Hi everyone-
"You cannot talk about any achievement that the city of Boston has had, in safety, jobs and economic development, in education, without talking about the Somali community that has lifted our city up,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
The city of Boston was founded in 1630. This is an insane retconning of Bostonian history. There were no Somalis in New England in 1630. There wasn't even a New England. There wasn't even an America. But there was a Boston, and it wasn't built by Somalis.
“We are proud and we are grateful for our Somali community and for our Somali-American neighbors," Wu continued. "Boston and the country are clear that hate has no place in our society.. We will use every attack to actually strengthen and expand the services available to empower and work alongside our community members who are already doing so much good in the world and set an example for the rest of the country.”
Refugees from Somalia didn't start coming to the United States en masse until the late 1980s and 90s. Before that, there was a smattering of Somali sailors in the 1920s, but since Wu doesn't know her history, my guess is she's referring to the recent influx.
Boston's Harvard University was founded in 1636 and is the "education" that Boston is known for worldwide. John Adams ran his law practice in Boston in 1761 and he defended the British soldiers of the Boston Massacre to ensure that justice was served. Boston was a hub of trade, centered on the harbor, fishing, timber and furs. Boston was a cornerstone of colonial life in the New World and only grew as the centuries went on. Bostonians created jobs, and a way of life, out of the traditions of their European forebears, none of whom were Somalian.
Sure, open arms for immigrants who want to assimilate, who want to be American, who want to forge lives of entrepreneurship and not suck on the government and taxpayers, but don't for a second start claiming that the people who got here 30 years ago built the city that's been standing for nearly 400 years.
Libby