Name a park or a recreation center in South Boston after him, not something as ironic as a bridge to the rest of the city that he tried so hard to keep at bay.
(Eileen McNamara also once again shows Brian McGrory how to write a metro column).
history of bitter divisiveness and racism. It is appropriate that he is gone now as Boston moves on to a future filled with more inclusion. I don't think that anything in Boston should be named after him. By doing so, and honoring him, it is a tie to a hateful past.
I think it is wonderful that Jim Kelly did a great and honorable job of protecting and supporting his community. Unfortunately, his values do not seem to reflect those of the region.
It is appropriate for the City of Boston to erect a structure that remembers and honors him, especially if it is paid for by the residence of south Boston where he served. I don't, however, think it is appropriate for any structure funded by the state to bear his name. The rest of us deplore his message of past messages of hate and divisiveness.
Shame on me. I am trying not to speak ill of the dead, even though Jim Kelly and I went head to head in housing hearings many years ago.
As politically warped as he was, Kelly had a strong sense of humor. How about putting a plaque on a dinette chair honoring him? Then it could pass from one reserved parking place after another in each snow storm. Each family in turn would have the honor.
i was always very sorry to read about mr kelly's health woes the last few years and my sympathies and prayers go out to all his loved ones. as for a bridge? i dont think so. i attended the boston public schools as a child in the seventies and they were filled with violence and fear.mr kelly played a key role in instigating much of this fear and division.i could see a rec center or a ballfield in southie but bridges and large municipal buildings should be named after people that brought the city together, not split it in half by race. i know james brown played a key role in keeping the city calm in the wake of MLK's murder. how do you think the old timers in southie would feel about crossing the james brown bridge every morning?
If Broadway in New York City is known as "The Great White Way", the least we can do is name the Broadway Bridge here in Boston "The Great White Way" in honor of Jimmy Kelly.
You attack Jimmy Kelly as being a racist...most of the comments I've read so far are filled with hate and RACISM. He didn't just preach and whine about what the government should be doing for HIM...he went out and with the support of the community he made the changes happen.
You can keep your Al Sharpton's and your Jessie Jacksons that have become multi-millionaires while 'their' people still suffer. Jimmy Kelly went home every night to a safe and secure community that he and his constituents help make...can Sharpton and Jackson say the same thing?...I think not. Jimmy Kelly probably wouldn't have even qualified for the mortgages those so-called leaders have on their homes. Jimmy Kelly lived where his constituents did. Can you say the same for Sharpton and Jackson?
Further, every election, Jimmy Kelly put himself out there and let the people make their choice, and they did, they chose him.
How many elections has Jackson and Sharpton even entered in, never mind won? Why? because "their" people would never in a million years elect them.....
Jimmy Kelly was a tireless leader who didn't make a fortune representing and standing up for the community that he called home. You can keep your bridges and name them whatever you like...the people of South Boston will always remember Jimmy Kelly in our hearts.
Nobody's mentioned Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson here. We're talking about what Kelly did or didn't do for (and to) the 85% of the city he didn't represent.
Don't blame Jimmy Kelly for the apathy and incompetence of other so-called "leaders" and the people they represent.
There will always be those who are envious of what Southie has...people that take pride in their community and take action to make things happen...instead of waiting for the handout.
Your hatred of the man only proves that he must have done something right!
What? Envious of what Southie has? You mean like the Southie "leaders" who sold out the people of South Boston by sitting on the school committee while refusing to address the de facto segregation of the Boston public schools? People like Louise Day Hicks knew changes had to be made yet refused to make them in the interest of keeping "Southie pride" alive? I knew where she stood all right, and that was at the schoolhouse door with the Bull Connors of this world. I hear a lot of bitching about how liberals screwed Southie, but if the elected officials representing Southie had made any kind of progress in addressing the school problems in the 1960s, busing, at least the type seen in the 1970s, would likely never have happened.
You can talk "Southie pride" all day long John but it boils down to this: people in Southie didn't want black kids going to "their" schools, and Jimmy Kelly was one of those people. Could he have changed in later years? Of course, and there is some evidence he did, but spare me the Southie pride crap.
