Witnessing shameful acts on our day of celebration

It’s not enough that the Red Sox World Series celebration, a spectacular moment for our city, had to advance under the hideous shadow of the murder of Southie felon Whitey Bulger plastered across local papers and television screens. But several idiots along the duck boat route dampened the day, pun intended, by throwing full and combustible cans of beer to the duck boat passengers. In their small minds, the beer slingers no doubt saw their actions as a kind of “this Bud’s for you” congratulatory moment. Problem is no thought was given to the damage that could be inflicted. The beer cans splashed Sox manager Alex Cora and his daughter on one boat but on another boat, an errant beer can resulted in stitches for a young woman. Instead of acting like the champions the mayor and police chief urged them to be, the beer-can thugs turned out to be more like chumps than champs. If there was any silver lining to the fiasco, it was that Alex Cora, gentleman and superstar that he is, said he didn’t see the hit as intentional. I agree — but it could very easily have been seen as intentional, racist or both. The racist graffiti that turned up on the walls at Southie’s Tynan School on the day of the Red Sox celebration is another story that unfortunately dredges up racial dynamics that the city continues to struggle with to this day, but is actively pushing back against. That the N word is lavishly used is not unexpected, but the “whitey for lyfe” scribble is particularly scurrilous. That this happened at a time when the Tynan School should be celebrating its own spectacular achievement, under the leadership of Principal Leslie Gant, is particularly sad for the school family and the South Boston community as a whole. When Principal Gant was first appointed, the Tynan was dangerously close to being listed as a troubled school with the possibility of being taken over by the state. Gant, a graduate of Boston Latin and a no-nonsense, bythe-book kind of administrator committed to excellence, structured a plan for a turnaround. Change is not easy for some, but in the end, the Tynan school family pulled together under Gant’s guidance, and recently the school is one of only 20 in the system showing marked improvement in many areas. Everyone worked together to make it happen — a testament to the school’s success and an example for others to follow. Congratulations Principal Gant and the Tynan school family! The new school custodian has said he felt the graffitti messages were meant for him. Hateful messages like that should not be meant for anyone. But everyone’s behavior should be scrutinized and dealt with appropriately. Most important now are the children who did not deserve this. Today, parents, supporters and the fabulous youth mentor organization My Brothers Keepers, dynamos Conan Harris and Thaddeus Miles, and Monica Cannon, one of the lead organizers in the recent march against racism that turned back the haters in the memorable procession to the Common, will be on hand to support the children at Tynan. All of Southie should be in the ranks to support the Tynan School by standing together in solidarity against racism.