the real world, and get jobs, i think to the minority kids, it will definetly be more aparent. I think it would ignorant of me, or anyone else to say that racism does not exsist especially when u hear about all these horific stories everyday.

In retrospect, i think i have faced a bit of rasicm myself. When i first came to the US, i was enrolled in a charlestown elementary school, where the majority of the kids were white. there were few minority kids there, and my fourth grade teacher disliked me becuase i was one of them. He assumed that becuase i just came to the US that i would not be able to speak english properly, so i was never called on to read aloud. there were many little incidents, including times where he used to yell at me for no reason. Even back then i could feel the difference in how he treated me and all the other white kids. But back then i was not old enough to understand the reason behind his actions,. but now that i look bac upon it, it clear that his condesending attitude and bad behavior towards me was simply an example of rasicm.

Boston Busin'
 

I also wasn't very aware that Boston underwent this degree of difficulty in trying to provide an equal education for whites and blacks in the 1970s. I remember seeing this footage last year, and was very surprised at some things. I was surprised about how people were so ignorant...the blacks were not doing anything, they were not any type of threat...they were merely trying to go to school with enough books and pencils. Thus, what the resistance tells me, is that the whites in Boston, most of them I mean, were very racist against blacks, which somewhat surprises me because I believed the South would have had a much more difficult time accepting black and whites in the same school after their secession from the country over a matter of racism! I was horrified to see that black man being pulled from his car and beaten with bats for absolutely no reason. I was saddened to see "KILL NIGGERS" in huge letters all over the school simply because the blacks were trying to get a good education. There is no doubt in my mind that we were racist.
However, I don't think this is the deal anymore, except in a mere matter of cases. I think that South Boston and Westie are predominantly white, Dorchester and Roxbury are predominantly black, and Chinatown is predominantly Asian. Schools that fall in line of these towns are, if I am not mistaken, predominantly the same race as the kids living there. Now this may be because the school is simply near their house...but that does not change the fact that there is not enough diversity in the school system.
Then we raise the point about BLS. We are an exam school, and our school is much more diverse compared to other schools around the city. Why? If all 500 students who passed the test to get in were white, would we take all of them? It is difficult to say, and of course that wouldn;t happen, but being a public exam school is risky business.
I don't think we are living in legacy of these racist events 25 years ago. I think Boston has naturally and unforntuately evolved into a city which is pretty segregated by race, and school systems also, although this is true in every major city across the border.

Racism in Boston, past and present
 

I was surprised when I watched the movie today to learn the extent of the violence that was caused by busing. I got the impression that the only reason there were problems with busing was because of racism. In theory, busing is a great idea because there was obviously inequality of resources and a lack of diversity in Boston’s schools. The distance between South Boston and Roxbury is only a mile, so busing shouldn’t be a big deal.

I know some South Bostonians today keep their stand on busing. A girl from South Boston last year told me how adamantly she was against it. She didn’t seem to be racist, but she thought that desegregation should be brought about in another way because busing used children as pawns and caused too much violence. Now I am more skeptical of this view because I think that the only reason there was violence was because South Boston residents were racist. There is no reason to be upset about traveling a mile on a bus for the huge benefit of bringing social equality. It is true that Roxbury residents responded with violence, but to a lesser degree, and only in retaliation to the actions in South Boston.

In the obituary of Louise Day Hicks, she said that she wasn’t racist because she didn’t believe in Jim Crow tactics of the South. I disagree. She took opportunities and resources away from schools where the majority of the children were black. This indirect type of racism is rampant in Boston today. The schools that are obviously lacking in resources, are failing to pass the MCAS, and in effect becoming jails for students until they turn 16 are all predominantly black (English, West Roxbury High). The black population has a far greater percentage of the total Boston population than the percentage of black students at Boston Latin School, the best public school in Boston.

My neighborhood is one of the few neighborhoods that are racially and economically mixed, because public housing is integrated into private housing. The people in public housing generally do not associate with people in private housing. Most of the people in public housing are minorities. Why??? I think that racism plays a role in this segregation.

The writer of that obituary did NOT seem like the biggest Louise Day Hicks fan…he stuck in some rather unnecessary bits, like how she not only lost the mayoral race to White, but he “beat her soundly.” Hehe, I can’t say I’m the biggest fan either. It seems a little far-fetched to me for her to deny being racist with the lengths she went to to prevent busing and integration.
The thing is, though, I can see where some of the parents were coming from—not the ones who didn’t want their children in school with black kids, but the ones who had schools literally across the street from their homes, but who were being forced to send their kids across the city—also to schools which the other kids were fleeing because they were so inadequate. I think the long-term vision of busing (even though we don’t really seem to be seeing them now…) is worth the trouble at the beginning, but even that should never have happened at all.

I’ve seen some of this type of footage before, but it never fails to make me feel so sick. It takes a lot for me to fathom people having such hate that they throw stuff at children. On a somewhat lighter note, I think it’s a really good sign (in comparison) that most of us can’t imagine anything like that happening here today. It shows that we’ve made at least some progress in the past 30 years.
It’s great that some of the black Bostonians mentioned in the articles are in positions of power that help them get messages and opportunities out to the rest of the opportunity. But it would be even cooler if these weren’t quite so newsworthy just because they wouldn’t be isolated occurrences.

I pretty much agree with the two articles in that I think segregation is a much bigger issue for Boston than all out animosity. Racial tension definitely still exists; I’ve experienced it in the hallway, on the train—I’ll get in someone’s way and will hear whispers of “WHITE girl,” among other things, in not too friendly ways…and for people of other ethnicities I bet it’s the same, if not more intense. Still, we’re not rioting and beating each other up in the streets. Also, I think this tension that exists is largely a result of our being so segregated; if kids of all different colors had grown up together and formed one city, we wouldn’t feel like we were from different worlds.

And situations like the one described in the Boston Magazine article, the “friendly takeover,” aren’t at all unfamiliar. There have been times when I’ve been the only white person in a room and I’ve felt a little weird—but minorities deal with that every day, and we’re not far along enough to have it cease to be an issue.

