This is an excellent post, and I hope he's right about the latter half of his last point: "In fact, it may play out that South Boston voters will rally behind the guy who looks like them and who lives near them. It may also happen that enough in the district are tired of the joke nature of their councilors and take the rare chance to put some muscle on the bone."
Jimmy Kelly wasn't that bad. 23 years on the City council, elected by Southie, South End and Chinatown residents. Unprecedented 7 terms as Council president, elected by Councilors who were voted in by residents across the City. Made Southie what it is today. Can't be that bad because all the Yuppies and Hipsters are stepping all over each other to move there. The same people who's parents badmouthed Southie in the 60's and 70's. You haters can't change history. The realtors still love you.
Kelly was an anti. He was strongly anti-gay, anti-busing, anti-public housing integration. He bragged he wouldn't visit many parts of Boston to suit his prejudices. He was a tool for the major realtors.
Cut me a thin slice of that baloney about his political longevity. The vast majority of his district were the white folk whom he pandered to and who responded by reelecting him. It was Southie, not the rest of his district, who kept him in office. As any feudal lord, he fought for money for his entire district, but that was about personal power, not because he loved everyone. Thus, he ended up doing constituent services for all.
At the end as cancer was killing him, he did come around a bit and confess he was wrong on black folk and homosexuals. That's better than nothing, but he had a lot of years of making life tough, unnecessarily and based on his emotions, for a lot of people.
Adam and MassMarrier you have to be kidding me with these co mments about Jimmy Kelly. You two muist have grown up in Mansions in Wellsely or Newton and drove around with your 5 dollar starbucks coffee or maybe even grew up in pink house in Cambridge with a wraparound porch. It must have beeen soooo tough for the both of you to grow up in school systems that were 99% white where you could walk to school while Eltist judges ordered their social engineering on city residents. Jimmy Kelly saw the injustice of it all, while the elitists in Wellsley in Brookline saw that it was about race, we saw it and lived it for what it was class. While they walked their kids to school the kids in South Boston were ordered to go to parts of the city were cab drivers wouldnt go and had some of the highest crime in the nation. If you were wealthy you could get out if you were on the lower income scale you were screwed it had everything to do with class...
Then at the same time when the residents out in the Socially liberal suburbs were dodging the draft the kids in the city felt a patriotic duty to serve their country. Southie and lost more men in Vietnam then any other neighborhood in the country per capitia. But the liberal elites in Cambridge Wellsely in Brookline still thumbed thier nose at the neighborhood.
He also saw the injustice when Homosexual activists trried to ruin a traditional value family oriented St. Patricks day parade. The activists took their argument to the Supreme Court and it got laughed out of Court with Unanamous 9-0 vote in favor of the South Boston Allied War Veterens Council.
Hey but whatever some hemp wearing pink house living latte drinker Socially liberal thinker form Cambidge /Wellsey or Newton says is right must be right..
West 4th and SB Voter you have to be kidding me with these co mments about Jimmy Kelly. You two muist have grown up in triple deckers on West Broad or in Dorchester and drove around with your 5 dollar scratch ticket or maybe even grew up in nicotine yellow kitchen in Charlestown with a wraparound porch. It must have beeen soooo tough for the both of you to grow up in school systems that were 99% white where you could walk to school while cracker judges ordered city residents of different skintones into prison in droves on minor charges. Jimmy Kelly oversaw injustice of it all, while the knuckledragging oxy poppers in Southie and Dorchester claimed class warfare while shaking in their books about going to school with kids of a different race. While they pulled their idiot kids out of school school, South Boston continued to be a parts of the city were cab drivers wouldnt go and had some of the highest crime in the nation. If you were wealthy you could get out if you were on the lower income scale you were screwed it had everything to do with being backward...
Then at the same time when the residents in these sociall conservative pockets were mindlessly trotting off to questionable wars under the guise of "patriotism", kids the the suburbs and other parts of the were dodging the draft and living to be senior citizens. Southie and lost more men in Vietnam then any other neighborhood in the country per capitia and the relieved parents in Cambridge Wellsely in Brookline just shook their heads at the neighborhood.
He also fueled the injustice when GLBT activists trried to march in a St. Patricks day parade run by homophobic gangsters and kid touchers. The activists took their argument to the Supreme Court and it got rushed of Court with Unanamous 9-0 vote in favor by drinking buddies of South Boston Allied War Veterens Council.
Hey but whatever some meth cooking, tenement living, Dunks coffee-flavored sugar drinker in the non-thinking pockets of Southie, Dorchester and Charlestown is right must be right. After all, God and the guy in the pickup truck in all those ads is on their side.
Hey BigSwingen Mick Stay you cant help it you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth out in Wellsley or Cambridge with all the pretty people drinking the lattes wearing the hemp and trying to impose your social liberal stances on the working class...
Hey but stay classy going after people in recovery bringing up oxys and meth, thats classy...
By the way South Boston produced more vetererns, clergy and division 1 athletes than anywhere else in the country and some fine politcians including Speakers of the House and Ambassadors work. so stay out in the silverspooned towns of Brookline, or Wellsley or even Cambridge where being a U.S citizen is considered a bad thing.
but you decide to stay classy and focus on the Meth and Oxys.. and what are you doing on this page anyway... You grew up with the privelaged the brownnosers who thumbn their nose at the working class neighborhoods of the city who take pride in an honest days work
But what ar eyou doing on this page anyway , You can stay and post on the Cambridge online or Wellsey news or Brookline times and bash the working class on their websites.. This is Universal Hub Boston. ... BOSTON
It's posts and thinking like yours that illustrate why District 2 could benefit from someone who didn't grow up in South Boston and doesn't rely on the "Boo to all those not from here! Right, guys?! Am I right?!" mentality.
I've lived here since 2002, am a property owner, have a young daughter we plan on sending to BPS, and am volunteering for Lee's campaign. Seems maybe we can change Southie, seeing as Lee won last night. It's a step in the right direction.
