Southie Boils Over

In the three months since South Boston High became the focal point of Boston's bitter school-desegregation battle, a majority of the white students and many of the newly enrolled blacks have been boycotting the school. Last week attendance dropped to zero when South Boston High and seven other Boston public schools were closed after a new outbreak of racial violence. During a shoving match outside a South Boston High classroom, Michael Faith, 18, a white student from South Boston, was stabbed. Armed policemen assigned to patrol the troubled corridors arrested James White, 18, a black student from Roxbury. Faith was rushed to a nearby hospital for surgery.

Within minutes of the attack, hordes of irate "Southie" residents surged in front of the high school's imposing iron gates. "Bus them back to Africa!" they screamed. "Why are we here?" shrieked one man. "To get those niggers!" When Boston police, bolstered by 125 state troopers, charged the mob, the crowd retaliated by hurling bricks and bottles. They slashed the tires on police cruisers and even tipped one over. While four school buses roared up to the front door to divert the attention of the crowd, the school's black students were herded onto buses at the back door and driven home to Roxbury without incident.

Even before South Boston High was closed down, the tension and acrimony in the classrooms had virtually brought learning to a halt. But what has generally been overlooked in the racial turmoil is that even in the best of times, the school has never given its students a particularly good education.

In 1972, for example, only 25% of South Boston High's graduating students went on to college. That compared unfavorably with the record of the all-black Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Roxbury, which sent nearly half its graduates into higher education. Harvard Sociologist Thomas Pettigrew quotes local folk wisdom: "If you want to go to college, you don't go to South Boston High; and if you go to South Boston High, you don't want to go to college."

Flunk Out. South Boston High students who do want a higher education often run into serious trouble. Four years ago, Diana McDonough graduated from the school as an honor student; she received straight A's in the advanced college-prep course. Then she entered the University of Massachusetts and flunked out in her first year. "I realized I couldn't read, write, or even speak English well," she says. "I couldn't believe how smart the other kids were." McDonough, 21, now works as a secretary.

The case of Cheryl and Mary Hunter is equally dismaying. Both sisters had also graduated from South Boston High's advanced college-prep course. But one flunked out of business school and the other is bringing home failing grades during her first semester at Boston University. Says their mother Patricia: "As it turned out, neither of them was prepared for college. But when they come home with straight A's, you figure they're ready to go on." Adds another South Boston High parent: "These aren't the Harvards and Dartmouths that our kids are flunking out of. For the most part, they are state schools."

To be sure, the largely blue-collar, heavily Irish Catholic South Boston community does not put much emphasis on scholastics. "Some students boast at graduation they never opened a book," explains Headmaster William Reid. "These youngsters are interested in sports or friends they make here, enjoying community life and spending nights on the corner. High school for many of them is looked on as the most pleasant experience of their life."

Brick Fortress. Some of the problem lies with inadequate funding. Basic supplies like pencils and paper are often unavailable. The teachers, in fact, often spend their own money for materials. But a part of the difficulty rests with the administration, which puts heavy emphasis upon business and secretarial courses at the expense of college preparation. Teachers have trouble getting permission to take classes on field trips and other broadening experiences. White-haired, avuncular Guidance Counselor Joe Crowley--who describes South Boston High as "fun, really fun"--is supposed to see each student three times a year. But Crowley also is the school's football coach, and athletics are clearly his top priority. Says Crowley: "Sports mean an awful lot here, and getting on the team is what it's all about."

South Boston High's physical plant further hampers learning. A four-story brick fortress built on a hilltop in 1901, the school offers a magnificent view of Boston Harbor. But the library is only slightly larger than an ordinary classroom (and holds only about 4,500 volumes); the gym is large enough for just one basketball court--with five feet to spare; laboratories are generally ill-equipped.

Unfortunately, the school is not unique in its substandard educational offerings. There are countless South Boston Highs around the nation. As long as they exist, neither blacks bused in to them from ghetto schools nor the whites who already attend them will have a chance for a decent education.

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