Exclusive: District 7 Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson issues statement defending D6's Kendra Lara

District 7 Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson issued a statement to Massachusetts Free Press in response to our inquiries regarding if Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson supported calls for District 6 Councilor Kendra Lara to resign, she responded with the statement below seemly defending Councilor Lara:

Like most things, the recent attention the Boston City Council has garnered holds both good and bad news. Good, because increased exposure creates the community interest this council needs to be its most effective, and therefore ensures the power of the council remains in the hands of the people it serves. It also encourages transparency, which furthers the goal of closing the gap between the people served and the elected officials they chose to serve them.

Yet it has also brought crushing scrutiny upon some members without the judicious application of practice required to tell the complete story with context. This is inherently bad news. Absent journalistic integrity, all you get is racist tropes, class entrenchment, and practically useless media fodder. You, the citizens of Boston, deserve better. This is a teachable moment. While accountability is a prerequisite for transitioning any transgression into the realm of repair and justice, we must also investigate the root causes of those alleged transgressions in order for justice to be truly served. Currently, the media only seems to be motivated by shaming those people trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty and systemic oppression in place of shaming those elites, along with their designs, responsible for perpetuating that poverty in the first place. We cannot miss this opportunity to explore and illuminate the true trials of living in Boston.

Why have we not asked the question, how is it possible that in a city as prosperous and rich as Boston, so many cannot afford to live here, own and maintain a car, or even find the funding to register insurance? What conditions are we creating that forces someone into such difficult choices? Why are there so many poor Black people in Boston? The real shame should be placed upon how much Black women need to earn in order to afford living in Boston without falling into depravity. There was once vibrant advocacy, usually encapsulated in a Kennedy Catholics tradition, of sticking up for the poor and pushing back against racist dog whistles. Where are all the scholars and educators standing against these conditions in light of current circumstances, when they understand how poverty works, wreaking havoc on one's ability to thrive? Without having your basic needs met, the deterioration of social determinants of health in a community leads to outcomes that are all too predictable. Trying to thrive as a Black woman in Boston is becoming an impossible dream. So you tell me, what's the dollar amount a Black woman must meet to survive Boston? And are you satisfied with that answer?

For too long, outsiders have exploited rare available housing while waiting for the community to be pushed out, oftentimes accelerating it by demanding ethnic communities conform, or else, pushing people further into poverty and underground economies like drugs and the sex trade. Predominantly white communities are getting all of the tax breaks. Or the taxes go to funding private institutions like Harvard and MGH. Effectively, the Bipoc community is subsidizing the rich. Boston, as intelligent as you are, you can't do the math? From every measurable degree, Black people are struggling to survive Boston. Privileged people refuse to interact with their lesser privileged citizens, so they blind themselves from what's really going on. Boston is a clannish town that eats its own. And all these world class institutions and world class journalists cannot seem to connect the dots. Boston's inability to recognize loaded and racist journalism is a shame. For our city's survival, it needs to stop.

I call upon academics and Godly people who understand the plight of the poor to demand equitable and fair treatment in the press, and for the media to engage with an anti-racist lens in order to construct coverage that addresses the real needs of the city instead of the sensationalized storytelling we've been getting. If we are ever going to harness the power of the people and fulfill the latent potential of Boston residents, we must report with integrity, giving Bostonians the tools they need to make informed decisions, holding those in power to account.

Thank you, Councilor TFA