February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Jim Smith
SOUTH BOSTON — The beleaguered owner of a bar in South Boston is defending himself against accusations that a display in his pub was set up to mock Black History Month.
As reported in last week’s Echo, a Boston Herald reporter claimed in a news story last month that an unnamed bartender at Tom English’s Cottage on Emerson Street in South Boston had told him that a display of monkeys and spear-toting natives had been set up in February in mock tribute of Black History Month, a nationally recognized month-long observance of African-American achievements.
Since then, the bar and its owner, Tom English Jr., have come under a barrage of criticism from black leaders and public officials, some of whom are calling for revocation of the bar’s license.
After a preliminary hearing before the Boston Licensing Board last Thursday, the attorney for English, Christopher Weld Jr., criticized the "rush to judgment" by the NAACP, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and other agencies.
"It’s unfortunate that we’re hearing today from public officials who have already been the judge, jury and executioner," Weld said. "There was a history of displays in this bar on a seasonal basis. This one was a tropical display that had various aspects to it, and it had no intended or actual racial overtones."
Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter
English, who did not appear at last week’s preliminary hearing, has not spoken publicly about the controversy until this week. In a Boston Globe column by Brian McGrory, English denies that there was any racial theme in his jungle display and a stack of photos seen by McGrory appears to back up his claim.
According to McGrory, a number of English’s seasonal displays, including the February one, include a wide assortment of animals and figurines designed to capture the spirit of a season or holiday. In the winter, English is said to use the jungle motif to add a touch of the tropics to the bar’s decor.
English, who is 62 and speaks through an esophageal tube because his voice box was removed during cancer surgery last year, is described in McGrory’s column by a friend and former Boston College High classmate as someone who "doesn’t have a bigoted bone in his body . . . the nicest guy God ever put leather-soled shoes on."
Many residents of South Boston, meanwhile, are complaining that this Irish-American community is once again coming under unfair attack by pundits and activists eager to resurrect negative stereotypes that took hold during the forced busing era of the 1970s, when parents took to the streets to protest the busing of their children to predominantly black schools situated far from home.
A public hearing has been set for March 28 at the Boston Licensing Board to determine what, if any, action will be taken against Tom English’s Cottage.