Two real-world anecdotes from my life today:
1. I am playing tennis at the local clay courts with a friend, whose family comes from subcontinent. Four Caucasian males on the court next to us are finishing a doubles match. One of said males, with whom I had been chatting earlier (but whom I had met only that morning), tells me as he is preparing to leave the court that “at least you guys don’t need sunscreen.”
2. About an hour later, I am driving my son and one of his friends home from another friend’s birthday. I strike up a conversation with my son and his friend about — what else? — the Fortnite craze taking over our nation (see, e.g., this apologia). I ask my son’s friend what his favorite skin is. (In Fortnite, a “skin” is a costume or outfit that you can buy to dress up your combatant in the game.) Answer: “white.” (I did a quick check to confirm that in fact Fornite does not actually market “white” skins per se — which one could be excused for thinking might actually be a possibility in this day and age.)
Some context: I live in Newton, which is an overwhelmingly white, generally prosperous town. If you haven’t had a chance yet to read the superb Boston Globe series “Boston. Racism. Image. Reality,” by the Globe‘s legendary Spotlight team, do yourself a favor and read it. As journalism goes I thought it was among the most probing series of articles I have read on this topic, and for Boston area residents it is an eye opener. For example, the story by Andrew Ryan on the Seaport district really shows persuasively how the combination of real estate developers intent on creating an “upscale” neighborhood, a tendency to revert to a handful of big players in the construction industry instead of reaching out to minority-led firms, and a city government unable to exert any real influence over the development process despite massive public investment in the district has created possibly the least diverse neighborhood in greater Boston And the series reveals any number of other disturbing, even shocking factoids, e.g.: the median net worth for whites in the metropolitan Boston area is nearly $250,000, but a mere $8 for African-Americans. (I too had to read that one twice to make sure I read it correctly.) For those of us in the higher education business, the article on the relatively small enrollment of African-American students at Boston area colleges is particularly disturbing. Some of the demographic and economic figures highlighted in the series have not changed greatly since the Globe did an earlier, similar investigation into race and racism in Boston in 1983.
So the entire series, as well as the 1983 reports (not easily tracked down, alas) are worth a close look. I used it this semester in a course I teach on “Race, Crime, and Citizenship in American Law” and I will almost certainly do so again. Back in March, I had the chance to sit down with two of the journalists who worked on the series (Ryan and Adrian Walker) along with their editor Patricia Wen, in the form of a panel conversation at the annual meeting of the Kendall Square Association (whose new president, C.A. Webb, is fabulous and has a real commitment to this issue). One of the attendees made the point that Andrew Ryan’s story about the Seaport district could also have been written about Kendall Square. The KSA has organized a series of small group followup dialogues among its members to continue the March 29 discussion.
The Spotlight series made me feel quite differently about what it means to live in the Boston area. I still love this city, but I understand better now why so many people continue to find it difficult to call Boston home.