In 1967, leaders of the Boston establishment decided to open the city's neighbourhoods by making mortgage funds available to blacks who wanted to build or buy houses there. But this goal was to be achieved by the "private understanding" that these mortgages would be available only in Boston's established Jewish neighbourhoods, such as Mattapan. This policy quickly wiped out the tightly knit Jewish areas in Dorchester and nearby Roxbury, once home to 90,000 Jews. Tragically, few of the new black residents of the area acquired adequate housing, security or education for their families, and the Jewish community was betrayed by its nominal leaders, at the cost of the destruction of historical neighbourhoods. In this book, the authors aim to provide insight into the reasons why this incident took place.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Revisiting a personal experience:
Being born and raised in the Roxbury/Dorchester section of Boston and being a child whose parents chose to leave, I was quite familiar with the names, dates and places mentioned in the book. The book answered many questions about community and government involvment during those hectic times. Elected city officials nationwide should be required to read this book.
Disengenuous:
Some of the individuals in this book were slandered by blaming them unfairly for the purchase of Temple Beth Hillel by the city of Boston. The bias of the authors was not tempered by interviewing the Temple members whom they verbally attacked.
A one-sided account was given by the authors who never lived the experience of an ever changing, now dangerous area from which Boston's Jewish population was literally forced to flee by threats and intimidation.
When one of the author's was questioned by a... more info
Good case study:
As this type of exodus had occurred before in other large U.S cities, I believe this book is an excellent detailed account of what occurred in Boston. The author does a great job of showing all of the issues facing those involved (local politicians, Jews, Blacks, etc.). The end got a little boring for me since I was interested less in the legislation surrounding this problem and more in how it affected individuals. I highly recommend this book if you're from the Boston area or know the area they speak of... more info
Bordering on Excellence but not the Power Broker:
As a student of Urban Life/History in the US, there are two great books to read on urban renewal: this book and the Power Broker (Caro). What Levine and Harmon expose in Boston, Caro does the same for NY. The difference is that the latter seeks to blame an individual (Robert Moses) for the demise of communities, cultures, homes and neighborhoods, while the former holds financial institutions and the government accountable. Nonetheless, I believe this book is a must read for anyone interested in... more info