No people dedicated to changing race relations are going to have an easy time of it; in their lifetimes it's very possible they won’t see positive change. Race related problems seem to be the kind that usually can’t be solved any way but gradually.

This is not the first time I have been exposed to the busing issue of the 70s. I've heard accounts from my father who was living in Boston at the time as a student recently graduated from BLS. Also, I read All Souls, by Michael Patrick MacDonald, an incredible book, which presents the Southie "aura" from a very objective subjective point of view...haha if you get what I'm saying. MacDonald, his siblings, and friends were the people we saw on the video today: throwing rocks at the kids being bused in, picking fights, beating people with bats, all of it. He doesn't seem proud of the legacy these racist whites left in Boston, but at the same time he played a role in the chaos that ensued following desegregation.

I do believe that Boston's race relations have improved in the past 30-40 years. However tensions are still there and there are people that still defend their opinions and their family's/friend's opinions from the 70s. My neighborhood, which is neither Southie nor Charlestown where most of the conflict occurred, is also often referred to as "racist". Although some residents may be, I don't think labelling a whole neighborhood is reasonable or representative of the people living there as a whole. Unfortunately, I think that Southie got labelled as very racist as a result of the violence. While many residents may have opposed busing for race reasons or several other reasons, there were many others who openly defied the opposition. These people were the Southie parents who still sent their kids to school and rejected the boycott, as well the parents who told their kids to stay out of the violence and that it was wrong, and many others.

In a way, to some extent I can see how having culturally divided neighborhoods can be a positive thing that enriches a city. It preserves traditions and custom that may be lost in a huge "melting pot". But I also think that its necessary to have a degree of diversity for residents to keep a broad perspective of the world around them. It also allows us to learn about other cultures, hopefully in a peaceful manner. For the residents of Boston in the 70s, the concept of desegregation was thrust upon them so quickly and heavily that it was a difficult, rocky transition for the characteristically stubborn and steadfast public. Over the next few generations, I think that the racial tension will continue to diminish until we reach a point where ethnicity and culture can still be preserved harmoniously.

Wow
 

Today's video wasn't a surprise, mostly because Ms. Holm showed us similar footages before. But, Oh. My. God. Was I angry today watching the video. I don't know, but I was just SOOOOO MAD!!! Walking out the room absolutely furious, cursing inside my head!! I just can not even begin to comprehend the hate. It's just so... wow. I mean, these are normal people. And yet, this is when they show the worst side of themselves. Very scary. One thing I thought really weakened the struggle and only fired it up was that blacks also joined in in the violence. Granted, it was all nice at first, but after hearing about violence against themselves, I guess they were just angry. But I still think they should have kept their cool, kind of like Ghandi! Hehe... Anyway... The thing is, many times, just because we're so used to it, we don't notice the segregation in everyday activities--although I am very aware of it at school. I don't know how much do we really live in the legacy that was here... because I mean, Boston nowadays just seem to come off as a tolerant city. And one of the articles said that too I think. But then, why do we think of "white neighborhoods" and "black neighborhoods."? Looks to me like the struggle is FAR from over. We need to educate... start with young kids who are so in their own different world, where everyone is the same. Educate educate educate. And you know what, the blood bath here in Boston was worth it.

Cmon now
 

The busing incident was certainly ugly. I had always vaguely understood the idea, and had some sort of concept of what had happened, but the video really gave me a new perspective. Seeing the violence, and the anger in the eyes of the parents protesting the court order brought the situation to life.
That being said, I really find no remaining vestiges of the kind of racism I saw in the video today. Maybe its just me. Personally, I don't live in either Roxbury or Southie. However, I do go to a very diverse school with people from all over the city. In all my time living in Boston, I have never seen, experienced, or heard of racism rivaling what was on the video. As a non-Caucasian, I have never felt scared for my safety walking down the street in either Roxbury or Southie or anywhere else.
Greenaxis talks about the segregation in everyday activities. I don't see any, other than self-segregation maybe. And even that isn't conscious. I think that in today's world, especially here in Boston and specifically at Latin, every kid has the same opportunities as every other kid, regardless of what they look like or where they come from. Call me hopelessly optimistic. I just hate looking everywhere and hearing people talk about racism and segregation like we're in 1960's Birmingham, Alabama, because we're not. Maybe I'm still getting used to "Facing History and Myself." But before the lunchroom assignment, I never thought that segregation in our school was a problem, and I still don't.
So no, I don't think that any tangible remains of the busing situation are still in place. Too much time has passed and too much progress has been made. During the DNC, the entire nation was talking about how welcoming and friendly a city Boston was. I don't see anything wrong with that assumption. I love this city, and I truly believe that it is as tolerant and diverse as any in the country.

Like animation87 and Theunderground, I too was unaware of the intense racism in Boston during the 1970s. I knew that kids were bussed during this time but I didn’t really know what it was all about. To me it seems that race was a much bigger thing in the 70s than it is today. I mean there are still racist people (ie KKK!) in this world but there is nothing we can do about it. People will believe in what they want, whether others think it is right or wrong.

After the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, it shocked me that Boston was slow in desegregating their schools. I was appalled when I saw the video and saw all of these people from Southie violently opposing this change. It seemed that all the Black families wanted was for their children to have supplies, be taught in a safe school and get a good education. They didn’t want to send their children out into the world as targets but that is what happens. The desegregation of schools was much more than changing the schools. It was working towards desegregating the city but by starting with schools they mad etheir children targets. I thought it was pretty awful that the Southie people were attacking the black kids and refused them to let them on the bus. What was this teaching their children? How was that helping any of the future generations?

Blazerz4133 pretty much sums it up for me.
I don’t think at all that our school is racist. I feel as though I am lucky to be living in boston and going to bls because it is such a diverse school and it isn’t very cliquey. I have different friends in many different groups. The school system has come a long way since 1970 and we are the product of that. We should be grateful that people worked so hard for desegregation so that we could all have equal chances today.

