An American story

I can be critical of Boston, and especially critical of Boston politicians (you might have noticed that in The Golden Boy Returns). But when we're good, we're very good, and we are good this week.

You can head to this link to see what Massachusetts' Republican Governor and Boston's Democratic Mayor have to say about what happened last weekend in Charlottesville, but it's exactly what you'd expect: we are saddened, we stand in solidarity with another municipality that was thrown into chaos, and we're disappointed by the lack of moral leadership we've seen at the federal level.

Why am I putting this here? Because I write about a multi-ethnic group of friends and lovers who manage to be imperfect people without being racist. I titled my series The New Pioneers because they are young Americans trying to make it through the 21st century: new immigrants, old blue bloods, and many variations in between. They suffer through unique challenges, but the one thing that's true is that they are always better when they work together. That is the American story.

The Boston Common: it's been there and done that

Why else am I putting this here? Because saying you're disgusted by neo-Nazis and white supremacists should be the least controversial thing anyone can say.

Boston is not Shangri-La. The day after this is published, we're going to have a rally on the Boston Common that will feature some of the "luminaries" that came to speak in Charlottesville last week. Those speakers disgust me, but I'm glad they can speak: let the ugliness come out in a bright light so we don't have to worry about it festering in the dark. And because we watched what happened last weekend, we're taking precautions to make sure the same violence doesn't happen here. (Spoiler alert: you have the right to say horrible things without fear of being imprisoned, but you don't have the right to bring weapons with you when you do.)

It's not perfect, but it's the best we can do. And that's part of the American story too.