I've lived in Southie for 57 years. Been all over the World. However, there is no place like home. Having said that, I would like to congratulate Suzanne Lee on her coming in first place in the District 2 City Council Race. I voted for her, I support her in her attempt to defeat Bill Linehan. Last night we had a Stand Out for Suzane Lee in front of the Rite Aid Pharmacy. The reception was awesome! So, while all you others in here are having your "Class Warfare", there are changes taking place right under your noses! I think all of you should put aside your differences and try to seek a higher level of understanding. It's a short visit in this life. Don't make it a wasted one.
I'm doing my best to make the new Demographic in South Boston feel welcome. However, there are certain idiosyncrasies and bad habits that they all seem to display. One: they never shovel in front of their House/Condo when it snows. Two: they put their garbage out days before it's scheduled pickup: Three: they put cones in their parking spot without even shoveling. Four: they have total disregard for the Elderly crossing the street. Five: they often take up two spaces when they park. And, last but not least, they don't seem to want to make "friends" with their Neighbors. Now, having said that...there not so bad.
I have to say all of the things that you pointed out ANNOY the crap out of me too. But the funny thing it sounds like all my life long southie neighbors. Who have been known to :
1.Shovel their snow in front others homes
2.Never pick up their barrells for several days AFTER the trash pick up comes.
3. Put cones into their spots when they didnt shovel the spot because it is JULY
4.Have a total disregard for mothers pushing their babies in cross walks
5. 100% take up 3 spots when parking to save the spot for their wife or husband.
6. Last and not least , want to continually tell me that I am not from here , that I dont know the rules, that I am just some dumb yuppie..
Now having that said...they aint that bad.
oh p.s...unlike you I realize they are just a few and not the whole and that why I have hundreds of Southie lifers as friends . And I knowthe "newcomers" you speak of are a few and not the whole...
so maybe you should just say your IDIOT neighbors instead of being a bigot toward one group
First, let me say Welcome Baily. I'm sure both Demographics are guilty as charged. However, in my part of South Boston (City Point) these basic "violations" seem more prevalent. That said, let me say that I am humbled that you quoted me verbatim. Yes it's true that I've lived here my entire life. However, I have been a one-man welcoming committee when new people move to South Boston. I've always lived by the credence that "your first impression is your only impression". That said, I've made many Friends and Neighbors from all over the Country. Ironically, it is I they come to when they need a question answered or some sort of information about the Community. My advice to them, once I've answered their questions is..."Don't forget to register to Vote". A Community is only as strong as it's Political Clout! So, that said, See you at the Voting Polls Baily. Oh, and don't forget to extend your hand to say Hello.
To quote you ANON : "your first impression is your only impression"
Then I guess my impression of you should be that you hate yuppies? new comers? non southie lifers? or whatever you want to call "us" ...
I find it funny that you claim to be the "man" we all go to when we have questions? I have been here 15 years and have voted 12 years. I attend three different neighborhood assoc meetings ( I own property in three different areas), I attend fundraisers, donate time and money, I say hi to EVERY person on the street.
Maybe if you want to learn something about the community you should ask me...
Oh and maybe use a name and not "anon" and we can shake hands and talk how to make this a better community for ALL whether you have been here 3 months 10 years or 65 years...
Hey West 4th you cant help it you were born with a Hoodsie spoon in your mouth out in some bar bathroom with all the homely people drinking the nighttrain wearing the scally caps and trying to impose your shelailiegh canes on the minorities' skulls...
Hey but stay classy going after people in recovery bringing up hemp, lattes and sliva sppns, thats classy...
By the way South Boston produced more gangsters, pedobears and division 1 dropouts than anywhere else in the country and some "fine" politcians including ones who look the other way when guys wit guns aks for protection money. so stay out in the backwards, uneducated, shrinking parts of Southie that make being a U.S citizen look like a bad thing and being "Irish" look worse.
but you decide to stay classy and focus on the hemp and spoons.. and what are you doing on this page anyway... You grew up with the dice rollers and leg breakers who thumbed their nose at the other neighborhoods of the city who take pride in an honest days work
But what ar eyou doing on this page anyway , You can stay and post on the bathroom walls at Whitey's or Shenanigans and bash the yuppies and homosexuals.. This is Universal Hub Boston. ... BOSTON, not Southie
There you go again, going after people of low income, and not everybody from southie grew up with hoodsie spoons in there mouths. Like I sad before it has produced more Veterens, Clergy, Div 1 Athletes and accomplished politicians. per cpaita than anywhere else in the country
Then you take the classless road talking about people living off hoodsie spoons and dropouts and pedobears whatever that is..And Gangsters .. The gangster stufff was for the movies so people could make a buck.. The gangsters are in books that fools like you buy and try to glorify to all your friends and say yeah I am from Boston when your really not, your from some socially liberal elitist town that rubs their noses on the working class..
Lets talk about your hometown!! Lets talk about what your neoghborhood has produced?? And why do so many people want to live in South Boston anyway.. Say what you want Southie has character.. I would love to hear about your hackysack community
Another one of your lines Hey but whatever some meth cooking, tenement living, Dunks coffee-flavored sugar drinker in the non-thinking pockets of Southie, Dorchester and Charlestown is right must be right. After all, God and the guy in the pickup truck in all those ads is on their side..
Stay Classy
You can argue with the working class point of view or silverspooned trust fund pink house wrap around porch in cambridge or hemp latte drinkin in brookline
but when push comes to shove you cant argue with the U.S Sumpreme Court Point of VIEW 9-0 in favor of the South Boston Allied War Veterens Council
Hey bigswiningmick: I will say this much. West Fourth Street does have one advantage over you...He knows how to spell "Furth" Street, as in...West Fourth! Peace my Brother!
SB Voter and West 4th are the same poster. Check out down below where s/he posted something, then decided to get a login and repost the exact text because s/he didn't realize anon comments have to be approved to show up.
Just a quick footnote bigswinginmick: You sound very angry. I'm in recovery for 23 years. May I make a suggestion? Thank you...there are multiple venues for addressing that anger, up to, and including medication. Wishing you well...Sober and Happy!
Just not this one. My high school was roughly a third black, a third Jewish and a third everything else (I knew one WASP).