Cowards!
 

I have always heard stories time and time again about the busing era in Boston. However it never became more real for me until seeing this video. I was filled with such frustration while I viewed the video. It's an age old story that apparently isn't that old. The white Irish vs. The blacks.
All I can say is that some of the white parents in the video were COWARDS! If you want to be violent, then be violent, but don't throw eggs at the buses leaving South Boston and then run and hide in the bushes! This angered be so much because here these women are terrorizing innocent children and then being cowards about it. This video reminded me of the story of Ruby Bridges. These children are doing what their parents told them to do, ride a school bus into South Boston.
I think that this desegregation was important and things may not be the way they are today had this not happened, but had I been in their shoes, I don't know if I could have handled it. I commend the whites who supported the busing regardless of the consequences because I know that the consequences were great! They were seen as traitors and called derogatory things simply because they wanted to have equal education.
As hostile as this situation was, it was necesary. Without segregation in schools, We would not be the people that we are. Most of us have been raised fairly open minded. We don't call people racial slurs and discriminate (at least not to my knowledge).
However when I watch these videos I am always fearful of the fact that my neighbors and even my friends' parents are some of the same racist activists that opposed desegregation.
I look at South Boston and Roxbury today and hope that some of the hate has subsided, but in reality much of it has not.
The part from this video that really shook and stuck with me was when a black woman said "the parents tell their children to stand next to them and say, 'throw the rocks at the niggers.'"

Everyone says that BLS is an exam school and there's a test to be taken to determine whether or not people get in. However they don't realize that ethnicity was also a factor. Yes, BLS chose students not only by their scores and grades but also by their race. This was to support diversity but as we can see, people still discriminate, but in this case, not in a negative way.

Racism is very much alive these days. It's not as racist as it was 30 years ago but it still exists in many ways. When a friend of mine(a minority) applied for a job, the interviewers used big words in order to confuse her(they didn't succeed). When another lady(white) was interviewed, she was interrogated with colloquial language.

Another friend of mine told of her racist experiences. When she was studying in college, her english professors would correct the slightest mistakes on her paper, even though they weren't even deserved. The professors looked for any signs that deserved a deduction in the grade. If they didn't find one, they scrutinized the paper to the very last letter until they found the most minor of details.

Although these days, racism isn't as oppressive and ardent as it was in the past, it's still as widespread. Today, racism is mostly subtle. Not everone rides around in their car preaching hate and racial supremacy although these types of people do exist. Today, racism is minimized to minor details. We judge people before we choose them as employees. We judge people before we ask them for directions. We judge people before we choose them as friends. We judged then, and we still judge now. There are always these preconceptions and stereotypes that lead people to believe that a certain race is this and another race is that. Granted racism isn't as passionate as it was then, nevertheless it's present and no one can argue against that.

[QUOTE=
However, I don't think this is the deal anymore, except in a mere matter of cases. I think that South Boston and Westie are predominantly white, Dorchester and Roxbury are predominantly black, and Chinatown is predominantly Asian. Schools that fall in line of these towns are, if I am not mistaken, predominantly the same race as the kids living there. Now this may be because the school is simply near their house...but that does not change the fact that there is not enough diversity in the school system.
.[/QUOTE]

I really have strong opinions about this subject, because I feel like my whole life was molded by the fact that I attended public schools all through elementary and middle school. I wrote my college essay along the same lines; I?m from West Roxbury and there were points in my childhood where I felt alienated by the fact that I went to public schools while all of my neighborhood White-Irish-Catholic friends went to private schools. I watched the same video last year in my AP US history class, and I can?t say that I was surprised when I saw it for the first time either. It seems natural that racial tensions become heightened when some profound act of righteousness is force-fed to embittered and fearful white people. On top of this, the commander in chief has just been proved a liar and has resigned, ridding the country of reverence and confidence in national authority. However, in the ensuing decades, I feel that Boston did evolve into an admirably diverse society in terms of the educational system, which is why I have to object to what the underground said in his post. I feel that I?m living proof of the fact that desegregation and bussing in the BPS system has worked wonders on students. I?m going to quote my college essay:
"Though some people may not see it, attending public schools was the greatest blessing I have ever been given, because it prepared me for the world better than any aspect of my academic education. It made me a better person-more aware of the importance of diversity in a well-functioning society, but more importantly, it taught me how to see the world, color-blind. "
All of my best friends are from different walks of life, and that?s incredibly special to me, because I?m not sure that if I had attended private schools all my life, I would be able to see people as clearly for who they are as opposed to what they appear to be.

Speaking from my own experiences, I wouldn’t have necessarily said that race is a flash point in Boston. However, after reading those articles and talking to people who have lived in Boston longer than I have, I can see that race does still play a big role. Some, if not a lot, of this racism can be found in the workforce, which might explain why I was so ignorant on the subject. Compared to a national scale, Boston has a very low percentage of black people holding high positions in companies or in their workplaces. [“…only 8 percent of professionals, 6 percent of managers and executives, and 2.5 percent of board members are black, far below national averages.” Taken from Divided We Stand]

I think Boston was a lot more segregated during the time of the busing. Back then, it was unthinkable for a black person to even go near South Boston, and the same is true for a white person in Roxbury and other “black” areas of the city. Now, with public housing more integrated with private housing, one can find more diverse areas in Boston. That’s not to say that some of the old neighborhoods consisting mostly of people of one race don’t still exist; they do. And busing also still exists, even though it would have been and still is the best idea to just fix the schools that needed fixing, rather than “solving” these problems by sending kids halfway across the city to attend a school that is probably no better than the one in their neighborhood. I would very much like to see more diverse and integrated schools, and I would think busing is a good idea if it actually did make schools more diverse. I don’t believe it does, however, as you can go to almost any high school in Boston and easily pick out the race that is the majority. I’m glad that schools like BLS exist, because compared to many other schools in Boston, we’re very diverse and integrated.

