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Gang Violence And Violence In All Souls By Michael Patrick Macdonald

580 Words3 Pages

The memoir All Souls by Michael Patrick MacDonald is an important work because it is a testament of how one person transcends gang violence and racism. People read about gang violence and racism in the news, but they never think that it is happening close to them. All Souls reminds us how close and real violence can be through its captivating and horrific stories. It reminds us of how bad racial tensions can be. All Souls is based on true stories and commemorates those who died in Michael's Southie family and neighborhood. The All Souls vigil celebrates the life of people who died through recollections of the author. One person who died is Frankie, the author’s brother. He was an exceptional person who was trying to get out of Southie. He …show more content…

Ever since busing, we couldn't get a "black taxi driver to take us to South Boston" (pg.160) because it was getting too dangerous.Michael recalls that Southie was in a “war”(pg.83) against the busing. They didn’t want the busing because they felt that blacks had too many problems they thought they would bring drugs in. During the forced busing riots, whites dragged a black man out of his car and beat him. In a town over from Southie a white man had been “stoned and beaten unconscious by about two hundred black teenagers”(pg.92). Not only are the whites being violent to the blacks but the blacks are also retaliating against the whites. These are examples of atrocious violence that happened during the 70’s. When one hears about acts such as these, nobody thinks that they can happen in their community. But the reality is that it can happen and happen close to home. Tensions were so high that it didn’t take much to incite a riot or killing. All Souls reminds us how a mob mentality can take over reason and ordinary people can do terrible things. The author was able to rise above racism, gangs, and violence. This work exemplifies that it is important to do what is right, rather than “go with the flow”, as terrible violence can

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