I'd address you by your name but you seemed to have left that part blank. You're anonymous just like all those other liberals living in their castles in Wellsley and beyond, dictating how other people should live. Why should I have to take a bus to the other side of town??.. when I could have walked to my local school with all my friends who had the same interests as me...TO GET AN EDUCATION! Busing is a failure and you know it! After over 30 years you'll still not admit it. Going to the Boston Public School system when I was a kid was like going to jail...we were thrown into a world we could not have imagined existed and it wasn't because of Hicks, Kelly or any other political leader from Southie. One by one I watch each year as other kids went to private schools or moved, to get away from the violence. Poor kids like myself, couldn't afford it, and we all became victims of the system.
Let me guess...your kids are in private school and you don't live in Southie...go figure!
John writes: "we were thrown into a world we could not have imagined existed and it wasn't because of Hicks, Kelly or any other political leader from Southie."
Really? It wasn't because of Louise Day Hicks and others like her? Then who exactly was on that school committee which didn't do anything to address the rampant discrimination in the Boston schools that resulted in Garrity's court order? Despite their disproportionate influence on city politics during that time John thinks Southie is blameless and was the victim of those awful liberals. By doing nothing, Southie leaders avoided the hard choices and granted themselves victim status. So much for pride.
John writes: "Let me guess...your kids are in private school and you don't live in Southie...go figure!"
You think you have it all figured out don't you? I live in Dorchester and my kid goes to public school. And guess what? I'm not afraid of kids of other races and she's not either. My wife started in the Boston public schools the year busing began and she was perfectly fine, probably because she wasn't a whiny self-proclaimed victim like you.
I am willing to admit that busing as decreed by a judge from Wellesley was a failure, and I'm sorry your experience was so awful. However, I also argue that Hicks, Kelly, et al, share a whopping big part of the blame for failing to do anything about segregation before Garrity got involved. It's not like he just arrived on the scene one day and said "Die, Southie!" - his rulings came only after years of complete disregard of the law of the land by white school committee members - who, along with their race-baiting allies at the South Boston Information Center then preceded to make things far, far worse.
I live in Boston and my daughter goes to a Boston public school. Next strawman argument?
First, to respond the last poster's query, I for one am happy that Jimmy Kelly and others fought to keep gay groups from marching in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Southie. Although you liberals think that may have been awful, what you don't understand is that many of us believe in the teaching of the Catholic Church, and while we should love gays as children of God, that doesn't mean we have to accept their lifestyle as a moral lifestyle. When you allow them to march, you are basically making the statement that you agree with the agenda of the gay rights crowd; that gay marriage is legitimate; that homosexual relations is on a par with relations between husband and wife; and so on. Why not let the KKK march, or other controversial groups then? Southie will decide who marches in our parade - and as you may know the US Supreme Court in a 9 -0 decision agreed with our right to decide, not yours'.
As for busing, I don't have the time or energy to get into it at length now, but Jimmy Kelly was right on. What a hero! It's about the neighborhood. Busing was just plain wrong for fundamental reasons. You don't break up neighborhoods!!
As for Jimmy Kelly's devotion to South Boston, and resistance to change, God bless him. The country has changed, the American Catholic Church has changed, the culture has changed - and none of it for the better. All one can do is do his and her best to fight against these tidal waves of change. That is one way to measure a man: how one battled and fought for values held dear, for family, faith, tradition, neighborhood. Jimmy Kelly was the best! There won't be another like him, unfortunately, not only because men such as him are rare, but also because nothing is the same anymore. Too much has changed. To many, that is a sign of "progress." To others it is a sign of decline.
No, if you let them march, the only statement you're making is that they're valid fellow human beings. In most any parade, you're going to have groups like Jews, Baptists, Catholics, Unitarians, private schools, public schools, scouts, and so on and so forth. The parade organizers might not agree with all of the views of each of these organizations, but they'll generally respect them and allow them to come out and show their colors like anyone else.
No group has been asking to present anything X-rated or sexual at the Southie parade. They've merely requested to hold flags and show that they're GLBT individuals. There are definitely people in Southie who "display their sexuality" all over the place -- it's a complete lie to try and deny this. Go to a park and you'll see different-sex couples holding hands, wheeling baby carriages together, enjoying a picnic together. Go to a bar and you'll see people flirting with people of a different sex, dancing together, and whatnot. These are all displays of heterosexuality. None of them are X-rated, none of them are harming anyone, and none of them should be censored.
GLBT people don't want "special rights" as you seem to imply. They just want to show pride in their identity and community like anyone else. Fortunately, most neighborhoods in Boston don't have a problem with this.