I did go to college around here. One of my classmates at the time was a very nice single mom who was one of the first blacks to be put in a BRA project in South Boston (she was the second, I think). She lasted a couple of months, until her car was firebombed. Firebombed. So you'll forgive me if I feel no sympathy whatsoever for hatemongers like Kelly and Hicks. At least Ray Flynn redeemed himself as mayor.
Hatemongers like Hicks and Kelly??? How where they Hatemongers?? Was it becuase they were against Forced busing as 80% of the city was at that time and that 80% included minority residents.. The President of the United States was against Busing 73% of Americans at the time were against Forced Busing. And you cant telll me it was a huge waste of money. Busing was dehumanizing.. The people that could get away did and the pple who didnt were screwed.
But it was okay for the judge to walk his kids to a school system that was 99% white? areyou kidding me.. DO you really think the liberal outisders would bus thier kids to roxbury at that time.. get real!!
Better yet, Ted Kennedy was great on labor issues but his stance on busing " I support busing I just wouldnt put my kids through it" Yeah thanks Ted so everyone else is screwed..
It was considered a failure , so tell me again how where they bigots?
The judge never would have gotten involved in the first place if Hicks and her white cronies on the School Committee had acknowledged that, yes, Boston had a segregated school system and tried to do something about it. Instead, they told black parents to shut up and go away. That might have worked in the 1950s, in Alabama, for a time, but not in Boston in the 1960s and 1970s. The parents sued. The rest is history.
I came on to this board to stick up for lgendary City Councelor Jim Kelly , and now somee wig nut is going off on the parade.. Really?? Yes and a matter of fact I do need an explanation...
So dos the U. Supreme Court who ruld in favor of th South Boston Allied War Veterens Council 9-0!! 9-0!! There have not ben too many 9-0 outcomes in the history of the Sumpreme court either. That lawsuit got laughd at in court..
It is a family friendly parade not a parade where outside groups march just to make political statements..
Hey West 4th: I know you came in here to defend Southie and Jimmy Kelly. That's honorable and something is to be said about that. However, you are doing us (long time Southie Residence) no justice. Can you do us all a favor? Zip it? Thank you!
Wanting to stuff your agenda, in this case Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans-Gender , down the throats of a Community Celebrating it's Patron Saint is Bigotry. Just my opinion. South Boston doesn't give a hoot what type of Sex you choose. However, it does give a hoot about having to explain to your 8 year old when they ask..."Who are those people Daddy?"!
We've been taking our daughter to the far more accepting Roslindale Day parade (heck, they even let pro-lifers in - in Roslindale, of all places!) since before she could walk and not once has she ever pointed to a float or group of people (not even the Dapper O'Neil deathmobile) and asked, "Daddy, who are those people?"
She was too busy enjoying the music or the dancers or running over to get some of the candy tossed her way, which I understand is something you can't do in Southie, what with the barriers all along the parade route to keep the drunken adults in Leprechaun hats from falling into the street and getting trampled by bagpipers.
Well apparently my Son is more eager to learn than your Daughter. He did in fact ask me who they were because they looked like they were protesting and getting into shouting matches with the Parade onlookers. So, that said adam, I don't understand why you don't get it. I'm on the left. However, I don't really care what your sexual preference is. The Parade is supposed to be a Fun Day with Floats and Clowns and Marching Bands. I think it's disingenuous to force feed ones agenda at a Family Parade. Last time I checked they have a Parade of their own. Moreover, the Supreme Court, for the first time in it's history, voted 9-0 in favor of banning GLIB from our Parade. They can't all be wrong now can they? I'm sure they (Supreme Court) have a higher level of understanding of the Law than we do. Wouldn't you agree? Before you answer that, remember, I said ALL OF THEM. Including the Left Leaning Justices.
I have no problem explaining to my Son what a Pro-Lifer or a Pro-Choiser is. However, I do have a problem with explaing to my Son when he's 8 years old about Sexual Preference. Thank you for your feedback Sock-Puppet. Interesting Screen Name.
Adam and MassMarrier you have to be kidding me with these co mments about Jimmy Kelly. You two muist have grown up in Mansions in Wellsely or Newton and drove around with your 5 dollar starbucks coffee or maybe even grew up in pink house in Cambridge with a wraparound porch. It must have beeen soooo tough for the both of you to grow up in school systems that were 99% white where you could walk to school while Eltist judges ordered their social engineering on city residents. Jimmy Kelly saw the injustice of it all, while the elitists in Wellsley in Brookline saw that it was about race, we saw it and lived it for what it was class. While they walked their kids to school the kids in South Boston were ordered to go to parts of the city were cab drivers wouldnt go and had some of the highest crime in the nation. If you were wealthy you could get out if you were on the lower income scale you were screwed it had everything to do with class...
Then at the same time when the residents out in the Socially liberal suburbs were dodging the draft the kids in the city felt a patriotic duty to serve their country. Southie and lost more men in Vietnam then any other neighborhood in the country per capitia. But the liberal elites in Cambridge Wellsely in Brookline still thumbed thier nose at the neighborhood.
He also saw the injustice when Homosexual activists trried to ruin a traditional value family oriented St. Patricks day parade. The activists took their argument to the Supreme Court and it got laughed out of Court with Unanamous 9-0 vote in favor of the South Boston Allied War Veterens Council.
Hey but whatever some hemp wearing pink house living latte drinker Socially liberal thinker form Cambidge /Wellsey or Newton says is right must be right..
Question: Where does Mike Ball live? Probably not in the District? He obviously understands that constituent services are drab and boring and elections should be decided by your number of twitter followers. But for a couple of thousand words on Lee's ideas, he doesn't mention one of them. All I get from her website is boilerplate rhetoric and calls for more master plans. Just what we need!
I also enjoy how only a white guy from Southie can engage in identity politics. Talk about blinders.
Do dig a tiny bit Dignan. Her website is very specific about problems and solutions (with the exception of jobs, something I mentioned in our podcast with her — that plank is largely like other pols' in the come-up-with-some-good-ideas stage). Click each of the nine areas and see what she IDs as the problems and proposes for solutions.