I read “All Souls” by Michael Patrick MacDonald, as I’m sure a few or many of my classmates have, and it really opened my eyes to what happened during the time of busing, so I wasn’t completely new to this. But to compare what was going on back then to the racism that exists in Boston now is absurd. I think Boston as a city has progressed greatly, although we still have a long way to go in our fight against racism and segregation.

Busing
 

Although I had a pretty good idea about what went on during the busing desegregation during the ‘70s (since I did a project on it last year), I still found it shocking to see the footage on tape. I found the part where the black man was pulled from his car and beaten to be extremely disturbing. I can’t understand how someone could commit such a random act of violence.

While busing had a positive purpose, I can definitely understand the opposing parents’ perspective. I would be worried if my child was being bused into an unfriendly neighborhood and could potentially be a target for violence at another school, when there was a school closer to my home. Also, I think that the sudden way in which integration was thrust upon the public contributed to the violence.

While racism is not nearly as big of an issue as it was in the 1970s I still think that it is prominent. There is definitely a segregation problem. The student body at Boston Latin does not accurately represent the percentage of minorities in the city. There are still neighborhoods that are overwhelmingly white or black.

I have definitely experienced racism many times. From kindergarten through 3rd grade, I went to a public school that was predominantly black. By 3rd grade, I was the only white person in my class. The other kids often said I only got good grades because I was white, and was the target of many other racist comments.

I don’t think that racism is really a huge problem at this school, although I think many people tend to hang around with people of their own race. Also, a lot of students make racist jokes, or simply pretend to be racist, and while I don’t think they are serious, I don’t think it’s funny, and I don’t think it creates a very positive or accepting atmosphere.

Boston--not just about the Red Sox
 

To be honest, I had never really heard about the Boston busing issue until Ms. Freeman assigned the paper, then asking my father about it. The forced desegregation seems so unBoston-like to me. I knew Boston wasn’t perfect, but I had no idea how ugly it actually got in this city during the 70s. Before seeing the video today, my perspective on persecution of the Blacks in the United States was that it all happened down South where all the radical racist whites lived. The images of Blacks being harassed publicly on the streets, buses, and in restaurants were things that were primarily associated with the South and I never imagined occurred to this degree up North. The video today was quite shocking. I knew that the South Boston folk were very edgy and conservative, but I couldn’t take the image of both kids and adults whipping rocks at buses and rioting outside of school buildings. I just could not believe that this was Boston, that something as horrible as this actually happened in my hometown—it is very embarrassing.

Garrity’s decision was a very bold one. It was clear to everyone that Boston was an extremely segregated city where the territories were very clearly marked and by breaking these barriers chaos (to say the least) was unleashed. It seemed pretty obvious that this was going to cause a tremendous controversy just because of how strong the racial barriers were, and of course, people acted irrationally. There was no need for the riots. Neither the White nor the Black students were doing anything wrong by attending these schools, and it turned into an extremely dangerous education that many people did not want to be a part of. Therefore, Garrity’s decision was wrong; he shouldn’t have taken such drastic measures without expecting the reaction that occurred. Garrity should have eased into this process a lot slower so that it would not cause so much sudden unnecessary violence and hatred throughout Boston.

So how has Garrity’s decision affected us today? Well, the white students (most of them) at Charlestown, South Boston, and Hyde Park High, whose parents couldn’t accept the concept of their children getting a proper education with people of color, were moved to private catholic or exam schools. Right now, I’d say about 90% of the students at these public high schools are Black. However, the towns still primarily consist of white residents, and the towns in the 70s where the Blacks were from are still predominantly Black. As shown in the video, the main purpose of this desegregation was to give the Blacks equal opportunities as Whites in schooling, which was granted. But now in 2004, these schools are not anything spectacular, ranking very low out of all the schools in Boston. So was Garrity’s move a successful one? Yes and no. Today, Boston is a lot more diverse and does not have the extreme barriers that it used to have. Also, the tension does not seem as tight between the two races, even though it’s always going to exist. Yes, the Blacks are given equal opportunities as the Whites in terms of education. But other than that, the movement was a failure. The smooth mix of races that was the intent of the schools never really existed, as they still were predominantly one race or the other. The neighborhoods are still very much akin and the reputation of these specific public schools has significantly dropped over the years.

Unfortunately, it is undeniable that these racial barriers will always exist to some degree and there is not much that can be done about that. The desegregation attempt of the 70s sure was a horrible one which brought out the worst in a lot of people and has impacted the Boston of today in many ways. For the most part, the event has changed negative perspectives and taught us to act more respectively towards each other—something that has been noticed over the years.

I knew that busing was a rough time in Boston's history and most of it went by pretty smooth but I never knew how wild the Southie and Charlestown situation got. I think busing was a good idea in the long run because it definetly broke down the barriers that shouldn't have been put up. Of course, that kind of thing always makes for short run mayhem.

I think racism in Boston is only able to be judged on your definition of racism. Do people still classify other people according to race? Of course and without a doubt. Do they hate others because of race? I think not so much. People not might feel a little awkward around other races in close contact if they haven't been exposed to much diversity but I don't think it even compares with the hatred of the past and hatred which is associated with racism. I went to public school my whole life and in middle school I was bussed to Charlestown (I live on the border or Roxbury). I remember my bus ride always being a really tough time and all but the school environment itself was fine. I think the whites from charlestown liked the Roxbury kids more than the Roxbury kids liked the Roxbury kids.

Also when i grew up I always had more black and spanish friends than any other race. It never really mattered to me. They always called me "White Boy" and the spanish equivalent but it was never meant as a bad or good thing. they would always talk about white people and then tell me that I wasn't white. I think even at that young age they placed most importance on personality and the race thing never meant too much. Still, they (and me) would classify people according to race, but it was never in hatred.

