International Reactions

Boston Busing quickly became a national issue and jettisoned Boston into an international spotlight. The mayor received letters from as far away as Australia and as close to the border as Mexico. A Chaplin of Guadalajara, Mexico noted the concern residents had about Boston. “The tourists from Latin America are AFRAID of Boston.” International letters tended to address international history as well. A resident of Sydney, Australia cited incidents in Japan and declared black Americans racially inferior.

Although a smaller collection, these letters indicate how the situation in Boston not only became an interest to other states, but internationally. Click the points on the map to view all the letters.

These selected letters illustrate some of the international reactions to Boston busing and Mayor Kevin White.

Letter from Nottingham England Response.jpg

"In closing, I want to assure you that your suggestions will be reviewed. Concern, opposition and fear are still rampant, but I am confident that we will make it...confident because there is more understanding in Boston than divisiveness."

Kevin H. White

"After all you are responsible for the black, you imported them poor devils//they did not want it so but they had no choice."

"Due to the "tourism near sightedness" of some legal authorities in Boston...your tourism...will be "0"."

"Surely sir, attempting to force integration between white races, with all their history, and traditions not to mention, mental superiority, and primitive negroid peoples, is to my mind an evil in itself."

Credits

Caitlin Pinkham, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Exhibited collections appear courtesy of Boston City Archives.