Call me whatever name you want. None of you have personally experienced the effects of forced busing in the Boston Public School system...oh,except by marriage, of course. I'm sure you and the wife have spent countless nights at the dinner table recounting her experiences with the Boston Public School system... I'm sure you're an expert on the subject by now.
I lived just a few blocks from Southie High and I was put on a bus for the long and needless ride through the tunnel every morning to East Boston. Was it done because I'd get a better education?... or that I'd be safer?... NO! It was done purely for political reasons by people that were sheltered in their own excusive all white communities and were NEVER affected by the same policies that they implemented on others!
To say that we were racist because we didn't want black children in "our" schools, as you put it, is unfair. For every black child forced to go to a school in South Boston there would be one child from South Boston forced to go somewhere else...plain and simple. I have the utmost respect and gratitude for those people that stood up for, and tried to protect, those that were too young and unable to protect themselves...people like Jimmy Kelly.
I feel sorry for you because you'll never know what it was like to grow up in a place like Southie. A place where we all knew our neighbors and the mothers would watch over and protect ALL the children in their neighborhood, not just their own. How many of you can even tell me the name of the person living next door to you?
And to my other anonymous friend out there that states that, "Southie loudly and proudly refuses to let groups of Irish GLBT folks march in their Irish heritage parade" Well, all I can say is that if you were allowed to march holding a sign PROCLAIMING your sexuality, you'd be making history, because that would be a first for Southie. I guess we never felt the need to march down the street broadcasting our sexuality. I lived outside of San Francisco for a short time and I've seen how you "Irish GLBT folks " do it out there. Would you agree with me that if it were made into a movie it would get an "X" rating?...oh, not all homosexuals act like that? Well, not everyone from Southie is a racist either...
Comments
Background
Eileen McNamara says no:
(Eileen McNamara also once again shows Brian McGrory how to write a metro column).
Paul McMorrow at the Dig says the Globe should leave poor Kelly alone.
Howie Carr manages to be touching while still bringing up Kelly's mob connections.
Kelly was part of Boston's
history of bitter divisiveness and racism. It is appropriate that he is gone now as Boston moves on to a future filled with more inclusion. I don't think that anything in Boston should be named after him. By doing so, and honoring him, it is a tie to a hateful past.
kelly should be honored by his people, not mine
I think it is wonderful that Jim Kelly did a great and honorable job of protecting and supporting his community. Unfortunately, his values do not seem to reflect those of the region.
It is appropriate for the City of Boston to erect a structure that remembers and honors him, especially if it is paid for by the residence of south Boston where he served. I don't, however, think it is appropriate for any structure funded by the state to bear his name. The rest of us deplore his message of past messages of hate and divisiveness.
Portable Memorial
Shame on me. I am trying not to speak ill of the dead, even though Jim Kelly and I went head to head in housing hearings many years ago.
As politically warped as he was, Kelly had a strong sense of humor. How about putting a plaque on a dinette chair honoring him? Then it could pass from one reserved parking place after another in each snow storm. Each family in turn would have the honor.
i was always very sorry to
i was always very sorry to read about mr kelly's health woes the last few years and my sympathies and prayers go out to all his loved ones. as for a bridge? i dont think so. i attended the boston public schools as a child in the seventies and they were filled with violence and fear.mr kelly played a key role in instigating much of this fear and division.i could see a rec center or a ballfield in southie but bridges and large municipal buildings should be named after people that brought the city together, not split it in half by race. i know james brown played a key role in keeping the city calm in the wake of MLK's murder. how do you think the old timers in southie would feel about crossing the james brown bridge every morning?
The Great White Way
If Broadway in New York City is known as "The Great White Way", the least we can do is name the Broadway Bridge here in Boston "The Great White Way" in honor of Jimmy Kelly.
Who's the racist?
You attack Jimmy Kelly as being a racist...most of the comments I've read so far are filled with hate and RACISM. He didn't just preach and whine about what the government should be doing for HIM...he went out and with the support of the community he made the changes happen.
You can keep your Al Sharpton's and your Jessie Jacksons that have become multi-millionaires while 'their' people still suffer. Jimmy Kelly went home every night to a safe and secure community that he and his constituents help make...can Sharpton and Jackson say the same thing?...I think not. Jimmy Kelly probably wouldn't have even qualified for the mortgages those so-called leaders have on their homes. Jimmy Kelly lived where his constituents did. Can you say the same for Sharpton and Jackson?