From the video today I felt a little disgusted. At first, the protestors from southie were complaining about how they wanted their kids to go to schools that were near them and not be forced to go out to some other community’s school, but that quickly dissipated as all the racial slurs and attacks began. It was just sickening watching these people (adults and kids) skipping school and attacking these other students who came form families who wanted nothing more than to have an equal chance at learn. Then all that other violence started. I mean, I knew that if one side attacked the other long enough then eventually both sides would begin attacking, but I mean I never would have thought decoy buses would be needed. The videos of the parents were also very shocking. Just the amount of anger in their voices was enough to make your skin crawl. The white mothers screaming in protests to the bussing and the black mothers yelling about how they worry about sending their children to potentially dangerous grounds everyday. It really is unnerving to see that these kinds of things happened and you knew almost nothing about it. Nowadays I think Boston has come a long way from what that video showed. I mean, as far as I know, we don’t have police escorting children and buses safely out of a neighborhood anymore.

From my experience in school, I don’t think racism was a really big issue for me (probably because I was under 10 and knew nothing besides all 150 pokemon). I mean, before BLS most of my classmates and friends were Hispanic or white, and race was never an issue. You were just either one of the guys or one of the girls. You run around like a maniac during recess and try to enjoy yourself. As far as I was concerned everyone was the same.

Race in Boston
 

The video we saw in class today was a real eye-opener. This was not the first time I have heard about the whole busing issue, but this was the first time I was exposed to the intensity of the protests. I don’t understand why the South Boston whites were so opposed to integration. Where they more opposed to having their kids sent to different schools, or were they more opposed to kids having to study in the same classroom as – gasp- a black person? It is surprising to discover how many southern schools, where racism was supposedly stronger, were able to desegregate more smoothly than Boston. Those riots have probably helped create the image of Boston being a racist city. Even the Boston Red Sox have had a long legacy of racism, dating back to the infamous Jackie Robinson “try-out”. I think race is still definitely an issue in Boston, though not even close to what it was thirty years ago. Boston has done a lot to shed that image. Like Doug Most said, quotes about racism by Bill Russell do not apply nowadays. However, even today, we still have “white” schools and “black” schools. In Doug Most’s article, he mentions how Boston’s nightclubs and bars are segregated. This leads me to believe that Boston is more segregated than racist. My family, friends, and I definitely live with the legacy of the struggle of desegregation, because without it, the “diversity” @ BLS would not be possible.

Most people do not know exactly how much busing had an impact on the city of Boston. IT TOTALLY CHANGED THE CITY IN EVERY WAY SHAPE AND FORM.
I actually did not enjoy the movie because I really do not think it accurately portrayed the people of South Boston and Charlestown. Busing to them was an attack of their way of life, on their society. Was it probably a racist and unthical thing going on? YES, but to them, this problem had been going on for YEARS before they even came to this country, and to them it seemed that they were having to pay the price for it. I don't want to go too into this, because I don't want to get in any trouble like last time.

Yeah, but bad things need their form to be changed. Nazism could have gone on for years too, that doesn't mean it should be granted toleration. Racism was a way of life and so was the neighborhood schools but that doesn't mean it should be that way. I also didn't like the way the movie showed almost entirely the violent and hateful side of busing. granted that that makes for the best documenteries but I still think it could have helped to have a balanced view of it.

Race issues in Boston
 

I definitely think that Boston still has race issues today. Just like the articles described, blacks and other "non-white" groups are sorely under-represented in the business and political worlds of Boston. I think that something really needs to be done about this. The city needs to work harder at integrating neighborhoods and community organizations. "Ethnic enclaves" only promote segregation. The city needs to get away from this image. Culture and heritage can still be preserved if other races are moving in. The city needs to spend money to make all neighborhoods desirable, no matter what your race.

However, the complaint about politics and cultural attractions I don't really agree w/. Minorities need to be encouraged to vote. As these new statistics are showing, minorities really aren't minorities anymore and if they voted their voices could definitely be heard. So to say it’s unfair that only whites are in office is unfair in itself. Should whites be blamed for pursuing their constitutional right of voting? And things like not enough blacks at the MFA, or Fenway, or bars, no one is saying blacks are not welcome. If a place is predominantly white and blacks have the conception they are unwanted, it is a misconception. Most white people probably wouldn't even notice or care if blacks started frequenting these places.

As for the issue of busing and the history of Boston’s race problems, I think that they are strongly misrepresented. People automatically assume that places like South Boston are full of racists because of what they saw during busing. This is absolutely not the case. As a native South Bostonian, I would say that the majority of the people that I know are not racists. Of course I am not going to deny that racism existed here, or that it even still does, but it is grossly exaggerated. Because of things like the video we saw today and the general portrayal of Southie, it looks as though Southie is racist town USA. But there are so many non-racists, the media just exposes the racists and makes it look like everyone.

When busing was put in place, it happened in Boston’s two poorest neighborhoods, Southie and Roxbury. The real division is one of class. The rich people used busing to divert attention from the issue of class and make it look like race. Judge Garrity lived in Wellesley. Last time I checked Wellesley wasn’t involved in forced busing. And Wellesley was probably and is probably way more segregated than any part of Boston. Even now, the media and others further perpetuate these stereotypes. One of the articles mentioned how Tom English’s Cottage displayed apes for Black History month. Well, this article, nor the Globe, Herald, or any other media source bothered to mention the hysteria and uproar after this and how South Boston residents were shocked and appalled at this irreverent, indecent, incredibly disrespectful display. Where was the media then? They weren’t there, because they need to keep these stereotypes alive, to both control the masses, sell papers, and not expose the true class rift.

Back in the 70s (and even to some extent now) there were a lot of ignorant people in Southie. They put complete faith in their elected officials, because it had taken them so long to get elected, and now that they were they felt they were their only connection. Since the leadership was people like Louise Day Hicks, and the gangster Jimmy Kelly, people were receiving a convoluted view. These people wanted just as much to perpetuate the race stereotypes so as to neglect the class ones. Many South Bostonians fell into a trap set up by these politicians and other people in power that focused the entirety of the blame on the black community. And so their rage was often misdirected at the black community when it should have been directed at rich whites.

