thumb|A map of Boston, Massachusetts, USA highlighting in blue the precincts that would have been included in the proposed new city of Mandela, Massachusetts.
Mandela was a proposed city that would have been formed as a result of some districts seceding from Boston, Massachusetts.
The districts, including parts of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and the South End, were populated mainly by African-Americans and Latinos, and the movement was driven by Black community leaders. The name was inspired by South African anti-Apartheid activist and political prisoner, later President of South Africa Nelson Mandela.
The proposal was defeated in 1986 and again in 1988.
Other community-based organizations in Boston doing work around local Black and Brown residents' land control included the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) and Greater Roxbury Neighborhood Authority (GRNA).
Jones said that Black neighborhoods had "a colonial relationship with the city of Boston" because they were not given adequate public funds. Opponents, including some of Boston's black ministers, Roxbury state representative Thomas Finneran and Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, claimed the new municipality would undermine gains and create a community with annual deficit of $135 million.
A non-binding referendum question about succession appeared on the ballot in 1986, on November 4. Nearly 50,000 people voted in the referendum. The proposal failed, with 73 percent voting against it. The measure did not win in any precinct, and fared worst in the predominantly Black neighborhoods.
1988 referendum and beyond
The plan was put back on the ballot in 1988, when it was also defeated.
In 2017, Epicenter Community held a panel discussion about the movement.
! colspan="4" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#4472C4; color:#FFF;" | 1988 Referendum
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
| style="background-color:#4472C4; color:#FFF;" | YES
| style="background-color:#4472C4; color:#FFF;" | NO
| style="background-color:#4472c4; color:#FFF;" | TOTAL
| style="background-color:#4472c4; color:#ffffff;" | % YES
| style="background-color:#4472C4; color:#FFF;" | YES
| style="background-color:#4472C4; color:#FFF;" | NO
| style="background-color:#4472C4; color:#FFF;" | TOTAL
| style="background-color:#4472c4; color:#ffffff;" | % YES
|-
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Third Suffolk
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,280
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 3,624
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 4,904
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 26.1%
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| Fifth Suffolk
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,027
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 3,322
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 4,349
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 23.6%
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 1,231
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 2,529
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 3,760
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 32.7%
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| Sixth Suffolk
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 684
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,962
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 2,646
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 25.9%
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 1,625
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 3,350
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 4,975
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 32.7%
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| Seventh Suffolk
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,446
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 3,691
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 5,137
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 28.1%
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 2,158
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 3,021
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 5,179
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 41.7%
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| Ninth Suffolk
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,348
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 3,841
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 5,189
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 26.0%
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 2,446
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 3,540
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 5,986
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 40.9%
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| Twelfth Suffolk
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,460
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 3,819
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 5,279
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 27.7%
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 2,211
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 4,027
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 6,238
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 35.4%
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| Thirteenth Suffolk
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,055
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 3,301
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 4,356
| style="background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 24.2%
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 1,971
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 4,781
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 6,752
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" | 29.2%
|-
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Fourteenth Suffolk
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,585
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 4,371
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 5,956
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 26.6%
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Fifteenth Suffolk
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,034
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 4,076
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 5,110
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 20.2%
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Seventeenth Suffolk
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 1,191
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 3,266
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 4,457
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#efefef; color:#333333;" | 26.7%
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="vertical-align:bottom; background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
| style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#000000;" |
|- style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#ffc702;"
| TOTAL
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | 12,110
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | 35,273
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | 47,383
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | 25.6%
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | 11,642
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | 21,248
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | 32,890
| style="vertical-align:bottom;" | 35.4%
|}
See also
- Timeline of Boston history
- History of African Americans in Boston
- Black nationalism
- Urban secession
Further reading
- (substantial and comprehensive article with extensive bibliography).
- Hogen-Esch, Tom. "Recapturing Suburbia: Urban Secession and the Politics of Growth in Los Angeles, Boston, and Seattle ." Ph.D. diss. University of Southern California, 2002 (especially chapter 7, "The Greater Roxbury Incorporation Project," pages 229–285).
References
External links
- 1986 news broadcast footage from WGBH about the proposal
- Greater Roxbury incorporation project: A new municipality. from Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts records, Special Collections, Northeastern University Library