Further, every election, Jimmy Kelly put himself out there and let the people make their choice, and they did, they chose him.
How many elections has Jackson and Sharpton even entered in, never mind won? Why? because "their" people would never in a million years elect them.....
Jimmy Kelly was a tireless leader who didn't make a fortune representing and standing up for the community that he called home. You can keep your bridges and name them whatever you like...the people of South Boston will always remember Jimmy Kelly in our hearts.
Straw man alert
Nobody's mentioned Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson here. We're talking about what Kelly did or didn't do for (and to) the 85% of the city he didn't represent.
more straw
also, what do Sharpton and Jackson have to do with Boston?
if someone wanted to rename the Williamsburg Bridge in NYC after Sharpton I think you'd see the same reaction that you're reading here.
Sour Grapes...
Re: Straw Man
Don't blame Jimmy Kelly for the apathy and incompetence of other so-called "leaders" and the people they represent.
There will always be those who are envious of what Southie has...people that take pride in their community and take action to make things happen...instead of waiting for the handout.
Your hatred of the man only proves that he must have done something right!
Southie Pride
What? Envious of what Southie has? You mean like the Southie "leaders" who sold out the people of South Boston by sitting on the school committee while refusing to address the de facto segregation of the Boston public schools? People like Louise Day Hicks knew changes had to be made yet refused to make them in the interest of keeping "Southie pride" alive? I knew where she stood all right, and that was at the schoolhouse door with the Bull Connors of this world. I hear a lot of bitching about how liberals screwed Southie, but if the elected officials representing Southie had made any kind of progress in addressing the school problems in the 1960s, busing, at least the type seen in the 1970s, would likely never have happened.
You can talk "Southie pride" all day long John but it boils down to this: people in Southie didn't want black kids going to "their" schools, and Jimmy Kelly was one of those people. Could he have changed in later years? Of course, and there is some evidence he did, but spare me the Southie pride crap.
That's right, I'm proud of being from Southie!
I'd address you by your name but you seemed to have left that part blank. You're anonymous just like all those other liberals living in their castles in Wellsley and beyond, dictating how other people should live. Why should I have to take a bus to the other side of town??.. when I could have walked to my local school with all my friends who had the same interests as me...TO GET AN EDUCATION! Busing is a failure and you know it! After over 30 years you'll still not admit it. Going to the Boston Public School system when I was a kid was like going to jail...we were thrown into a world we could not have imagined existed and it wasn't because of Hicks, Kelly or any other political leader from Southie. One by one I watch each year as other kids went to private schools or moved, to get away from the violence. Poor kids like myself, couldn't afford it, and we all became victims of the system.
Let me guess...your kids are in private school and you don't live in Southie...go figure!
Of Course You're Proud
John writes: "we were thrown into a world we could not have imagined existed and it wasn't because of Hicks, Kelly or any other political leader from Southie."
Really? It wasn't because of Louise Day Hicks and others like her? Then who exactly was on that school committee which didn't do anything to address the rampant discrimination in the Boston schools that resulted in Garrity's court order? Despite their disproportionate influence on city politics during that time John thinks Southie is blameless and was the victim of those awful liberals. By doing nothing, Southie leaders avoided the hard choices and granted themselves victim status. So much for pride.
John writes: "Let me guess...your kids are in private school and you don't live in Southie...go figure!"
You think you have it all figured out don't you? I live in Dorchester and my kid goes to public school. And guess what? I'm not afraid of kids of other races and she's not either. My wife started in the Boston public schools the year busing began and she was perfectly fine, probably because she wasn't a whiny self-proclaimed victim like you.
Pfft
I am willing to admit that busing as decreed by a judge from Wellesley was a failure, and I'm sorry your experience was so awful. However, I also argue that Hicks, Kelly, et al, share a whopping big part of the blame for failing to do anything about segregation before Garrity got involved. It's not like he just arrived on the scene one day and said "Die, Southie!" - his rulings came only after years of complete disregard of the law of the land by white school committee members - who, along with their race-baiting allies at the South Boston Information Center then preceded to make things far, far worse.
I live in Boston and my daughter goes to a Boston public school. Next strawman argument?
Are you also proud
...that Southie loudly and proudly refuses to let groups of Irish GLBT folks march in their Irish heritage parade?