I still see these effects today. When people hear that I’m from Southie, I often get “looks” or there is a lull in the conversation. People assume that Southie is a racist haven and that everyone there is a racist. But this is quite the contrary. I’m not a racist, my family is not racist, and a majority of people here are not racists. The race issue that the rich so used to their advantage is still here. I feel more of a connection to a middle class black kid from Roxbury than I do a white kid from say Newton. People still expect that stereotypes exist, when very often they never even did in the first place. Blacks, Whites, and all races need to expose the truth about Boston. It’s not a racially segregated city; it’s an economically segregated city. :mad:

I think that the desegregation act in the 70s, although at the time caused many problems, truly helped Boston come what it is today...Boston Latin School also. I did not know much about this whole situation, so I'm glad we got to watch the movie to understand it better. All that I really knew about it was that one of my friend's mother never finished high school because of this, since her mother did not want her busing to Roxbury. To an extent, like the lunch tables, I think that there is still segregation today, but thats just because theyre friends. In the halls and even all around town I constantly see black and white people interacting (in a good way) and only rarely do I see a black person avoid a white person because of race or vice versa. No matter what we do in life, there will always be at least a little racism and some segregation, but I think that progressively over the years, things will get a lot better.

I also think that it must have taken a lot of courage for Garrity to go against with what practically everyone in America was saying about forced busing, and still made his decision about it. If you think about it, he truly did change Boston greatly. As I was saying, racism will always be here...for example, the other day I was talking about inter-racial marriages with somebody who did not seem for them or against them but then stated "I just think that there are enough white men for white women, and enough black men for black women." I was totally shocked by this comment because even though there are probably ENOUGH for each, that has nothing to do with the fact that inter racial marriage is alright.....I don't know it just somewhat bothered me and I thought it was a prime example of the racism that is still present today, because it wasn't too apparent that this person was racist, but then that happened...

misconception
 

reading a lot of the posts, i'm getting a little upset. A lot of you share the same idea. Not to pick on you, but when hoxypond said, "Now I am more skeptical of this view because I think that the only reason there was violence was because South Boston residents were racist," I got really upset. This is exactly what the media and others in power portray Southie as, a town of racists. But this is completely untrue. My family lived in Southie throughout busing, and they were anything but racist. My grandparents encouraged their children to be friends w/ whomever they wanted, no matter what skin color (even when it almost got my uncle expelled for being best friends w/ a black kid). There were and are so many people like this in Southie, but no one would care about this kind of story. The media exploited the people who were violent and racist during busing, and since this is most of what is remembered from that period, it is the label stuck on everyone....and that hurts. :mad:

DONTKNOW

it is interesting that you brought up the point that we were selected to go to BLS not only becuase of our scores, but also our ethnicity. However, the year we got into BLS the quota system, where our ethnicity plays a part in our admission, was abolished. It was true that this system exisisted all the years before, but our class in BLS was selected purely on ability and not based on our ethnicity.

Buncranagurl
I dont think anyone meant to get you upset when they said that southie poeple are racists. I think they meant those people we saw in the video today specifically. And there were poeple on the board, like me, who clearly stated in their post that the "white" people that stood upto them are very courageous themselves. I think i speak for alot of people when i say that i definetly dont think that all south boston people are racists, so while accusing us of generalising, people dont use use generalisations yourself. Though your grandfather was clearly a very courageous man who was definetly not racist, u cant agrue the same for those violent people throwing rocks at school busses can u?

ANIMATION87

I wasn't saying that I though everyone on the board was considering Southie people racists, just that I felt several were. And I don't think that they meant it as an attack on me, I just was upset w/ their interpretation b/c the video was pretty one sided. And I never said that all people in Southie aren't racists, I recogize that there were and are racists. But the movie we watched today and a lot of people in general promote the idea that southie is predominantly racist. Southie is a tightly knit community and so I know an awful lot of people who live there, and I'm just saying that a majority, not everyone, is not racist and was not out there throwing rocks.

Boston busing
 

I had never seen footage like the one we saw today in class. I was shocked at how violent the students, teachers, and parents were over this issue. It was a big deal and still is today. This busing in Boston reflects most schools now in Boston and how they act.

But BLS is an exam school and does not necessarily count on one's race, but their academic ability to get in. As others have said, our school is not segregated as it is in the movie clip we watched today (the cafeteria scene.) I really dont think our cafeteria is like that. I have never seen just a table of football jocks, or the cheerleaders, etc.

Back to the movie about busing that we saw in class today, I got sooo angry at that women who was in charge of the schools, who barely let any parents say what they wanted to say. One thing she said was that why should it matter if the black kids are at a school by themselevs, and that they are still learning the same things (or something like that). But I want to know why couldnt all the children learn the same things together???

I can totally understand why all the parents would be so upset with the busing. Even thoguh it was an effort to bring the children together, it was actually breaking them apart more and cauing a bigger disturbance. Everybody was getting hurt and this was causing more hatred against people of other races.

I think things have gotten a lot better since then. MOST people dont see race as an issue like they used to and people seem to get along woth others no matter what their race or background.

here we go again with race
 

I certainly knew about busing and desegregation of schools in Boston, however, I didn’t know it had been such a large controversy. My parents didn’t grow up in Boston and the only thing I knew about this period was what I learned from a mediocre history class in middle school. I found this movie very interesting and an eye-opener to the relatively recent racial issues we have discussed in class.

Judge Garrity definitely made the right decision when he ordered the busing of these kids. Even though it encountered opposition from the whites in many parts of the city this helped solve the educational inequalities. I’ve always believed that the first step to creating a better society is educating kids. To get rid of racial prejudice we have to teach our kids how to interact and relate to everyone, including people from a different race, religion or sex. It was the right decision at the right time. During a time of social reform we could not deny that it was real problem. Boston was segregated and something had to be done. Garrity only facilitated the desegregation of Boston and improved social interaction. Without this decision I believe Boston would still be a racially divided city.