Unlike Linehan, she is plain and detailed on her site and in person.
I hope the two have numerous joint appearances before 11/8. The differences are huge. I have no doubt each would deliver constituent services well, but she likely better as she says she'll go out looking for needs rather than wait for the angry or desperate to call her. If you want the same old-same old, the incumbent should be fine. Otherwise, there's a choice.
Hey if she was running for school committee she'd have my vote. Seriously. Her website is impressive but it's not detailed. Her platform is: I was a great principal. We need more cops & affordable housing isn't an solution. Improving bus and train service isn't an idea, it's is lip service. If the differences are so huge how come no one can articulate them?
I can respect that she's your friend and candidate but let's at least be honest about her community activism and commitment to Boston. For 20 years she took her $125K/yr. paycheck and brought it back to Brookline. Now that's her right but it's not exactly putting your money where your mouth is.
That's kind of crazy talk. You either didn't read or refuse to see.
I digest lots of political palaver. She has dozens of specifics there, proposals and problem definitions, things she can be held accountable for and even some innovations. I love it when candidates are willing to put their ideas up for consideration rather than hiding behind clichés and generalities.
I suggest folk go to the district debates and debate-like-events and start with her Issues tab. The stuff is there and Linehan has zip. It's a real choice, but I'm not sure how it will come down in November.
Hey Dignan. Bill Linehan DID NOT oppose the closing of the Walsh Center which is an after School Haven for Teens. He DID NOT appose the building of the Mid Level High Rise in the Old Colony Housing Development. This was because he didn't want to upset, the Man he calls "Boss"...Mayor Menino! If you like that kind of "representation", feel free to vote for him. It's that simple! I'm guessing you're either related to Bill, or, he got you a City Job. Why else would you support someone who most of Southie says...Does NOTHING for Southie. Unless, of course, you are related to him.
By South Boston Yuppie on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 9:11pm.
I won't be voting for Bill Linehan because he is not good for Southie.
He pushed to have more public housing near Columbia Park. He is pushing to make the old station on D Street into transitional housing when the residents want it to be an arts center.
By South Boston Yuppie on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 9:15pm.
It kinda funny when I hear someone say "I lived in neighborhood x my whole life." They say it as if I am supposed to be impressed when in reality I just feel sorry for them because they didnt get a chance to have more experiences.
Hey South Boston Yuppie: Because they say that they have "lived in South Boston all of their lives" doesn't mean they haven't been anywhere. I'm from Southie "all of my life" and I'm willing to bet I've been to more places around the World than you have. Most people I know that live in Southie go places every year...from Ireland to Hawaii, from Italy to Cacaos Islands. Oh, and did I mention that they all OWN the Houses they live in? Let me ask you this...why did you come to South Boston to live in the first place? Is it because it's one of the safest Neighborhoods in Boston outside of the North End? Is it because of it's proximity to the Beach? Is it because of it's accessiblity to the MBTA? Or, maybe it was because you may have heard that it's a place where people watch each others backs? Whatever the reason, we welcome you. And, try to get rid of that bigotry towards the fine People of South Boston. Our forefathers had to deal with that type of bigotry when they came to this Country, we don't want to relive it. Thank you so much. Oh, and please remember to pick up your Doggie Do Do.
Hey Adam. I've lived in South Boston all of my Life. I consider myself a "Lunch Bucket"/"Barack Obama" Democrat. Although there were issues that (the late) Jim Kelly and I did not agree on , there was one thing that we did agree with...Forced Busing to achieve Racial Balance in the Boston Public Schools was, and remains, a violation of the People of Boston's unalienated Right to choose what School their Children attend. Moreover, it was an egregious violation of the rights of the (at the time) Minority's of Boston who were grossly misrepresented with respect to this failed Social Experiment. As a result of this failed policy, the existing Schools are near collapse. Apparently some Administrators and People in High Places felt the Money, approximately in the Hundreds of Millions, was best spent on Busing six kids from East Boston to Mattapan. The Social and Demographic changes were significant as well. Parents, both Black and White, who were the backbone of the Economy in Boston fled to the Suburbs to avoid this cataclysmic failure of a Policy. The irony of it all is now that the City is a Majority Minority, and the Boston Public Schools is predominantly Minority, there is no demand for "Racial Balance".
Now, getting back to Jim Kelly. If you had half the backbone he had you would be a Man. However, to insult a Man with the integrity of a Jim Kelly, not to mention that he is deceased, puts you in a category occupied by cowards and sneaks.
Jim Kelly was, and was often credited by his Colleagues both Black and White, as being THE HARDEST WORKING COUNCILOR on the Committee!
Jimmy was the ONLY COUNCILOR that worked (by himself) on Saturdays. There was absolutely NO CALL Jim didn't take from his Constituents, once again, both White and Black!
So Adam, having said that, it begs the question, who really is the bigot? Giving that you know absolutely nothing about Jim Kelly, and the fact that you judge South Boston not by what you have personally experienced, but by what you've read in the News Papers, I'm suggesting that you are the Bigot around these parts!
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Comments
This is an excellent post,
This is an excellent post, and I hope he's right about the latter half of his last point: "In fact, it may play out that South Boston voters will rally behind the guy who looks like them and who lives near them. It may also happen that enough in the district are tired of the joke nature of their councilors and take the rare chance to put some muscle on the bone."
Well said!
Can't change history
Jimmy Kelly wasn't that bad. 23 years on the City council, elected by Southie, South End and Chinatown residents. Unprecedented 7 terms as Council president, elected by Councilors who were voted in by residents across the City. Made Southie what it is today. Can't be that bad because all the Yuppies and Hipsters are stepping all over each other to move there. The same people who's parents badmouthed Southie in the 60's and 70's. You haters can't change history. The realtors still love you.
Well, then don't try
Kelly was an anti. He was strongly anti-gay, anti-busing, anti-public housing integration. He bragged he wouldn't visit many parts of Boston to suit his prejudices. He was a tool for the major realtors.
