Hey, there! Log in / Register
Violent racists at Fenway?
By adamg on Tue, 08/12/2008 - 2:32pm
Dirty Water is in Chicago, where he reports on a black couple he met at last night's Red Sox/White Sox game:
... They are from Randolph and ardent Red Sox (and especially Coco) fans. I asked if they get to Fenway often and their reply stunned me. They don't go to Fenway *NOT* because they can't get or afford tickets but because they fear for their safety because of their race. ...
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Maybe Im being insensitive,
Maybe Im being insensitive, but somehow I find it hard to believe that Fenway park is not a safe place for people based off of their race. They kind of sound like my mother who always warned me about going to Charlestown because while I was half Irish I wasnt Irish enough and its not safe. Im not sure what the hell happened to her in Charlestown 40 years ago but I failed to see this scary face of Charlestown in the busy public areas (Im sure there are still enclaves around that you shouldnt visit.) 20 or more years makes a big difference sometimes, who knows maybe their parents had a bad encounter at Fenway when they were younger and those stories got passed along.
That red orange blue line is too dangerous
We don't really know what somebody's experiences have been, and can't. I don't want to dismiss their concerns out of hand because people not like me do have things happen to them that never would happen to me.
But I'm with shady here - this sounds too much like that OMFG the T?!?@? response that too many of my husband's childhood friends and their parents would show at the mere thought of public transit. Not that they knew anything about it, they just *knew* it was scary dangerous and city and stuff. Never mind that total loser thugs were roaming their home neighborhoods and committing assaults that the local cops wouldn't bother to investigate as they spoke.
Casual Terrorism>Casual Racism?
This is coming from a guy who earnestly asked why someone doesn't commit an act of terrorism on MIT? I don't think you can dismiss out of hand someone's charges of racism, especially when you're the type of person to casually encourage someone to bomb a college. Believe it or not, things you suggest 'half-jokingly' can be considered offensive; I'm sure that applies to racism as well, and it's more than likely someone with the same mindset as you probably made this couple feel uncomfortable at some point.
I earnestly asked why MIT
I earnestly asked why MIT hasnt had an act of terrorism taken against it? Terrorists have B-52 bombers now... capable of hitting MIT... and they are gonna wait for 4 days because I had a long weekend...???...??? Are you smoking something, no seriously I want to know because it seems like pretty good stuff you have there. BTW if you cant spot an obvious Reganesque comment I feel sorry for you.
What did I possibly say in my post on the Fenway park piece that would justify your calling me a casual racist? Also how was I dismissing it completely out of hand, I believe I even started off saying "I may be insensitive" which is quite possible.
You know what instead of attacking me you could refute the facts on the ground. Barring that I think your post was far more offensive than mine could ever be.
hmmm...
This is "earnest"?
"I suggest we commence bombing MIT on Tuesday...How fast can we get a B-52 bomber up here?...My comment was mostly tongue in cheek."
So you think "mostly" joking about terrorism is funny and appropriate. Who is to say there isn't a person out there who thinks "mostly" joking about racism isn't funny and appropriate?
Let's put it this way. If a black person was at Fenway Park sitting next to a stranger who made a "mostly tongue in cheek" joke about a black player, I imagine that person might be as offended as I was as an MIT employee by your "mostly tongue in cheek" joke about terrorism on my place of employment.
Just because you think something is harmless and light-hearted doesn't mean there isn't someone closer to the situation who doesn't see it that way at all.
How is my comment on MIT, in
How is my comment on MIT, in a different post, using a different tone connected to my comment in this post that obviously was stated in a completely different manner? Your extropaltion on this matter makes no sense what so ever.
Watch family guy much? Often enough to use a name from the show as your handle here? You know how many off hand remarks that show makes? Racism , sexism, antisemitism, homophobic, oh boy oh boy the list goes on. I guess that makes you all of those things and more. What that has nothing to do with your point here? Really? Cause you know how many people are offended by those jokes?
