P4+Scott+B,+Amanda+C+and+Jordan+D

Michael Faith Incident Jordan Dansdill



Outside of a High School classroom, an 18-year-old boy named Michael Faith was stabbed. The reason for the stabbing was because of racial reasons. According to TIME, “Armed policemen assigned to patrol the troubled corridors arrested James White, 18, a black student from Roxbury” (Unknown Author, Education: Southie Boils Over). At this time in South Boston, there was much racial violence between Irish Americans and African Americans. In this case, a black student stabbed an Irish student. It was clearly because of the violence occurring at that the time that caused this incident to happen. The boy, Michael Faith was rushed to the hospital for surgery soon after the incident occurred. Since a black student stabbed a white student, several other white members of the community charged the school and attempted to attack the black students in the high school.

“Education: Southie Boils Over.” //TIME.// TIME, 23 Dec. 1974. Web. 6 Jan. 2010.

Rabbit Inn Incident Jordan Dansdill



At the Rabbit Inn, T.P.F. officers attacked Irish patrons in retaliation of white Southies attacking T.P.F. cars. It was a horrible event many would say. According to TIME, “As many as eight patrons were reported injured” (Unknown Author, Boston: From the Schools to the Streets). White Southies, the night before this incident occurred, attacked T.P.F. cars. The cause of these attacks was the increase of officers in Southie who were, of course, unwanted there. The attacks performed were mostly bricks being thrown into the windows of T.P.F. cars. This made many T.P.F. officers furious and the following night two dozen officers stormed the Rabbit Inn and injured patrons there. Although it was thought that the police did this in retaliation, the police claimed it was just an answer to a distress call.

“Boston: From the Schools to the Streets.” //TIME.// TIME, 21 Oct. 1974. Web. 6 Jan. 2010.

National Boycott Day Jordan Dansdill



National Boycott Day deals with the fact white Americans living in South Boston were against the idea of blacks going to schools in South Boston. This would then lead to racial fights amongst white and black students in school. According to 4littlegirls.com, “a court-ordered plan that utilized busing to achieve integration of the city's public schools led to frequent protests, demonstrations, and confrontations between blacks and whites” (Cozzens, School Integration in Boston). The boycotts went as far as white students not riding the bus and even not attending school to show how much they disliked the idea of blacks attending their schools. All or most white students in South Boston would refuse to go to the same school as a black student or even ride the same bus as a black student. Most of these white students were Irish. However, not only did whites react, black students reacted as well. Many reactions on both sides were violent.

Cozzens, Lisa. “School Integration in Boston.” //4 Little Girls//. 4 Little Girls, 25 May 1998. Web. 6 Jan. 2010.

Michael Patrick MacDonald //Amanda Countryman

MacDonald was born on March 9th, 1966 in Columbia Point a predominantly black project community in South Boston. He describes this neighborhood as being “a neighborhood of tall yellow brick buildings with elevators that often didn’t work. Even when they were working, Ma says you’d take the stairs up seven flights to avoid being beaten and robbed on the elevator” (MacDonald 20). Michael was named after his older brother Patrick Michael who died after three weeks of life of pneumonia. His father who had been kicked out by his mother long before his birth was a country western singer with his mother; he was also a drunk who beat his wife mercilessly. After he left his family move to a better neighborhood called Jamaica Plain where there was little crime. In the 70’s MacDonald’s family moved to the Old Colony Housing Project in Southie. He lost three more brothers after Patrick who then became “the Kids”. He began the gun-buyback program to reduce gun violence in Southie, and started vigils for the neighborhood. He now likes in Brooklyn as an activist for impoverished Americans. // //Work Cited:// Patrick MacDonald, Michael. //All Souls.// Boston: Beacon Press, 1999. Print. 6 Jan. 2010. Patrick MacDonald, Michael. //“//Bio.” //Michael Patrick MacDonald//. // 2009. Web. 6 January 2010.

By: Scott Bentley
 * Whitey Bulger**

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Summary: Whitey Bulger was born James Joseph Bulger, Jr. in September 3, 1929. He is the alleged leader of the “Winter Hill Gang”. The Winter Hill Gang is an Irish crime family based out of Boston. As a young child Whitey’s brother once described Whitey as a mischievous child fond of pranks. His first arrest was at age 14 for larceny and right after that he was arrested for assault and battery and armed robbery. For these crimes he was sent to a juvenile detention center. After he got out he joined the Air force, and during his time in the Air Force he spent a good amount of time in the stockades for numerous assaults. When he received his honorable discharge he returned to South Boston. When he returned to Boston he resumed his criminal behavior, which included hijacking a liquor truck and a string of bank robberies. For these crimes he was sentenced 25 years in prison. While in prison he volunteered for a program that would shorten his sentence. A program in which the CIA was testing the affects LSD had on people. After serving 9 of his 25 years he was released. When he returned to Boston he became an enforcer for the Winter Hill Gang in South Boston. He quickly grew up in ranks in the Winter Hill Gang. It is said that Whitey Bulger was the key player for the Winter Hill Gang to take over the Irish American neighbor hoods in Boston. After his Boss was arrested he assumed the control of the Winter Hill Gang. When Bulger became the leader his gang he became the number one dealer of marijuana and cocaine.

