Harmony on the Hill deserves thanks for continuing to make some good come of the Charles Stuart atrocity. Its new scholarship fund is yet another great idea for increasing opportunity in—and possibly some giving-back to—Mission Hill.
When Charles Stuart chose a place to kill his pregnant wife and blame a non-existent black man in 1990, he viewed Mission Hill as an easily stereotyped ghetto. The Boston Police fell for it, cracking down on the neighborhood and jailing an innocent man. The nationwide scandal exposed still more Boston racism and classism at its ugliest.
For Mission Hill’s long-time residents, it has taken years to regain any trust in the media, the police and, in many ways, each other.
Harmony on the Hill, a program that started last year to look boldly at the 20th anniversary of the crime, has helped to bridge those gaps. Its exact mission has varied from concerts to discussion groups and now to scholarships. That is a good thing.
Time has not healed the scars of the Stuart crime. Effort has. Mission Hill is a very different place from 1990, but it still has divides of opportunity and trust. Good for Harmony on the Hill for facing them head-on.