In the 1800s, diverse black communities from the South, West Indies, and Canada migrated to Boston. Initially holding services in homes before securing a dedicated worship space in Beacon Hill, a significant migration to Roxbury occurred in the early 20th century. With the stability of a settled community, churches in Roxbury established deep roots, offering vital services to the local population—services that would later be echoed by community centers.
HISTORIC SEGREGATION IN DISTRICT 7
Historically, Roxbury/South End was the area where Boston’s Black community was forced to live.
The use of redlining and “whites-only” developments meant most of Boston was off limits.
The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, gave much of D7 the lowest “Security” grade in Boston - D, so the availability of mortgage funds were “very limited”
URBAN RENEWAL
Freeway projects and urban renewal displaced over 20,000 Bostonians.
Despite making up only 5% of Boston’s total population in 1950, 32% of the families displaced by urban renewal were Black.
Under the Boston Redevelopment Agency, now the BPDA, the city displaced 5,239 families, or around 17,250 people in Roxbury and South End during urban renewal projects.
Most of these families were unable to obtain mortgages for new homes as banks would refuse to lend to Black and Brown families.
THE SACK OF BOSTON
The city acquired this land through the forced removal of a significant section of the Black community in Roxbury and the South End.
This “sack” led to the elimination of thousands of Black owned homes and dozens of area businesses.
Inadequate preparations were made to accommodate the housing needs that resulted from the forced transplanting of the approximately 17,250 people impacted.
This was to the Black community’s detriment, but to the benefit of elements within City Government and the contractors, companies, and corporations that cooperated with various municipal administrations over the years.
SEGREGATION IN D7 TODAY
Segregation remains persistent throughout D7, and the land that was forcibly taken by the city in the late 20th century is still being developed, more recently for privately owned affordable housing and mixed income housing.
Every socio-economic indicator is to the detriment of the Black and Brown communities and according to the most recent 2021 Boston Neighborhoods report, Roxbury holds the second highest % of Black residents at 51%, compared to 23% of all Boston. Roxbury also has the second least amount of white residents at 11%, compared to 44% of all Boston.
Lenders deny mortgages in majority-Black parts of Boston at 2.5 times the rate of majority-white areas, and deny Black applicants 3 times more often than white applicants.
Quality of life has led to a significant reduction in life expectancy in D7: in Roxbury the average life expectancy is 59 years old, while in Back Bay, the average life expectancy is 92 years old.
Additionally, public transportation was gutted and re-routed to more affluent/white areas, so economic opportunity decreased and segregation increased .
THE WEALTH DRAIN
Since 1968, the homeownership gap between white and Black Bostonians has increased.
Black and Latino residents are 14% and 27% respectively less likely to own their own home than their white counterparts.
95% of all income restricted housing are rentals, meaning only 5% of affordable housing is creating economic opportunities for families.
78% of income restricted housing is privately owned, so private landlords are profiting off of people in affordable housing.
COVID unemployment has led up to 40% of renters to use their savings, which was more than twice the rate of homeowners’, to pay their rents.
CONCENTRATION OF POVERTY
There are 62 predominately white tracts in Boston.
These tracts contain 38% of the City’s total housing units, but only 18% of the city’s income-restricted housing units.
54% of housing in Roxbury is income-restricted leading to a concentration of low-income and impoverished families.
There is no way to prioritize or guarantee this income-restricted housing can go to Roxbury residents, so this is most likely causing wealth inequality by moving low-income families in one neighborhood.
CONCENTRATION OF POVERTY
Roxbury holds the highest poverty rate in Boston at 32% while holding the second most amount of Boston’s impoverished.
From 2013 to 2021, the poverty rate of Boston went down. However, since 2013, Boston’s poverty became more concentrated in communities of color.
The average Black population of neighborhoods which saw their poverty share increase is 30% While the average Black population of neighborhoods which saw their poverty share decrease is 7%
Roxbury saw a .40% increase of the poverty share while South Boston saw a .60% decrease and Jamaica Plain saw at 1.2% decrease.
Jazz Square History & Identity
Wally’s Cafe
Wally’s Cafe was established January 1, 1947 in Roxbury by Joseph L. Walcott, a Barbadian who immigrated to America in 1910. He was the first African American to own a nightclub in New England. The club hosted professional and student musicians, and jazz enthusiasts quickly became attracted to the venue. Its success influenced the establishment of other jazz venues throughout the city as crowds would gather there week after week. The original location remained open until 1979 when it moved across the street to 427 Massachusetts Avenue where it remains and maintains the decade long tradition until today.
The Hi-Hat
The Hi-Hat, which first opened in 1937, was a white-owned club in a black neighborhood. Known as “America’s Smartest Barbeque”, the locale played music exclusively to a white audience. That was until 1948 when the owner noticed neighboring jazz joints, like Wally’s, were attracting crowds with their live bands and chose to openup the club to both white and black customers.
Storyville
Storyville was established in 1950 by George Wein in Boston’s Copley Square Hotel and later relocated to Hotel Buckminster. Though he didn’t have an African American background, he sought to maintain the historical roots of jazz by naming his club after the former red-line district in New Orleans where jazz is believed to have begun. Yet despite having diversity in the musicians who performed, the clientele was mostly white. Meanwhile, the African American clientele remained regulars at the clubs in the neighborhoods where they were majority.
THIS LAND IS OUR LAND
The land was razed of housing and sold to the highest bidder, including Northeastern, and multi-billion dollar developers who profit from Black and Brown Bostonians stuck in the generational, wealth-draining rental loop. Now, the city owns the rest of this land through the Mayor’s Office of Housing, Boston Planning and Development Agency, and Boston Housing Authority. District 7 paid for this land in the loss of generational wealth building at the hands of the government, so District 7 community members should have a say of what is being built. Instead of demanding developments benefit the community and increase the quality of life, BPDA has approved lifeless boxes to rent at “affordable prices” which usually do not meet the affordability needs of D7, and have disregarded the lack of community input.
