A&E
INSIDE THIS WEEK: Elder housing challenges:
5 QUESTIONS WITH JIMMY CARTER OF THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA pg B1
For senior homeowners, repair costs loom large pg A6
plus Zoë Kravitz’ star on a meteoric rise pg B1 Leon Mobley May 23 at Boston Calling pg B2 Thursday, May 21, 2015 • FREE • GREATER BOSTON’S URBAN NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1965 • CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
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Race colors response to opioid crisis As drugs hit ’burbs, emphasis shifts to treatment programs By YAWU MILLER
It’s no secret that the rapid increase in opioid addiction, overdoses and deaths in Massachusetts is a largely white phenomenon. But shortly after WCVB channel 5 posted a listing of the top 30 towns hardest hit by overdose deaths, the comments began rolling in. Using data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the U.S. Census, the news broadcaster concluded that the Western Massachusetts town of Ware had the highest per-capita incidence of overdose fatalities. While many of the readers’ comments bemoaned the flow of opiates into the suburbs, some questioned why Lawrence, the state’s sole majority-Latino municipality, was not even on the list. “Really? No Lawrence? Something is definitely wrong with this information,” wrote a reader identifying himself as “Mack Dog.” In fact, the only municipality on the list where whites are not a majority was Brockton, where non-Hispanic whites constitute 42 percent of the population. But in many of the small towns
near the — including Winthrop, Ware, Whitman, West Bridgewater and Ipswich – whites constitute more than 90 percent of the population. As for cities making the top 30 list, such as Lowell, New Bedford, Fall River, Quincy and Worcester — whites are more than 60 percent of the population. More heavily-black and Latino cities and towns — including Boston, Springfield, Lawrence and Randolph — didn’t make the list at all. Historically, at least from the 1960s through the ’90s, heroin addiction was seen as a largely black problem. From Oakland to Harlem to Boston’s South End, the drug flooded into black communities in the early 1970s. “There was no treatment at all for heroin back then,” notes Bro. Robert Kinney, a former substance abuse counselor who began working with addicts in 1967 at FIRST Academy. “Nothing. There wasn’t any response at all.” During the ’70s and ’80s, presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan began and intensified the
See OPIOIDS, page A8
BANNER PHOTO
Baolian Kuang of the Chinese Progressive Association translates community demands for Corey Zehngebot of the Boston Redevelopment Authority at a public gathering in Chinatown.
Chinatown group jumps at chance to ‘Imagine Boston’ Locals push for affordability at center of city plans By ELIZA DEWEY
Chinatown residents and activists responded last week to Mayor Walsh’s new citywide planning initiative, “Imagine Boston 2030,” with their own event dubbed “Imagine…Chinatown 2030?” — a question meant to highlight the precarious situation that many residents say the neighborhood currently faces. “We’re asking will Chinatown still be here in 2030?” said Mark
Liu, Director of Programs and Operations for the Chinese Progressive Association. “We need protective zoning for the neighborhood so it can maintain being the gateway for working-class immigrants.” Local residents repeatedly cited affordable housing as one of their chief concerns. One resident who gave his name as Mr. Ma said he had been renting a three-bedroom apartment for $600 per month in a rent-subsidized building until the property’s subsidy
expired without the landlord providing the required advanced notice to tenants. Suddenly, he said, his rent jumped to $1300 per month. Residents also noted a range of ‘wish-list’ items related to housing such as the return of rent control (eliminated in Massachusetts in 1994 by state-wide referendum), the use of public land parcels for community benefits such as affordable housing or libraries, and more
See CHINATOWN, page A10
Deportation deferment on horizon City preps for Obama policy implementation By ELIZA DEWEY
PHOTO COURTESY THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Governor Charlie Baker, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Mass. HHS Secretary Marylou Sudders hosted a roundtable discussion on the opioid addiction crisis at Boston Medical Center in April.
When President Obama signed an executive action last November that would halt deportations for an estimated 4 million undocumented immigrants, it was viewed by many as a game-changing move that might help pave the way for eventual immigration reform. Now, local immigration advocates and city officials are trying to drum up support in anticipation of the policy’s implementation. At a city hall press conference last
week, speakers underscored the significance of the policy change and tried to encourage those who might be eligible to begin preparing their documents to apply for the new federal programs. “Today is really about understanding the true history of this country,” said Felix Arroyo, Boston’s Chief of Health and Human Services. “We elect our leaders, and we’re a country where the vast majority of us come from somewhere else. When you put
See IMMIGRATION, page A8
AT A GLANCE Changes to federal policy as a result of President Obama’s executive action on immigration:
n Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) would protect immigrants who have children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents who have resided in the United States for at least five years. n Expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program covering children who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents, eliminating the previous cut-off age of 31 years old and allowing applications from residents who have arrived as recently as 2010.