Cut me a thin slice of that baloney about his political longevity. The vast majority of his district were the white folk whom he pandered to and who responded by reelecting him. It was Southie, not the rest of his district, who kept him in office. As any feudal lord, he fought for money for his entire district, but that was about personal power, not because he loved everyone. Thus, he ended up doing constituent services for all.
At the end as cancer was killing him, he did come around a bit and confess he was wrong on black folk and homosexuals. That's better than nothing, but he had a lot of years of making life tough, unnecessarily and based on his emotions, for a lot of people.
Jimmy Kelly " A Legend"
Adam and MassMarrier you have to be kidding me with these co mments about Jimmy Kelly. You two muist have grown up in Mansions in Wellsely or Newton and drove around with your 5 dollar starbucks coffee or maybe even grew up in pink house in Cambridge with a wraparound porch. It must have beeen soooo tough for the both of you to grow up in school systems that were 99% white where you could walk to school while Eltist judges ordered their social engineering on city residents. Jimmy Kelly saw the injustice of it all, while the elitists in Wellsley in Brookline saw that it was about race, we saw it and lived it for what it was class. While they walked their kids to school the kids in South Boston were ordered to go to parts of the city were cab drivers wouldnt go and had some of the highest crime in the nation. If you were wealthy you could get out if you were on the lower income scale you were screwed it had everything to do with class...
Then at the same time when the residents out in the Socially liberal suburbs were dodging the draft the kids in the city felt a patriotic duty to serve their country. Southie and lost more men in Vietnam then any other neighborhood in the country per capitia. But the liberal elites in Cambridge Wellsely in Brookline still thumbed thier nose at the neighborhood.
He also saw the injustice when Homosexual activists trried to ruin a traditional value family oriented St. Patricks day parade. The activists took their argument to the Supreme Court and it got laughed out of Court with Unanamous 9-0 vote in favor of the South Boston Allied War Veterens Council.
Hey but whatever some hemp wearing pink house living latte drinker Socially liberal thinker form Cambidge /Wellsey or Newton says is right must be right..
West 4th and SB Voter you
West 4th and SB Voter you have to be kidding me with these co mments about Jimmy Kelly. You two muist have grown up in triple deckers on West Broad or in Dorchester and drove around with your 5 dollar scratch ticket or maybe even grew up in nicotine yellow kitchen in Charlestown with a wraparound porch. It must have beeen soooo tough for the both of you to grow up in school systems that were 99% white where you could walk to school while cracker judges ordered city residents of different skintones into prison in droves on minor charges. Jimmy Kelly oversaw injustice of it all, while the knuckledragging oxy poppers in Southie and Dorchester claimed class warfare while shaking in their books about going to school with kids of a different race. While they pulled their idiot kids out of school school, South Boston continued to be a parts of the city were cab drivers wouldnt go and had some of the highest crime in the nation. If you were wealthy you could get out if you were on the lower income scale you were screwed it had everything to do with being backward...
Then at the same time when the residents in these sociall conservative pockets were mindlessly trotting off to questionable wars under the guise of "patriotism", kids the the suburbs and other parts of the were dodging the draft and living to be senior citizens. Southie and lost more men in Vietnam then any other neighborhood in the country per capitia and the relieved parents in Cambridge Wellsely in Brookline just shook their heads at the neighborhood.
He also fueled the injustice when GLBT activists trried to march in a St. Patricks day parade run by homophobic gangsters and kid touchers. The activists took their argument to the Supreme Court and it got rushed of Court with Unanamous 9-0 vote in favor by drinking buddies of South Boston Allied War Veterens Council.
Hey but whatever some meth cooking, tenement living, Dunks coffee-flavored sugar drinker in the non-thinking pockets of Southie, Dorchester and Charlestown is right must be right. After all, God and the guy in the pickup truck in all those ads is on their side.
Bigswingen mick classless
Hey BigSwingen Mick Stay you cant help it you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth out in Wellsley or Cambridge with all the pretty people drinking the lattes wearing the hemp and trying to impose your social liberal stances on the working class...
Hey but stay classy going after people in recovery bringing up oxys and meth, thats classy...
By the way South Boston produced more vetererns, clergy and division 1 athletes than anywhere else in the country and some fine politcians including Speakers of the House and Ambassadors work. so stay out in the silverspooned towns of Brookline, or Wellsley or even Cambridge where being a U.S citizen is considered a bad thing.
but you decide to stay classy and focus on the Meth and Oxys.. and what are you doing on this page anyway... You grew up with the privelaged the brownnosers who thumbn their nose at the working class neighborhoods of the city who take pride in an honest days work
But what ar eyou doing on this page anyway , You can stay and post on the Cambridge online or Wellsey news or Brookline times and bash the working class on their websites.. This is Universal Hub Boston. ... BOSTON
It's posts and thinking like
It's posts and thinking like yours that illustrate why District 2 could benefit from someone who didn't grow up in South Boston and doesn't rely on the "Boo to all those not from here! Right, guys?! Am I right?!" mentality.
Transplants
You can move to Southie, but you can't change it. Didn't the realtors,, who were laughing at you when you passed papers, tell you this?
I've lived here since 2002,
I've lived here since 2002, am a property owner, have a young daughter we plan on sending to BPS, and am volunteering for Lee's campaign. Seems maybe we can change Southie, seeing as Lee won last night. It's a step in the right direction.
South Boston
I've lived in Southie for 57 years. Been all over the World. However, there is no place like home. Having said that, I would like to congratulate Suzanne Lee on her coming in first place in the District 2 City Council Race. I voted for her, I support her in her attempt to defeat Bill Linehan. Last night we had a Stand Out for Suzane Lee in front of the Rite Aid Pharmacy. The reception was awesome! So, while all you others in here are having your "Class Warfare", there are changes taking place right under your noses! I think all of you should put aside your differences and try to seek a higher level of understanding. It's a short visit in this life. Don't make it a wasted one.
Change Happens
Either you plan for it, deal with it, or get run over by it.
Like the laws of thermodynamics, you can't get out of the game.
Don't hate the newcomers...
just because they picked Southie and it got stuck with you. Never leaving your birthplace isn't exactly a badge of honor.
