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Campaign roundup: Whites think Boston just dandy; blacks not so upbeat

WGBH is out with a poll that claims most Boston voters feel pretty darn good about their Hub and that that should be good news for Marty Walsh's election. But if you read down more than a couple of paragraphs, you see that it's mainly whites who feel that way:

Fully 62 percent of white voters and 67 percent of those with incomes over $100,000 rated the quality of life excellent or very good, compared to just 36 percent of black voters and 49 percent of those with incomes under $60,000.

On the question about Boston being a city for realizing hopes and dreams, more than half of white voters (56 percent) strongly agree, compared to just a third percent of black voters.

Speaking of WGBH, David Berrnstein poses five questions every mayoral candidate should answer (note: You'll have to actually listen to this; no transcript provided).

And as long as we're on a 'GBH roll here, don't forget they'll be holding the last (and second) mayoral debate, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Not that many people can fit in their studio, so you can listen to it on 89.7 FM or watch it on Channel 2 or wgbhnews.org.

The Bay State Banner reports Walsh basically went "wha?" when asked why his name is on a bill in the legislature that would help charter schools that he says he opposes.

The Bulletin reports on a forum at-large Councilor Ayanna Pressley held on equity issues involving young girls of color.

A whole lot of state legislators have endorsed at-large Councilor Michelle Wu.

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Comments

So, gee, whatever happened to Boston Strong?

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In city hall, annual compensation for white employees is top heavy--fewer earn low compensation than high compensation. All other ethnic categories are bottom heavy.

Walsh lectures the private sector on gender equity and racial equity but fails to deliver (except for white people) on the one payroll he controls. Good for white people but what equal opportunity?

A woman who worked in city hall treasury won a discrimination case and was awarded ten million dollars. The city fought the award and got it reduced to two million dollars. Last December, the women who won the judgement and award wrote an article. She says nothing has changed in city hall since the court found she was discriminated against. The mayor is appealing the finding that she was discriminated against.

Walsh gives speeches about economic inclusion but he can't see the evidence right in front of his face. That's a problem.

Democrats argue education is the great equalizer. I'll say all of my opportunity came as a result of my education, some of it because of skills and some of it because of connections. Walsh and his superintendents have made over $140 million dollars in cuts in Boston Schools over 4 years to close budget gaps. Democratic Party dogma says education is the path to opportunity and it's true, economic and intellectual opportunity There's no denying these cuts come at a cost to Boston Schools students, That's a problem.

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He doesn't want to. He's a registered Democrat and that doesn't fit his agenda of lying about caring about other people while making himself and his friends rich. His party has decided to be Republicans with subtlety and without religion.

For Chrissakes, the guy endorsed Hillary Clinton. Stop rewarding this complete lying scumbag organization with votes.

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Mayor Walsh declined to answer the question "Is Trump racist?" on Kirk and Callahan. He's so outspoken about Trump's values I was confused why until I realized he didn't want to alienate the part of his base that favors Trump.

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I don't see an answer to the question about income inequality. In the first part Walsh tries to minimize the issue by taking away the extreme income inequality on the high earner side. Then he talks about how other Democrats recognized the problem already, and that its the Federal government's job to address it and finally We have been talking about closing this wealth gap and dealing with the inequities of the rich and the poor for years.. The question wasn't, How long have we been talking about income inequality? It was "How are you going to address such a huge disparity?"

Under your administration, the city released the Imagine Boston 2030 plan, which notes that the median net worth of white Bostonians is over $247,000, while the median net worth of “U.S. Black” Bostonians is $8. How are you going to address such a huge disparity?

Well, I think when you take away the very high-end earners in the city of Boston, you’re going to see the gap close. But this is not a Boston problem—it is an American problem. This goes back to Al Gore running for president in 2000 and talking about the top 99 percent and 1 percent of the country, and he talked about the [Medicare] lock box. This is an issue that hasn’t been dealt with at a national level. We have been talking about closing this wealth gap and dealing with the inequities of the rich and the poor for years.