Although I agree with the efforts done during this period to integrate schools, I somewhat disagree with the tactics employed by Reggie Cummings. I think going into bars and restaurants in big crowds just because they want to make a statement is not the right thing to do. If they really wanted to get people to go they should create other kinds of incentives, not these marches into bars. Blacks are not being stopped in any kind of way from entering these venues at any time. And these marches make it seem like blacks still think we live in a segregated society and they are protesting it. I also don’t agree that Boston is a racist town. How is it??? That’s just stereotyping…and it’s wrong. Some people might be, but every city has its racist community. And every time I read an article it makes it seem like blacks are the ONLY victims of racism. Everyone has and will encounter some racism (sad but true). No matter if you white, Oriental, heterosexual, male, female, black or Hispanic, you will be target of racism. I feel that Boston is a very welcoming city for everyone in general. There are people from hundreds of countries and all kinds of races here. It would be a mistake to call it a racist city in my opinion…

Interesting statement I found in a book (The Invisible Heart) I’m reading for AP econ.

"Life is about discrimination... I don’t mean the bad kind, though the bad kind comes along with the package. When we pick our friends we discriminate. When we choose where to live we discriminate. Discrimination is choice- choosing some things and rejecting others”

I don't want to start trouble, but how can you honestly say that? You saw the movie, you saw what horrific things people did, throwing things at innocent kids who just wanted to go to school? How is that an infringement on anyone's way of life? Because their kids will finally be able to meet people outside of their neighborhoods, make friends of otehr races? How is that against their way of life? If their way of life is hating other races and being isolated from them, well then I guess that way of life was disrupted. Obviously the legacy of busing is still here, because people still have opinons like Special Sauce's.

There are still undertones of that hate that drove our city apart, but we hide it. It's only revealed in subtlities. We rationalize it, call it another name, but relaly it's still there. Busing only called attention to it, and really it was almost worse here then in the South because we had hiden it, ran away from it by hiding in our neighborhoods. Maybe we don't hurt each other anymore, but we hurt the future by not facing the fact we too can be racist, that we too can hate other people, denying never helps. We need to face the fact that busing was racially motivated, that the hate that was generated was a product of racism. No more lying to ourselves. This city still holds that rascism, and we mustn't deny the past.

As for the fact that all people at that time were rascist or whatever, obviously that's false, there were obviously very good people at that time, even in my own family, my grandmother simply didn't send her kids to school because she feared for their safety. It was a tough time in history and it's easy to make generalizations, but we must take it as a whole, and as a whole, it was a horrible racially motivated act. Certainly it's a basis for my own feelings, and I'm sure others feel similarly. It's something I live with, it's something I've been taught, it's history.

Before doing the lunch tables study and reading a couple of the articles, I’ve always believed that Boston was a very diverse city, probably because like some of you, I’ve gone to inner city public schools all my life. Since I spend most of my time at school, I’m used to seeing all the different faces around me and I guess I just assumed that the diversity at school represented Boston. But as I think more into it, Boston is still segregated, and BLS is still segregated to a certain level.

Yes most of us here at BLS have very diverse groups of friends, but I think many people have closer groups of friends consisting of people with similar ethnicity. Like someone had said in class today, the caf was filled with “polka dots.” The same goes for Boston and its many different neighborhoods. Except for a couple, I think all the sections of Boston can be labeled as either “white” or “minority.” Each section has its own cultural stores and cultural festivities throughout the year. But of course, we’ve greatly improved since the 90s.

Students today get to choose whether they want to be bused. I road the bus one year to get to my middle school in East Boston and it was extremely inconvenient for both me and my parents. I had to be at my bus stop (which was quite a walking distance) by 6:30 although school starts at 7:30. And sometimes the bus doesn’t come and my dad has to drive me to school. On the other hand, I lived a block away from my elementary school. =)

Although racism definitely played a part in all the violence that had taken place during the busing act, I agree with SpecialSauce that reactions of busing was more from the attack that it created on their way of life. Who would want to send their kids to an unfamiliar school across the city (even if its only a mile away) when the kids have been attending school in a neighbor that they have grown up in and knew? And weren’t both blacks and whites throwing stones, etc at the bused kids in their own sections of the city?

I really appreciate what kids at that time had to go through so kids today can enjoy what diversity there is now. But I think there is still work to be done to desegregate our city. And another thought…was there a better alternative to busing kids to desegregate schools?

Boston, race, and busing
 

Until watching this video in class, I was unaware of the intense drama that went on throughout the city; a fight mainly between Blacks and Whites. I couldn't help but get angry and offended when I heard people in the video say there was an equal quality of education throughout the city. This proved completely false as one teacher at a Black school reported that they didn't even have enough pencils, white paper, or a sufficient supply of text books. The Blacks just wanted a better quality education, so they could reap all of the fine oppourtunities in life. I am unsure of whether they too wanted busing to take place. I assume they thought this was the only solution as the White schools tended to receieve all of the good supplies.

The opposition to this busing was mainly due to the fear or refusal of the White race to really welcome Blacks into middle-class society. Racist or not, they hesitated and questioned whether they were ready to give Blacks the same chances and opportunities they received. They did however bring up a good argument about simply attending a school that one has always gone to; one located in their neighborhood. However, I think giving another race a better quality education is much more important.

I think this video did a great job of capturing the intenseness of the two groups. It showed all of the loud, annoying chants and yells of the South Boston residents as well as the frustration of the Black community. The real question is how has this desegregation worked? I definitely think it has in that Boston has become a much more diverse place after Judge Garrity made that ruling. I think kids attending some of the Boston Public Schools are able to travel to different neighborhoods and meet kids from different neighborhoods. Most importantly, kids nowadays aren't really divided by their neighborhoods so drastically as they were before. I encountered this mix of neighborhoods when I completed the Lunch-room study. I also think this ruling lessened the intensity of racism throughout the city as more groups of people are able to interact in a somewhat peaceful, academic environment.

