Are reparations next in Boston after Mayor Wu's apology for 1989 Charles Stuart case manhunt?
When Michelle Wu - Boston’s first mayor of color - apologized for the city’s response to the infamous 1989 Charles Stuart murder case on December 20, 2023 she was surrounded by some of the people most deeply impacted by the months-long search for a suspect. They talked about the lingering trauma of a neighborhood besieged by police, city officials and media after a white man named Charles Stuart plotted the murder of his pregnant wife but blamed an unidentified Black man. And while the family of one man wrongly accused of the murder - Willie Bennett - told the mayor they accepted her apology, they also asked for something else: reparations.
In this interview Phillip Martin, senior investigative reporter at GBH News in Boston, speaks with Tito Jackson, chair of the commission on Black men and boys and Yawu Miller, former senior editor at The Bay State banner - about the impact of the apology, the mayor’s relationship with the Black community and how to address ongoing inequities.
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00:00 - 1:25 Background on 1989 Charles Stuart case and Mayor Wu’s apology for racist response from police, city and media
1:45 Yawu Miller responds to mayor’s apology and shares continued concerns about policing in Boston
3:35 Tito Jackson talks about significance of the apology and need for reparations
6:00 Discussion about the backlash to the apology and response to Black people ascending to positions of power in Boston
7:42 Jackson talks about Facebook post that reads ‘Black men should live to grow old’ and need for restitution to combat generational trauma
8:30 Can mayor’s apology overcome the impact of the ‘big lie’ of the Stuart case?
10:50 BPD response to Patriot Front compared to response in Black community
12:20 Mayor Wu’s relationship with Black community
17:05 Jackson shares anecdote about witnessing a police search outside his home of a young man with laundry in his car
18:22 Discussion about need to address inequities within Black communities around public safety, education and housi
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What do you think? Will the mayor's apology about police actions during the 1989 Charles Stuart manhunt make a difference for Boston?
@Agoateeman
6 ай бұрын
Not sure to be honest, but I certainly hope her comments do help. And help move us forward with regard to race relations. We need to keep working at it for the betterment of all. Peace.
@robertfetrow4612
6 ай бұрын
@@Agoateemanit’s horrible when someone in the black community tells his mother who is dating a police that he was told by a friend his uncle killed the pregnant woman The police should have ignored that, no doubt Are we apologizing to all questioned by police for crimes they didn’t commit? How does this work?
@user-ls5ik1vm3k
6 ай бұрын
Why do I keep hearing that the mayor of Boston at that time apologized to the men? And it does sound familiar. If that did happen, then everyone shut up about the 'for the first time ever' nonsense.
@Dedette1966
6 ай бұрын
Thank you for this video and discussion. So many of the other news outlets didn’t put up on KZread the video clip of Boston Mayor Wu actually saying the words "on behalf of the City of Boston…we’re sorry to the Bennett family and Boston’s Black community." I was a law school student in the Boston area during the Charles Stuart murder debacle and remember how even law school classmates had so little confidence in racist Boston police that they thought those violent White cops would target them for the murder of Charles Stuart’s wife. They breathed a sigh of relief when Charles Stuart’s brother confessed about Charles Stuart committing the murder, but we weren’t all aware of how Boston Police continued to brutally harass and prosecutors unjustly imprisoned members of the Bennett family. The USA needs at least national, state and county-level reparations committees to repay people of African descent who built the USA and made a way for others, including Mayor Wu’s family.
@robertfetrow4612
6 ай бұрын
@@Dedette1966 No doubt. I mean, people in the community you mentioned pointed at people in the Bennett family as the murderer so clearly the Boston police werent motivated by testimony and evidence, rather racism as you point out.
"Wisdom doesn’t come with position. It arises from one’s sense of responsibility." - Daisaku Ikeda
Thank you for this video and discussion. So many of the other news outlets didn’t put up on KZread the video clip of Boston Mayor Wu actually saying the words "on behalf of the City of Boston…we’re sorry to the Bennett family and Boston’s Black community." I was a law school student in the Boston area during the Charles Stuart murder debacle and remember how even law school classmates had so little confidence in racist Boston police that they thought those violent White cops would target them for the murder of Charles Stuart’s wife. They breathed a sigh of relief when Charles Stuart’s brother confessed about Charles Stuart committing the murder, but we weren’t all aware of how Boston Police continued to brutally harass and prosecutors unjustly imprisoned members of the Bennett family. The USA needs at least national, state and county-level reparations committees to repay people of African descent who built the USA and made a way for others, including Mayor Wu’s family.
@GBHNews
6 ай бұрын
Thank you for watching, and for your comments!
She should be removed from the office... period!
@ashleytan6558
6 ай бұрын
Why?
@chareeceburton4175
5 ай бұрын
Why should she be removed from office when she did what should have been done over 3 decades ago?!!!
Apologize for something you have nothing to do with - virtue signaling. No apology to councilors for excluding them from the Holiday party because of their race (racism) The new Boston? No dogs or Irish allowed.
@pmclaughlin4111
6 ай бұрын
I agree that it is toxic virtue signalling. ...Although I am not upset about the "electeds of color" thing...mostly because I can see it having forward looking impacts-among other things, getting to a visibility point where this kind of virtue signalling is no longer demanded
I always wonder why "the City of Boston" should be blamed for Charles Stuart claiming a black man shot his wife and not Charles Stuart....
@swaggytee6764
6 ай бұрын
Because of the effect this incident had on the black communities during this time. I'm assuming you're not black but multiple black people were unjustly harassed and scrutinized when there were clear signs all along that Chuck Stuart had done it. So yes the city and the Police department should apologize and take some responsibility.
@pmclaughlin4111
6 ай бұрын
As in ...decades ago, something happened that is perceived to have negative effects on a community that existed then but that is very different than a perceived equivalent community that exists today and because the government responded to a private situation, the government should apologize because some people remember part of the story... Btw this could be the Charles Stuart case A case where a white teen was stabbed be a group of white teenagers in a Boston Park or a case where a child body was found in a different Boston Park ...all of which happened in the 80s...
@chareeceburton4175
5 ай бұрын
@@pmclaughlin4111many of us from that community of decades ago STILL exist today and do in fact deserve an apology that was well overdue.
@pmclaughlin4111
5 ай бұрын
@@chareeceburton4175 CORRECTION: You WANT an apology. That is very different from "deserving" an apology. You feelings of entitlement do not mean that you deserve what you think you are entitled to...It doesn't even mean that you are entiled to what you want. And your assertion that you are overdue in getting what you want is only another sign of your sense of entitlement
@chareeceburton4175
5 ай бұрын
@@pmclaughlin4111 Yet YOU feel that you are entitled to tell me what I do or do not deserve. You don’t know a thing about me, my experiences, or my connection or lack thereof to the pain that was endured due to false accusations. True flex of entitlement on your behalf.
Mayor of Color? NO. Asian Mayor. Yes REPARATIONS
The woman in the green....historical moment......really??????????
Q: What group commits the most hate crimes against Asians? Hmmm
@devondavenpro300
4 ай бұрын
Ur people
Racism is alive and well, and in Boston
YES!!! (1987) WE NEED AL SHARPTON TO APOLOGIZE TO THE Tawana Brawley rape allegations to the Law Enforcements !!!!