My point is that the same
My point is that the same mindset that would lead you to think nothing of making casual comments about terrorism on the internet is the exact same mindset that would allow a person to think nothing of making casual racist comments in a public setting.
You may be surprised to discover this, but I don't work for 'Family Guy', nor do I write their jokes. However, I do believe that they give a disclaimer regarding the things you mention before every episode emphasizing 'Viewer Discretion', something people on the internet or in Fenway Park aren't fortunate enough to receive.
Phew thats all I needed, a
Phew thats all I needed, a disclaimer. All set!
Pawtucket Pat reminds me of that show and you are featuring Pawtucket Pat as your name. As a Catholic I am offended by what is portrayed on that show. I am also offended by how it treats other cultures.
DISCLAIMER
What I say may make you think, may be said in satire or may not fit in your world view. If you are easily offended please do not read what I have to say.
DISCLAIMER
Good God
Your name isn't Brandon Mylenek, is it Milkman?
If I may
I believe the point PawPat is trying to make is that you haven't waited 22.3 years since 9-11-2001. Therefore, it's not funny yet. If you had wished AIDS on MIT, then it would have been a completely different thing...and hilarious...because it's been 22.3 years since the first AIDS case. See?
Glad I could help. In the meantime, PawPat, it was hyperbole, a joke. Maybe it wasn't funny to you, but it's not like Shady actually prays for the day MIT blows up. Shady, PawPat doesn't get it and won't likely get it because PawPat is out to prove a point to you on sensitivity and political correctness: the bane of being able to tell a good joke that doesn't involve a chicken, a road, and the crossing thereof the latter by the former. Again, glad I could help.
Kaz...
What do you have against chickens and roads? And crossings, for that matter? I'm alerting the authorities, you terrorist.
Which means they'll arrest you within 6-8 weeks.
:-)
(do I need to add a disclaimer that this post was a friendly jab in good fun? Fine.)
DISCLAIMER: this post was a friendly jab in good fun.
Not Good Enough
If we're truly going to be inclusive, I think our disclaimers should be multi-lingual.
DISCLAIMER: There is a good possibility that I am making a joke here. Since the enjoyment of said joke may require either:
1-The skills involved in divining whether or not a joke exists
-or-
2- A lobotomy
It is therefore advised that all statements made by this poster be considered jokes unless stated otherwise, and that offense not be taken immediately.
NEGACIÓN: Hay una buena posibilidad que estoy haciendo una broma aquí. Puesto que el disfrute de la broma dicha puede requerir cualquiera: habilidades 1-The implicadas en adivinar independientemente de si existe una broma - o 2- Una lobotomía Por lo tanto se aconseja que todas las declaraciones hechas por este cartel estén consideradas las bromas a menos que estén indicadas de otra manera, y que ofensa no ser tomado inmediatamente.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
what?
A black friend invited me to go with her to Fenway last month. Nobody bothered her, or me for being with her, or any of the other folks in our section (which was el-cheapo nosebleed bleachers, not expensive box seats). There were plenty of other black people at Fenway too.
Touch Of Gray
The fellow in the photo is sporting a touch of gray at the temples. I'd estimate his age to be in the same range as mine - early 50's. If so, that may at least partially explain it.
When I was a kid, Fenway (and, more so, The Garden) was much more of a white enclave. I certainly remember hearing the occasional vicious slur.
However, times do change, as noted by others here. I can't imagine it being anything close to that now. Sure, there will always be the random yahoo with one too many beers in him, but you could encounter that kind anywhere in the world.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Oddness Compounded in a Void
As a freshman at MIT living in Kenmore Square, I was advised to avoid certain areas not far from Fenway because of the "bad neighborhoods" that were over that way.
I assume they meant Mission Hill, but it is still amusing how somewhat sheltered people fill unknown spaces with "those bad other people who will hurt you".