I think berryshortcake brought up a great question: was their a better alternative to busing kids to desegregate schools? I can't think of a better, more realistic solution.

Busing in Boston
 

WOW! I had seen footage of how different cities uased busing to desegregate their schools but nothing was quite as intense as yesterdays. I think that the film hit especially close to home because it was about busing in our very own city. For some reason I expected the movie to be in black and white or to take place much earlier than it did but I definetley got a wakeup call. Busing wasn't some ancient practice, but a true necessity that took place only about 25 years ago. Since then Boston has come a very long way.

Like one of the parents in the movie I sometimes felt as thoughg perhaps it would have been easier if the had just given in to the white commmuntiy. But seeing how our educational system is, I am glad that people really devoted all their energy and sometimes even risked their lives so that our school environments could be as diverse as they are today.

I was deeply angered after watching the video on bus and desegregation. I really could not understand how there can be so much hatred direct at children. Although we've come a long way in the last 30 years, I really think we have so much further to go. There is still SO MUCH racism and inequalities that exist in Boston and in our school system. For example, all the predominately Black schools in Boston are still really bad.

I think that the main issue during busing and desegregation was not so much about integration for the sake of mixing people up so I think aruging about that is a distraction. But it was about racism and how UNEQUAL black schools were to white schools, and if they had to go to the extent of busing children an hour away to go to school inorder for them to get equal education, that saids a lot.

But it's really still not over yet. I don't understand WHY I have to go to an exam school in the first place inorder to get a decent education in the public school system, or why our schools are so bad, city kids need to be shipped the White suburbs (METCO) to learn something. Doesn't that say also A LOT about our current system and the racism that exist in it today?

Now when we look back in history, we can say the situation was bad b/c we can compare it to now and it's not the same. But why do we always have to wait until we can look back into history to say it's bad? The situation is relatively just as bad now.

Buncranagurl,

I think you are misunderstanding me. I never implied or said that south bostonians are racists TODAY. You keep saying that your friends and family in south boston ARE not racist. I have no agruements about that. I am merely saying that people in south boston in the 1970s WERE racists. No matter how much argue someone argues, i cannot see how someone can justify violence against kids, who just want a good quality education becuase they are of another race. Can you?

Boston Busing
 

Okay I definately knew all about this boston busing. But I never really saw footage for anything about it. It actaully shocked me i mean the kids in the video were in no way threating the people's way of life, at least that is what I felt. They wer just trying to go to school and go back home...Is that really too much to ask for?? I mean I can understand the whole not wanting to bus you children form SB to places like Roxbury if you have a perfectly good school right next to you but I mena that problem should have been taken up witht the school board. The parents attacked children. I mean how immature. Those 6-18 years old i'm sure had absolutely nothing to do with thier kids being bussed to other places. They were just trying to get a better education. that also makes me curious as to why racial slurs were then brought into the mix. It makes no sense I think that these people used the ongoing situation as a muse for bringing out thier true hate. and given the city and town it was actaully pretty sad. Esp. seeing as the majority of these people were Irish and had to go through discrimination when they first came to this country. You would think that that would not happen.

animation87

I do not misunderstand you. I completely agree w/ you that it is completely ludicris for people to be throwing rocks at school buses and by no means to I condone this. Every child deserves the best education no matter what race, creed, etc. The actions of these people were despicable, and I would say the same for anyone who did these things today. But what I am saying is that the film misrepresented South Bostonians. Yes there were cowardly people out there throwing rocks, and I hate them for intimidating innocent children and giving Southie a bad name, but this was not the majority of people. When I say that I know a lot of people in Southie I don't mean the kids out there hanging on corners who are from this generation. I'm not even really friends w/ alot of Southie people. I have a big family, and my aunts and uncles and grandparents and their friends are the people we are talking about. And I do know many of these people and they aren't racist. The people who were out there were not the majority of people in Southie, but because crowds gathered and had to be coralled by police, people assume that it was all of South Boston, which it most certainly was not.

Not everyone was out throwing stones of course and yelling epithets, but does that mean that the other people in Southie weren't rascist? No of course not, they just weren't so violent about it. And it's true that the majority of people didn't agree with busing, and a lot of it sadly DID have to do with rascism, even if it wasn't outright hatred.

I must say that it is very disturbing to think of how this incident wasn't too long ago. I didn't really think that the film we saw today was very biased, because it showed both sides. They showed that not all of the South Boston residents believed it was a bad thing to send their children to a desegregated school. They mentioned how both sides felt about desegregation. What I found really hard to grasp was most of what Hicks said. She kept saying that she didn't see a difference between the two different schools, when the differences were blatantly there.

Anyway, in class some people stated that busing the black children into the better schools was a threat to the South Boston community and what they had worked so hard on buidling. I actually don't really see this point. First of all, it's as if South Boston were some sort of big bubble and if you punctured it just a tad (in this case, with busing) it would burst and all would be ruined. The Black children who were coming into the schools weren't going to threaten their way of life. So now you'll see someone who is darker than you walking down the hallway...how is that threatening? The stabbings were mentioned in class, but they wouldn't have happened if they hadn't felt threatened. If there wasn't such a wave of animosity towards them, they wouldn't have felt the need of carrying a knife of any sort. I don't really see how having a little diversity in the school system would affect the Irish Catholic way of life. The new children weren't going to invade their homes or anything, or enforce their own ways of life upon them. You'd think it'd be better so that the South Boston children will be exposed to other people and not just their tightly knit community and maybe learn to be more open minded.

However, I don't think that sense of animosity could've been avoided. The first school I went to was predominantly white and hispanic. I could easily say that I was probably one out of a grand total of 4 Asians in that school. There was racism there every single day for the five years I attended that school. You got your everyday dosage of "chings and chongs" and the eye lid pulling and the sillly racist questions. Humans are creatures of habit and routine, when something is thrown a little off or if there is something there that they do not understand, they get confused and sometimes even angry and turn to ridicule or harrasment. Watching that video was still shocking, but then I can still see how that happened.