To NotFromAroundHere
I'm doing my best to make the new Demographic in South Boston feel welcome. However, there are certain idiosyncrasies and bad habits that they all seem to display. One: they never shovel in front of their House/Condo when it snows. Two: they put their garbage out days before it's scheduled pickup: Three: they put cones in their parking spot without even shoveling. Four: they have total disregard for the Elderly crossing the street. Five: they often take up two spaces when they park. And, last but not least, they don't seem to want to make "friends" with their Neighbors. Now, having said that...there not so bad.
Interesting
Hey Anon Southie lifer.
I have to say all of the things that you pointed out ANNOY the crap out of me too. But the funny thing it sounds like all my life long southie neighbors. Who have been known to :
1.Shovel their snow in front others homes
2.Never pick up their barrells for several days AFTER the trash pick up comes.
3. Put cones into their spots when they didnt shovel the spot because it is JULY
4.Have a total disregard for mothers pushing their babies in cross walks
5. 100% take up 3 spots when parking to save the spot for their wife or husband.
6. Last and not least , want to continually tell me that I am not from here , that I dont know the rules, that I am just some dumb yuppie..
Now having that said...they aint that bad.
oh p.s...unlike you I realize they are just a few and not the whole and that why I have hundreds of Southie lifers as friends . And I knowthe "newcomers" you speak of are a few and not the whole...
so maybe you should just say your IDIOT neighbors instead of being a bigot toward one group
Different Demographic
First, let me say Welcome Baily. I'm sure both Demographics are guilty as charged. However, in my part of South Boston (City Point) these basic "violations" seem more prevalent. That said, let me say that I am humbled that you quoted me verbatim. Yes it's true that I've lived here my entire life. However, I have been a one-man welcoming committee when new people move to South Boston. I've always lived by the credence that "your first impression is your only impression". That said, I've made many Friends and Neighbors from all over the Country. Ironically, it is I they come to when they need a question answered or some sort of information about the Community. My advice to them, once I've answered their questions is..."Don't forget to register to Vote". A Community is only as strong as it's Political Clout! So, that said, See you at the Voting Polls Baily. Oh, and don't forget to extend your hand to say Hello.
First Impression
To quote you ANON : "your first impression is your only impression"
Then I guess my impression of you should be that you hate yuppies? new comers? non southie lifers? or whatever you want to call "us" ...
I find it funny that you claim to be the "man" we all go to when we have questions? I have been here 15 years and have voted 12 years. I attend three different neighborhood assoc meetings ( I own property in three different areas), I attend fundraisers, donate time and money, I say hi to EVERY person on the street.
Maybe if you want to learn something about the community you should ask me...
Oh and maybe use a name and not "anon" and we can shake hands and talk how to make this a better community for ALL whether you have been here 3 months 10 years or 65 years...
Weest Furth classless
Hey West 4th you cant help it you were born with a Hoodsie spoon in your mouth out in some bar bathroom with all the homely people drinking the nighttrain wearing the scally caps and trying to impose your shelailiegh canes on the minorities' skulls...
Hey but stay classy going after people in recovery bringing up hemp, lattes and sliva sppns, thats classy...
By the way South Boston produced more gangsters, pedobears and division 1 dropouts than anywhere else in the country and some "fine" politcians including ones who look the other way when guys wit guns aks for protection money. so stay out in the backwards, uneducated, shrinking parts of Southie that make being a U.S citizen look like a bad thing and being "Irish" look worse.
but you decide to stay classy and focus on the hemp and spoons.. and what are you doing on this page anyway... You grew up with the dice rollers and leg breakers who thumbed their nose at the other neighborhoods of the city who take pride in an honest days work
But what ar eyou doing on this page anyway , You can stay and post on the bathroom walls at Whitey's or Shenanigans and bash the yuppies and homosexuals.. This is Universal Hub Boston. ... BOSTON, not Southie
stay classy
There you go again, going after people of low income, and not everybody from southie grew up with hoodsie spoons in there mouths. Like I sad before it has produced more Veterens, Clergy, Div 1 Athletes and accomplished politicians. per cpaita than anywhere else in the country
Then you take the classless road talking about people living off hoodsie spoons and dropouts and pedobears whatever that is..And Gangsters .. The gangster stufff was for the movies so people could make a buck.. The gangsters are in books that fools like you buy and try to glorify to all your friends and say yeah I am from Boston when your really not, your from some socially liberal elitist town that rubs their noses on the working class..
Lets talk about your hometown!! Lets talk about what your neoghborhood has produced?? And why do so many people want to live in South Boston anyway.. Say what you want Southie has character.. I would love to hear about your hackysack community
Another one of your lines Hey but whatever some meth cooking, tenement living, Dunks coffee-flavored sugar drinker in the non-thinking pockets of Southie, Dorchester and Charlestown is right must be right. After all, God and the guy in the pickup truck in all those ads is on their side..
Stay Classy
You can argue with the working class point of view or silverspooned trust fund pink house wrap around porch in cambridge or hemp latte drinkin in brookline
but when push comes to shove you cant argue with the U.S Sumpreme Court Point of VIEW 9-0 in favor of the South Boston Allied War Veterens Council
I get the feeling...
the words "broad, sweeping generalization" don't come up in conversation much in your neck of Southie. Hopefully "hypocrite" does.
Hey bigswiningmick: I will
Hey bigswiningmick: I will say this much. West Fourth Street does have one advantage over you...He knows how to spell "Furth" Street, as in...West Fourth! Peace my Brother!
Hey Mick
SB Voter and West 4th are the same poster. Check out down below where s/he posted something, then decided to get a login and repost the exact text because s/he didn't realize anon comments have to be approved to show up.
Hey bigswingin'Mick
Just a quick footnote bigswinginmick: You sound very angry. I'm in recovery for 23 years. May I make a suggestion? Thank you...there are multiple venues for addressing that anger, up to, and including medication. Wishing you well...Sober and Happy!
Actually, I'm the product of a big-city school system
Just not this one. My high school was roughly a third black, a third Jewish and a third everything else (I knew one WASP).