Mission Hill has changed
It was considered quite a bit more dangerous when you and I went to MIT than it is today. The razing and rebuilding of Mission Main project has a lot to do with the change.
Back then, I used to avoid riding a bike down Parker Street. These days, I think nothing of it.
Definitely Changed
I worked at HSPH between 1999 and 2004, so yeah, no big deal. Walked around all the time, even at night, no problems.
My point was that people warning me about "dangerous places" typically used Fenway as the "don't pass" reference point for certain urban misadventure, when Suldog's comment makes it sound like much of the trouble would have gone white on black instead.
From what the media makes of the rapid changes in Randolph, and the shootings and such that have taken place there and victimized minority residents for the most part, I'm surprised these people ever go home.
Respect for the 02368
This is why I avoid reading rags like the Patriot Ledger and the Brockton Enterprise. The "rapid changes in Randolph", SwirlyGrrl? Hsve you ever been to Randolph? These "rapid changes" have been happening over the past TWO DECADES because parents who work hard want to raise their kids in a nice, suburban setting. My cousin is a police officer in Randolph and the vast majority of problems in Randolph are caused by people who do not actually live in that town.
I am so sick of towns south of Boston getting dismissed as "ghetto" by so-called intellectually superior city folk who have never dared to travel south of Boston Medical Center. Why do these people ever go home? Because Randolph is where they live. Try supporting a family on a modest income and places like Randolph look pretty reasonable.
Please read more closely next time
Quoting Myself, with emphasis:
Some comprehension, please! The point was that places that you "know" and call home tend to be considered safe, and places that you don't know get filled with your fears, justified or not. I grew up in trailer parks that had nasty violent things going all the time, but many of my neighbors thought downtown areas were scary and dangerous.
I have most certainly been to Randolph. I have biked through it more times than I can count, walked through the central business area, driven through it multiple times over the course of 20 or so years - less so now that my MIL moved out of Abington.
There has been a clear generational turnover as people have found it to be affordable and far more stable and comfortable place to buy a home than many places in Boston or Brockton (like the earlier generation of families that came before them ...). I don't see much difference because these people are generally from different ethnic and racial groups than those that preceded them. What is different is that when there is an influx of young people of a different hue, and that influx of younger people bring all the issues that come along with younger people and always have, it ain't their youth that will be seen as the cause of the troubles if they happen to be black or latino. Some friends were brutally attacked in Weymouth by some well-known white brat thugs about 15 years ago and the cops couldn't have cared less - but any new incidents involving "new" people would certainly have signalled the downfall of all civilization as we know it.
Its the thug you know versus
Its the thug you know versus the thug you dont. I grew up in what was considered a bad place by other people and I never realized why until I got older (truth be told its not bad, but I understand.) When you live somewhere you build a framework to work from. Dont walk down this street, avoid that house, dont talk to that man after 4pm, that park is for druggies this park is for kids ect. So over time you go about your life and dont realize that your just glossing and skimming over the bad areas, but when someone from the outside looks in it scares them because they dont know that. They dont know that the guy in that house is a nice guy during the day when hes sober, or that the park you played in was safe because people made it safe by being there. When you dont know its scary.
Huh?
I have heard this said over and over and scratch my head at it. Passing through the turnstiles and into the tickets-only section I've seen a wide variety of people who have come to enjoy the game. Could this be a lingering stigma á la Barry Bonds' assertion that Boston is a racist city based on anecdotal evidence from 30+ years ago?
I was in Chicago last August for work and attended a Red Sox/White Sox game while I was there. Yes, the stadium is bright and new, the concessions tasty and reasonably priced, the parking plentiful but the drive to get there was not nice. The neighborhood adjacent to the park looked like something out of a Mad Max installment, and the signage to get you into the parking lots had you driving through abandoned industrial sites and under train trestles. But, once you were there, getting back out was fast.
Absurd
This makes no sense whatsoever. I highly doubt this to be true, especially in that area.
I wish that the blogger had
I wish that the blogger had elaborated.