Work Cited: "Whitey Bulger." //Wikipedia. //Wikipedia, 2008. Web. 6 Jan. 2010

By: Scott Bentley
 * Irish Mob**

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Summary: The Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States. The Irish Mob started in the streets of the Irish American neighborhoods. It started off as low-level gang in New York. The most notable cities that the Irish Mob has been spotted in are Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New Orleans, whit some traces in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Irish Mob started in Boston during the probation with the Gustin Gang. In New York the gangs that started the Irish rain were Forty Thieves, Dead Rabbits, Whyos and the Five Points. The most powerful and successful gang in American History was called the “Winter Hill Gang”. All these gangs were able to hold power for just about a century if not more.

Work Cited: "Irish Mob."// Wikipedia. //Wikipedia, 2008. Web. 7 Jan. 2010//

Southie (South Boston) Jordan Dansdill

South Boston clearly deals with the Southern part of Boston, a city in Massachusetts. It is one of the biggest neighborhoods in Boston. According to Wikipedia, “South Boston is well-known for being a working class Irish-American neighborhood” (Unknown Author, South Boston, Boston). Within this neighborhood, much racial violence broke out between Irish Americans and African Americans. Most of the violence in South Boston was due to school integration. Many Irish Americans were unhappy with the idea of blacks attending all-white schools at that time. This place, otherwise known as Southie by its inhabitants, is the setting for many famous events and things, such as National Boycott Day and The Michael Faith incident, both of which involved racial violence between blacks and whites. This was South Boston back in the 1970’s however.

“South Boston, Boston.” //Wikipedia.// Wikipedia, 26 Dec. 2009. Web. 6 Jan. 2010.

Old Colony Housing Project Jordan Dansdill The Old Colony Housing Project was a housing area in South Boston. It is the place in South Boston where Michael Patrick MacDonald, the author of //All Souls:// //A Family Story from Southie//, lived and grew up in. According to wikipedia, “This is the project where Whitey Bulger and his associates Buddy Francis and Kevin Weeks grew up” (Unknown Author, Old Colony Housing Project). This place is a setting for a lot of the book All Souls by MacDonald. In this area of South Boston, a lot of the horrible things that happen in the book occur here. This area saw a lot of violence. This violence includes the murder of Buddy Francis. It is seen that this area is also a very poor part of South Boston.

“Old Colony Housing Project.” //Wikipedia//. Wikipedia, 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 7 Jan. 2010.

By: Scott Bentley
 * Irish immigration to America**

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Summary: In 1845 Irelands Potato famine was the start for the largest Irish immigration to the Americas. The fungus that destroyed the potato crops created a destructive famine. With starvation sweeping Ireland and killing over a million Irish with in 5 years, half a million Irish had to relocate to America. By 1930 4.5 million Irish have migrated into America. It was recorded that the Irish were counted as 1/3 of the immigrant population in America. When the Irish were first migrating into America they were largely discriminated upon, and were put into labor and were paid very minimal if even at all. This was because a majority of the Irish that ended up migrating to America were peasants and had no means of surviving or even creating a home. Luckily in these early years there was a great demand for grunt work and the Irish were the ones to fill these demands. Later in the century in the larger developing cities the Irish had filled in the spots for firemen and policemen. The less fortunate of the Irish that were not able to find these jobs ended up in the in the crime ridden part of the cities. These cities were Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New Orleans. With all these immigrants living in these crime filled areas they more then not turned to a life of crime.

Work Cited: Think Quest: The Journey to America: the Irish. 2005. Web. Jan 7 2009

Ray Flynn    //Amanda Countryman //

Raymond Flynn has been many things most importantly the Mayor of Boston. Before this political position Flynn was an all star basketball player for Providence Collage and some say he was “South Boston’s greatest athlete of the century” (Powers). After his sports career Flynn served as the Mayor of Boston from 1984 to 1993 and was reelected by wide margins two times. During his terms he dealt with things such as the Busing Riots in Southie that are talked about in Michael Patrick MacDonald’s book //All Souls//. After Flynn’s service as Mayor he was appointed the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican by President Clinton and was so from 1993 to 1997. He has also written many books the most popular being titled //The Accidental Pope.// He has made appearances on Meet the Press, Nightline, and FOX News. He is a devote Catholic and has let this shape all things in his life.