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Why is it always White/Blacks? There's just about as many Hispanics as there are African Americans in Boston....and why is it always the Blacks complaining? The Hispanics seem to keep their heads down & continue to grind without constantly complaining about equality / quality of life. And what about the Muslims? Trump's certainly given them a bad rap...and they too don't seem to be out in the spotlight fussing constantly about their problems. Everyone has a voice - but Blacks (at least to me) are starting to abuse it.

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IMAGE(https://media.tenor.com/images/265c7ff7a9e37cdcce35ea952982877b/tenor.gif)

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Alternately, can we get Jamahrl back in the comments to educate this nitwit about why blacks have more to complain about than Hispanics even in these days of the ICEstapo roaming around looking for dangerous families to break up through deportation.

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Why do they have more things to complain about, please enlighten us?

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Read a newspaper.

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all your life, you should know. Now is the time to crawl out into sunlight.

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Ok, um, don't know where to start here. I guess you could start by investigating the effects of slavery and its aftermath (hint: really focus on Jim Crow laws and perhaps take a look at those rowdy good time ole boys, the Ku Klux Klan. Oh, don't forget to read about the stuff that blacks had to deal with right after the Civil War, during the Reformation. And don't forget to read about all the stuff that blacks had to deal with during the last century including the Civil Rights Movement) on a people over the course of multiple generations, from the beginning of slavery up to the present.

In regards to your comment, "why is it always the Blacks complaining?" Well, I could be snarky and say "cause they have due cause to complain." Yeah. I'll be snarky.

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I thought that white people were voting for Trump because they are threatened by black equality. Now you're telling me that the blacks are held down by white oppression. Can't be both.

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Are you being sarcastic, a troll, or can you really not see the clear correlation between racism and Trump?

Both your statements can clearly be true (though way over-simplified and also you're presenting a straw argument and not really addressing the previous poster's point).

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Answer to first sentence: No, white people voted for Trump for many reasons. Mind you, many of those white people who voted for Trump, voted for Obama. Both. Times.

Answer to second question; I am not telling you anything. But, yes, blacks have been "held down" by whites, which continues to this day. If you do not realize that Trump was/is pandering/fostering to racist themes/tenets in this country, I can't help you. And If you don't realize/understand that blacks have been getting the shaft from whites (speaking broadly here since we are not all racists) since they were brought over in chains to this country, than I got nothin else to say to you.

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I stopped reading when I saw "slavery." Like.....COME ON.

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If you seriously thinks it's just "the blacks" "complaining" then maybe you'd want to get your head out of your asshole. People of color in Boston are constantly being mistreated and receive hardly any attention politically unless it's something that will be seen as beneficial for a re-election. The only thing Marty has been doing throughout his term as mayor is cuddle up to out-of-town'er big corporations looking for massive tax breaks, push for more luxury and less affordable housing, and pitching for big sporting events to come in and suck off the city then leave it after a few days or weeks. All of these things have little to no benefit for the people of color in Boston, so it should not be a surprise that they aren't satisfied with the way things have been going lately. I do have to agree however, that I am confused as to why the poll only distinguished between white and black as opposed to other racial groups. Still, stfu you moronic twat.

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Have you seen who the president is? He is a white idiot who complains non stop despite being given everything in life. Say "happy holidays"? White republicans complain. Say that the confederates were racist traitors? White republicans complain. Peacefully protest police brutality? White republicans complain. They are only silent when the Russians attack our democracy on Trump's behalf or a 12 year old black kid is shot by cops.

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That being said the poll is also a reflection on the choice and It's not Tito.

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Do you really think this way or are you just stuck in a time warp? I feel like I just relived my childhood growing up in South Boston in the 70's-80's.

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first, Muslim is a religion, not a race, second, Hispanics do speak up ( they walk with black lives matter, well majority), and you just showed your white privilege by saying Hispanics keep their head down and continue to grind.... so you expect minorities to keep their head down and grind? please do not speak for blacks or any minority?

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The poll forgot to take into account the Latino population which is 15 percent of the city or the Asian population which accounts for 10 percent of the population of the city of Boston.

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Too bad she didn't run. She would have won with very little effort.

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For mayor of Boston. Bwhahaha, never is going to happen.

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Let's not read too much into this study until we hear what a few more white people have to say about it.

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