I did go to college around here. One of my classmates at the time was a very nice single mom who was one of the first blacks to be put in a BRA project in South Boston (she was the second, I think). She lasted a couple of months, until her car was firebombed. Firebombed. So you'll forgive me if I feel no sympathy whatsoever for hatemongers like Kelly and Hicks. At least Ray Flynn redeemed himself as mayor.
Hypocrisy
Hatemongers like Hicks and Kelly??? How where they Hatemongers?? Was it becuase they were against Forced busing as 80% of the city was at that time and that 80% included minority residents.. The President of the United States was against Busing 73% of Americans at the time were against Forced Busing. And you cant telll me it was a huge waste of money. Busing was dehumanizing.. The people that could get away did and the pple who didnt were screwed.
But it was okay for the judge to walk his kids to a school system that was 99% white? areyou kidding me.. DO you really think the liberal outisders would bus thier kids to roxbury at that time.. get real!!
Better yet, Ted Kennedy was great on labor issues but his stance on busing " I support busing I just wouldnt put my kids through it" Yeah thanks Ted so everyone else is screwed..
It was considered a failure , so tell me again how where they bigots?
Hicks is the reason Garrity imposed busing
The judge never would have gotten involved in the first place if Hicks and her white cronies on the School Committee had acknowledged that, yes, Boston had a segregated school system and tried to do something about it. Instead, they told black parents to shut up and go away. That might have worked in the 1950s, in Alabama, for a time, but not in Boston in the 1960s and 1970s. The parents sued. The rest is history.
You're a freakin' idiot
You seriously want someone to explain how excluding an LGBT Irish group from an Irish parade is bigotry?
Ignorance
I came on to this board to stick up for lgendary City Councelor Jim Kelly , and now somee wig nut is going off on the parade.. Really?? Yes and a matter of fact I do need an explanation...
So dos the U. Supreme Court who ruld in favor of th South Boston Allied War Veterens Council 9-0!! 9-0!! There have not ben too many 9-0 outcomes in the history of the Sumpreme court either. That lawsuit got laughd at in court..
It is a family friendly parade not a parade where outside groups march just to make political statements..
Hey West 4th: I know you
Hey West 4th: I know you came in here to defend Southie and Jimmy Kelly. That's honorable and something is to be said about that. However, you are doing us (long time Southie Residence) no justice. Can you do us all a favor? Zip it? Thank you!
GLIB
Wanting to stuff your agenda, in this case Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans-Gender , down the throats of a Community Celebrating it's Patron Saint is Bigotry. Just my opinion. South Boston doesn't give a hoot what type of Sex you choose. However, it does give a hoot about having to explain to your 8 year old when they ask..."Who are those people Daddy?"!
Really, this is a thing?
We've been taking our daughter to the far more accepting Roslindale Day parade (heck, they even let pro-lifers in - in Roslindale, of all places!) since before she could walk and not once has she ever pointed to a float or group of people (not even the Dapper O'Neil deathmobile) and asked, "Daddy, who are those people?"
She was too busy enjoying the music or the dancers or running over to get some of the candy tossed her way, which I understand is something you can't do in Southie, what with the barriers all along the parade route to keep the drunken adults in Leprechaun hats from falling into the street and getting trampled by bagpipers.
Well apparently my Son is
Well apparently my Son is more eager to learn than your Daughter. He did in fact ask me who they were because they looked like they were protesting and getting into shouting matches with the Parade onlookers. So, that said adam, I don't understand why you don't get it. I'm on the left. However, I don't really care what your sexual preference is. The Parade is supposed to be a Fun Day with Floats and Clowns and Marching Bands. I think it's disingenuous to force feed ones agenda at a Family Parade. Last time I checked they have a Parade of their own. Moreover, the Supreme Court, for the first time in it's history, voted 9-0 in favor of banning GLIB from our Parade. They can't all be wrong now can they? I'm sure they (Supreme Court) have a higher level of understanding of the Law than we do. Wouldn't you agree? Before you answer that, remember, I said ALL OF THEM. Including the Left Leaning Justices.
So hard to explain
"Daddy, does "Pro-Life" mean they want to stop the war?"
No, son...
I have no problem explaining
I have no problem explaining to my Son what a Pro-Lifer or a Pro-Choiser is. However, I do have a problem with explaing to my Son when he's 8 years old about Sexual Preference. Thank you for your feedback Sock-Puppet. Interesting Screen Name.
Jimmy Kelly " A Legend"
Adam and MassMarrier you have to be kidding me with these co mments about Jimmy Kelly. You two muist have grown up in Mansions in Wellsely or Newton and drove around with your 5 dollar starbucks coffee or maybe even grew up in pink house in Cambridge with a wraparound porch. It must have beeen soooo tough for the both of you to grow up in school systems that were 99% white where you could walk to school while Eltist judges ordered their social engineering on city residents. Jimmy Kelly saw the injustice of it all, while the elitists in Wellsley in Brookline saw that it was about race, we saw it and lived it for what it was class. While they walked their kids to school the kids in South Boston were ordered to go to parts of the city were cab drivers wouldnt go and had some of the highest crime in the nation. If you were wealthy you could get out if you were on the lower income scale you were screwed it had everything to do with class...
Then at the same time when the residents out in the Socially liberal suburbs were dodging the draft the kids in the city felt a patriotic duty to serve their country. Southie and lost more men in Vietnam then any other neighborhood in the country per capitia. But the liberal elites in Cambridge Wellsely in Brookline still thumbed thier nose at the neighborhood.
He also saw the injustice when Homosexual activists trried to ruin a traditional value family oriented St. Patricks day parade. The activists took their argument to the Supreme Court and it got laughed out of Court with Unanamous 9-0 vote in favor of the South Boston Allied War Veterens Council.
Hey but whatever some hemp wearing pink house living latte drinker Socially liberal thinker form Cambidge /Wellsey or Newton says is right must be right..
Lee for Senate!
