Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III called into Boston Public Radio on Monday and reflected on the history of pushback against low-income housing in supposedly progressive, largely white neighborhoods in and around Boston. The conversation followed a recent opinion piece in The Boston Globe from writer Noah Y. Kim, titled “ Housing will test white support for Black lives."
Price said that while Boston-area liberals have historically supported Black civil rights, many have resisted the types of housing policies and development projects that would meaningfully diversify their own communities.
“The problem is that we still, in this nation, are afraid of each other,” Price said. "And when you’re afraid of somebody, you don’t want them living next door to you."
Beyond changing the attitudes of residents, Monroe said it’s crucial for more cities and towns in Massachusetts to elect non-white representation in their local government, to speak "for people that are looking for affordable housing."
“That becomes a problem, too,” Monroe said, "because you don’t have anybody in city council representing you.”
Reverend Irene Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist, the Boston voice for Detour's African American Heritage Trail, and a Visiting Researcher in the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at Boston University School of Theology. Emmett G. Price III is Professor of Worship, Church and Culture, and Founding Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Together they host the All Rev'd Up podcast, which premiers its second season on Aug. 26.
