Tell Me Tuesday, Third Rail Edition – What To Do About Boston and Race?

Boston has a long-standing bad reputation for racism and segregation. So bad that the city struggles to keep young professionals of color, despite the fact that there are jobs and amazing institutions of higher education here.

Ask any non-white person from Atlanta, New York or Chicago what they think of Boston and they’ll cite racism and a lack of opportunity for people of color as a primary characteristic. It remains open to debate whether those perceptions reflect some truth, the whole truth or no truth, but perception is reality.

In the recent past, many organizations have sprung up to support young people of color in their personal and professional lives, including The Partnership, Commonwealth Compact, Friendly Takeover, Emerge MA and many others (if you know of other organizations, please post them in the comments!).

Here at ONEin3 HQ and City Hall, we believe that Boston’s future success rests on ensuring that there are professional, cultural and social opportunities for all.

We believe that that effort begins with an honest conversation, like the great one we began at DotRox Neighborhood Night last week.

So, in honor of Tell Me Tuesday, we ask you:

How can we, as a new generation of young Bostonians, make Boston a more inclusive place that people of color from all over the world want to call home?

We probably don’t need to say this, but to our wonderful ONEin3ers, please be thoughtful in your comments. Let’s make this a constructive conversation!