Question: Where does Mike Ball live? Probably not in the District? He obviously understands that constituent services are drab and boring and elections should be decided by your number of twitter followers. But for a couple of thousand words on Lee's ideas, he doesn't mention one of them. All I get from her website is boilerplate rhetoric and calls for more master plans. Just what we need!
I also enjoy how only a white guy from Southie can engage in identity politics. Talk about blinders.
Lee's platform
Do dig a tiny bit Dignan. Her website is very specific about problems and solutions (with the exception of jobs, something I mentioned in our podcast with her — that plank is largely like other pols' in the come-up-with-some-good-ideas stage). Click each of the nine areas and see what she IDs as the problems and proposes for solutions.
Unlike Linehan, she is plain and detailed on her site and in person.
I hope the two have numerous joint appearances before 11/8. The differences are huge. I have no doubt each would deliver constituent services well, but she likely better as she says she'll go out looking for needs rather than wait for the angry or desperate to call her. If you want the same old-same old, the incumbent should be fine. Otherwise, there's a choice.
Gonna need a bigger shovel
Hey if she was running for school committee she'd have my vote. Seriously. Her website is impressive but it's not detailed. Her platform is: I was a great principal. We need more cops & affordable housing isn't an solution. Improving bus and train service isn't an idea, it's is lip service. If the differences are so huge how come no one can articulate them?
I can respect that she's your friend and candidate but let's at least be honest about her community activism and commitment to Boston. For 20 years she took her $125K/yr. paycheck and brought it back to Brookline. Now that's her right but it's not exactly putting your money where your mouth is.
Hand straight up
That's kind of crazy talk. You either didn't read or refuse to see.
I digest lots of political palaver. She has dozens of specifics there, proposals and problem definitions, things she can be held accountable for and even some innovations. I love it when candidates are willing to put their ideas up for consideration rather than hiding behind clichés and generalities.
I suggest folk go to the district debates and debate-like-events and start with her Issues tab. The stuff is there and Linehan has zip. It's a real choice, but I'm not sure how it will come down in November.
Suzann Lee vs. Bill Linehan
Hey Dignan. Bill Linehan DID NOT oppose the closing of the Walsh Center which is an after School Haven for Teens. He DID NOT appose the building of the Mid Level High Rise in the Old Colony Housing Development. This was because he didn't want to upset, the Man he calls "Boss"...Mayor Menino! If you like that kind of "representation", feel free to vote for him. It's that simple! I'm guessing you're either related to Bill, or, he got you a City Job. Why else would you support someone who most of Southie says...Does NOTHING for Southie. Unless, of course, you are related to him.
Linehan Boy
Hey Dignan...On the City Payroll are you?
Hate
If that's what you think about Southie, I am voting for Linehan.
Not voting for Bill Linehan
I won't be voting for Bill Linehan because he is not good for Southie.
He pushed to have more public housing near Columbia Park. He is pushing to make the old station on D Street into transitional housing when the residents want it to be an arts center.
This guy is clueless.
I lived in Southie my whole life
It kinda funny when I hear someone say "I lived in neighborhood x my whole life." They say it as if I am supposed to be impressed when in reality I just feel sorry for them because they didnt get a chance to have more experiences.
It's really sad and pathetic.
Hey South Boston Yuppie: I've
Hey South Boston Yuppie: I've lived in South Boston all of my Life! Have you ever been to Vietnam? No, I didn't think so!
To South Boston Yuppie
Hey South Boston Yuppie: Because they say that they have "lived in South Boston all of their lives" doesn't mean they haven't been anywhere. I'm from Southie "all of my life" and I'm willing to bet I've been to more places around the World than you have. Most people I know that live in Southie go places every year...from Ireland to Hawaii, from Italy to Cacaos Islands. Oh, and did I mention that they all OWN the Houses they live in? Let me ask you this...why did you come to South Boston to live in the first place? Is it because it's one of the safest Neighborhoods in Boston outside of the North End? Is it because of it's proximity to the Beach? Is it because of it's accessiblity to the MBTA? Or, maybe it was because you may have heard that it's a place where people watch each others backs? Whatever the reason, we welcome you. And, try to get rid of that bigotry towards the fine People of South Boston. Our forefathers had to deal with that type of bigotry when they came to this Country, we don't want to relive it. Thank you so much. Oh, and please remember to pick up your Doggie Do Do.
Jimmy Kelly
Hey Adam. I've lived in South Boston all of my Life. I consider myself a "Lunch Bucket"/"Barack Obama" Democrat. Although there were issues that (the late) Jim Kelly and I did not agree on , there was one thing that we did agree with...Forced Busing to achieve Racial Balance in the Boston Public Schools was, and remains, a violation of the People of Boston's unalienated Right to choose what School their Children attend. Moreover, it was an egregious violation of the rights of the (at the time) Minority's of Boston who were grossly misrepresented with respect to this failed Social Experiment. As a result of this failed policy, the existing Schools are near collapse. Apparently some Administrators and People in High Places felt the Money, approximately in the Hundreds of Millions, was best spent on Busing six kids from East Boston to Mattapan. The Social and Demographic changes were significant as well. Parents, both Black and White, who were the backbone of the Economy in Boston fled to the Suburbs to avoid this cataclysmic failure of a Policy. The irony of it all is now that the City is a Majority Minority, and the Boston Public Schools is predominantly Minority, there is no demand for "Racial Balance".
Now, getting back to Jim Kelly. If you had half the backbone he had you would be a Man. However, to insult a Man with the integrity of a Jim Kelly, not to mention that he is deceased, puts you in a category occupied by cowards and sneaks.
Jim Kelly was, and was often credited by his Colleagues both Black and White, as being THE HARDEST WORKING COUNCILOR on the Committee!
Jimmy was the ONLY COUNCILOR that worked (by himself) on Saturdays. There was absolutely NO CALL Jim didn't take from his Constituents, once again, both White and Black!
So Adam, having said that, it begs the question, who really is the bigot? Giving that you know absolutely nothing about Jim Kelly, and the fact that you judge South Boston not by what you have personally experienced, but by what you've read in the News Papers, I'm suggesting that you are the Bigot around these parts!