Jimmy Kelly was Heroic
First, to respond the last poster's query, I for one am happy that Jimmy Kelly and others fought to keep gay groups from marching in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Southie. Although you liberals think that may have been awful, what you don't understand is that many of us believe in the teaching of the Catholic Church, and while we should love gays as children of God, that doesn't mean we have to accept their lifestyle as a moral lifestyle. When you allow them to march, you are basically making the statement that you agree with the agenda of the gay rights crowd; that gay marriage is legitimate; that homosexual relations is on a par with relations between husband and wife; and so on. Why not let the KKK march, or other controversial groups then? Southie will decide who marches in our parade - and as you may know the US Supreme Court in a 9 -0 decision agreed with our right to decide, not yours'.
As for busing, I don't have the time or energy to get into it at length now, but Jimmy Kelly was right on. What a hero! It's about the neighborhood. Busing was just plain wrong for fundamental reasons. You don't break up neighborhoods!!
As for Jimmy Kelly's devotion to South Boston, and resistance to change, God bless him. The country has changed, the American Catholic Church has changed, the culture has changed - and none of it for the better. All one can do is do his and her best to fight against these tidal waves of change. That is one way to measure a man: how one battled and fought for values held dear, for family, faith, tradition, neighborhood. Jimmy Kelly was the best! There won't be another like him, unfortunately, not only because men such as him are rare, but also because nothing is the same anymore. Too much has changed. To many, that is a sign of "progress." To others it is a sign of decline.
Yep, you sure are a bigot
No, if you let them march, the only statement you're making is that they're valid fellow human beings. In most any parade, you're going to have groups like Jews, Baptists, Catholics, Unitarians, private schools, public schools, scouts, and so on and so forth. The parade organizers might not agree with all of the views of each of these organizations, but they'll generally respect them and allow them to come out and show their colors like anyone else.
No group has been asking to present anything X-rated or sexual at the Southie parade. They've merely requested to hold flags and show that they're GLBT individuals. There are definitely people in Southie who "display their sexuality" all over the place -- it's a complete lie to try and deny this. Go to a park and you'll see different-sex couples holding hands, wheeling baby carriages together, enjoying a picnic together. Go to a bar and you'll see people flirting with people of a different sex, dancing together, and whatnot. These are all displays of heterosexuality. None of them are X-rated, none of them are harming anyone, and none of them should be censored.
GLBT people don't want "special rights" as you seem to imply. They just want to show pride in their identity and community like anyone else. Fortunately, most neighborhoods in Boston don't have a problem with this.
In closing...
Call me whatever name you want. None of you have personally experienced the effects of forced busing in the Boston Public School system...oh,except by marriage, of course. I'm sure you and the wife have spent countless nights at the dinner table recounting her experiences with the Boston Public School system... I'm sure you're an expert on the subject by now.
I lived just a few blocks from Southie High and I was put on a bus for the long and needless ride through the tunnel every morning to East Boston. Was it done because I'd get a better education?... or that I'd be safer?... NO! It was done purely for political reasons by people that were sheltered in their own excusive all white communities and were NEVER affected by the same policies that they implemented on others!
To say that we were racist because we didn't want black children in "our" schools, as you put it, is unfair. For every black child forced to go to a school in South Boston there would be one child from South Boston forced to go somewhere else...plain and simple. I have the utmost respect and gratitude for those people that stood up for, and tried to protect, those that were too young and unable to protect themselves...people like Jimmy Kelly.
I feel sorry for you because you'll never know what it was like to grow up in a place like Southie. A place where we all knew our neighbors and the mothers would watch over and protect ALL the children in their neighborhood, not just their own. How many of you can even tell me the name of the person living next door to you?
And to my other anonymous friend out there that states that, "Southie loudly and proudly refuses to let groups of Irish GLBT folks march in their Irish heritage parade" Well, all I can say is that if you were allowed to march holding a sign PROCLAIMING your sexuality, you'd be making history, because that would be a first for Southie. I guess we never felt the need to march down the street broadcasting our sexuality. I lived outside of San Francisco for a short time and I've seen how you "Irish GLBT folks " do it out there. Would you agree with me that if it were made into a movie it would get an "X" rating?...oh, not all homosexuals act like that? Well, not everyone from Southie is a racist either...
Great post
You can't argue with people who are open minded about everything - unless you have an opinion that is opposite their idealistic views.