PROTEST MARCHES AND disturbing headlines on officer practices have cast a harsh spotlight on US police departments. As painful as recent events have been, this is also an opportunity for community residents, police, elected officials, and other stakeholders to talk with one another candidly about the fundamental principles of policing itself. One ideal we must […]
Opinion
Posted inEconomy
Massachusetts Phase 3 reopening plan is hardly ‘Vigilant’
ON MONDAY, MASSACHUSETTS entered Phase 3 of its reopening plan, which Gov. Baker’s people have code-named “Vigilant.” It includes movie theaters, gyms, entertainment venues, casinos, and larger gatherings. This is on top of indoor dining, which recently reopened. We’re doing this as we watch COVID-19 numbers spike all around the country in states that were […]
Posted inEducation
Mass. teachers union has become a reckless voice
GORE VIDAL SAID “the four best words in the English language are ‘I told you so.’” Forecasting reckless leadership during a recession does not qualify for that distinction. But as our civic conversation consumes opinions in a time of crisis, it is important to reflect on who to trust. And who not to trust. Last […]
Posted inOpinion
Heroes don’t deserve layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts
THEY’VE BEEN RIGHTFULLY hailed as heroes on homemade signs and honored with Blue Angel flyovers, but the same health care workers who are saving untold lives during the COVID crisis – and risking their own – are now being eyed for layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts or freezes. Is this how we treat heroes? There […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Voters now agree with Warren
IN AUGUST 2018, Sen. Elizabeth Warren gave a speech in which she delivered what she called “the hard truth about our criminal justice system.” According to Warren, the criminal justice system is “racist…I mean front to back.” At the time, her comments seemed daring and controversial, and they set off a firestorm of criticism from […]
Posted inOpinion
To address juvenile injustice, data needed
IN THE WAKE of the nationwide uprisings asserting that Black Lives Matter, there have been many eloquent pronouncements denouncing racism and pledging to do more to address its impact. The seven justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a strongly worded statement committing to “root out any conscious and unconscious bias in our courtrooms.” […]
Posted inOpinion
Systemic racism has very real health impact
AS A COUNTRY, we are waking up daily to the unacceptable and completely avoidable loss of black life. We know some of their names, like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. But many more we sadly only know as numbers and statistics, reported as part of the daily coronavirus public health updates. What they have in […]
Posted inOpinion
Meet the new public records law – same as the old one
OVER THREE YEARS have gone by since the Commonwealth’s much-heralded overhaul of the Public Records Law went into effect in 2017. Regrettably, the old vexing problems nonetheless still persist. That’s the conclusion based on a review of the 2019 rulings issued by the supervisor of public records in Secretary of State William Galvin’s office, as […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Italian-American pride means goodbye, Columbus
I’VE BEEN THINKING a lot about Christopher Columbus lately. That wasn’t always the case. Growing up an Italian-American kid, in an Italian-American town in New Jersey, we had summer feasts celebrating our Italian pride—but Columbus never entered my mind much, beyond the day off from school. When I had my own children and began raising […]
Posted inOpinion
Juneteenth discussion at Tufts misses elephant in room
TUFTS UNIVERSITY, like many elite private colleges and universities in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and its aftermath of protests and related soul searching about racism in America, jumped on to the Juneteenth celebration bandwagon. To mark what is a new holiday for many at Tufts, the university decided to host a […]