South Boston

Photograph of exterior of South Boston High School. This school was the site of many protests and some of the worst violence during the busing crisis.

South Boston was home for many working class white descendants of Irish immigrants. During the mid-1970s, after the decision was made to desegregate Boston's public schools by busing children outside of their neighborhoods, South Boston developed a reputation for racial intolerance. A large number of violent protests occurred on South Boston streets. On many occasions, residents hurled bricks at buses that carried bring black students into South Boston High School. Images of South Boston protests that turned to riots were inked in newspapers around the country and left many residents wondering what was to happen to their neighborhood.

Reactions to busing in South Boston came in two main forms - those what were incredibly opposed to the idea of busing children out of the neighborhood and those that were astonished at the reaction to busing within South Boston. The first group was composed primarily of long-time residents of who felt a strong sense of community. Their neighborhood schools were an integral part of their community and they viewed the prospect of busing their children to other neighborhoods as a factor that would lead to the dismantling of their community.

But not all South Boston residents opposed busing. A small number of Bostonians who were shocked by the violent reaction to busing lived in South Boston or "Southie" as it was colloquially known. These people could not believe the images that were shown on television screens and in newspapers that depicted South Boston residents using explicitly racist epithets and behaving so violently. Some South Boston residents were ashamed to even admit where they were from when asked. Other Bostonians felt that South Boston's reaction to busing was symptomatic of the racism implicit within the city.

South Boston was very much the epicenter for the busing crisis in Boston. Violent and racist attacks overshadowed the residents who simply wanted their children to remain in their neighborhood and experience the community as they did. The community wanted to remain tightly knit and have control over where its children were educated. However, the extreme response to busing in the neighborhood led to many observers to mark the neighborhood as unwelcoming at best and horribly racist at worst. These memories of Southie from the busing era inform current neighborhood stereotypes.

South Boston Mothers

These are examples of South Boston residents who were opposed to busing based on their conceptions of their community within the neighborhood. These are mothers who want their children to attend school nearby and to become immersed in the community through school sports and other activities.

This letter to Mayor White explains the author's reasoning behind not wanting their children to be bused to another neighborhood. The author explicitly referes to South Boston as the neighborhood where their parents grew up, where their spouse grew up, and also where they themselves grew up.

This letter to Mayor White details the author's resistence to busing her children out of South Boston. She had five children attend South Boston High School where they played for the school's sports teams or cheered for the teams. The mother's sense of community attachment to the school demonstrates the importance the school played in this mother's conception of community and how she wanted her other four children to also experience that aspect of her community.

This letter to Mayor White demonstrates the fear that this mother had for sending her children to school on Columbia Point. She strongly believed in the sense of community that South Boston had fostered and very much wanted her children to attend their neighborhood school so that they would be closer to home.

This letter from the South Boston Residents' Group outlines their stance that busing children out of the neighborhood should not happen. They believed that neighborhood schools were an essential part of a community and that it was important for the community to have its children attend school together within the neighborhood.

South Boston's Deplorable Actions

These are examples of people who viewed South Boston's behaviors as unconscionable. While these individuals may not have agreed with the prospect of busing children out of the neighborhood, they were left utterly aghast at the reaction to busing by members of the community.

This letter to the Editor of the Boston Globe desribes the author's belief that South Boston residents are behaving in extraordinarily racist ways. The author sees their reactions to busing as a way for South Boston's residents to keep black children out of their neighborhood, which is a stance that the author does not support.

The author of this letter addressed it to all of their elected representatives. The author described their hesitance to admit that South Boston was their hometown. They viewed the violent reaction to busing as deplorable. However, they also had a distinct understanding of the foundations of the nation as being within a neighborhood community. As such, they were strongly against busing, but they also could not associate themselves with the racist reactions and protests against busing in their own neighborhood.

This letter to Mayor White describe's the author's belief that South Boston's residents behaved in horrible ways. The author viewed the white residents of South Boston as incredibly racist in their attempts to stop school desegregation via busing.