Work Cited: Powers, John. “Ray Flynn-Biography.” //Men’s Leadership Forum//. 26 Feb. 2008. Web. 10 Jan. 2010.

Roxbury   //Amanda Countryman //  Roxbury was first developed in the 1820’s when people wanted to live away from the cities and was separate from Boston until 1868. Roxbury originally included the neighborhood of Jamaica Plain; a neighborhood described in Michael Patrick MacDonald’s book //All Souls.// This town in Boston was once originally full of middle class Irish Americans, but in the 60’s it became predominantly black. This shift created great tensions between the traditional Irish community and the incoming African Americans and some “poor whites started to flee” (MacDonald 30). The city is now one of twenty one official neighborhoods the “Serve as the heart of Black culture in Boston” (City of Boston). One of the most well known figures in American history to come from this town was Malcolm X, who fought strongly for civil rights throughout his life. The current demographic for this town as of 2000 is 5% white, 63% African American, 24% Hispanic, and only 1% Asian-American. This is a great shift from what the demographic of this town used to be.

Work Cited: Patrick MacDonald, Michael. //All Souls.// Boston: Beacon Press, 1999. Print. 10 Jan. 2010. “Roxbury, Boston.” //Wikipedia.// Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 26 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Jan. 2010.

Dorchester   //Amanda Countryman //  Dorchester was a small farming settlement connected to Roxbury and Boston that was separate from both until it was annexed by Boston in 1870. Although part of Boston Dorchester stayed a small residential community and is now famous for many things such as having the first public school to having the first supermarket. It is also famous for being one of the first racially integrated neighborhoods in America. It has always been a home for many immigrants from places like Ireland to Africa and Poland. It is also home to the Columbia Point housing project the birth place of Michael Patrick MacDonald where him and his brothers share stories “of being chased down and beaten for being white in a mostly black neighborhood” (Macdonald 19). After the violence left the neighborhood with only 350 families it was redeveloped into a residential community for higher income families called Harbor Point. After this development the new immigration came from Asian countries and Latin America. This increase in immigration helped bring the community back to once higher standards economically.

Work Cited: Patrick MacDonald, Michael. //All Souls.// Boston: Beacon Press, 1999. Print. 10 Jan. 2010. “Dorchester, Boston.” //Wikipedia.// Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 10 Jan. 2010. Web. 10 Jan. 2010. Walczak, Bill. “Dorchester History.” //Dorchester Reporter.// Boston Neighborhood News, Inc, 2001. Web. 10 Jan. 2010.

Mattapan   //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Amanda Countryman // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Mattapan is a section of Boston that used to be part of Dorchester. Like many of the other towns in South Boston during the 60’s and 70’s Mattapan’s demographic switched greatly. It went from a predominantly Jewish community to a one that is now over 77% African American. After African Americans started to move into the community many Jewish residents fled and headed to the suburbs of Boston. Some blamed this on the real-estate and banking companies, some saying that this lead to “the determination of the neighborhood” (Wikipedia). Later this fleeing was blamed on the great differences between the Jewish and Catholic communities and beliefs. After these events many more immigrated to the community switching demographics more to those of Haiti and Caribbean communities. This has now given Mattapan the largest Haitian community in Massachusetts.

Work Cited: “Mattapan, Massachusetts.” //Wikipedia.// Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 4 Dec. 2009. Web. Jan. 2010.

by: Scott Bentley
 * Bushing of 1974 in Southie:**

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Summary: Busing is defined as the desgragating of schools. One of the largest examples of bushing in public schools was in South Boston. In 1974 Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. noticed that public schools had a recurring pattern of racial discrimination. Due to this pattern he helped the Massachusetts State Board of Education to implement the state's Racial Imbalance Law. This law stated that if public schools reached over a 50% mark of white students they must then create a balance according to race. What this went was that public schools had to have other students be brought to their schools to make it balanced. This was a large problem in Sothie Boston because the Judege decided tha the entire junior class from a promently Irish- American school be bused to a promently black high school in the ghetto. For three years after the law was passed state troopers were stationed at these schools but mainly at South Boston High School in south Boston. This paln met a lot of fierce controvercy and the enrolled dropped from 100,000 to 40,00. There were also a number of protest incidents that turned severely violent, even resulting in deaths.

Work Cited: "Desegregation busing in the United States." //Wikipedia.// Wikipedia, 2009. Web. 10 Jan. 2010