Posted on 05/19/2005 8:41:57 PM PDT by SmithL
BOSTON - The Massachusetts Legislature on Thursday repealed a 330-year-old law that barred American Indians from entering Boston and has long irked area tribes - even though it hasn't been enforced.
Both the House and the Senate voted to strike down the 1675 law passed during King Philip's War between colonists and area Indians, and that has remained on the books ever since.
Activists and Indian groups have been trying for years to scuttle the law. Boston Mayor Tom Menino filed a petition last fall to dump it, and the city council passed it. But the legislature didn't act until this week, when a committee swiftly approved a repeal bill on Monday and sent it on to the Legislature for a vote.
The bill must still be signed by Gov. Mitt Romney. A Romney spokeswoman said he intends to.
The sudden impetus to dump the law arose because a national journalists organization - Unity: Journalists of Color Inc. - has considered Boston a site for its 2008 convention, but said it would not come to Boston if the law remained in place.
The Unity convention, which brings together organizations of black, Asian American, Hispanic and Indian journalists, lasts for four days, and would bring an estimated $4.5 million to Boston.
The law was passed when tensions between colonists and Wampanoag leader Metacom - derisively dubbed Philip by the settlers - escalated into violence in 1675. The war ended when Metacom was killed in 1676, but the law remained.
As long as they're entering the city to marry their same-sex partner.
All legislatures should be required every 3rd year to review old outdated laws and remove them from the books.
So in other words, you could get an Indian friend of yours to keep you company, and legally carry anywhere in Boston? Heh heh heh ...
Wonderful. Now my son and I can watch the Red Sox tomorrow- if the game does not get rained out. (My wife is part Mohawk.)
Indians have been legally allowed in Boston for years. The Red Sox beat them regularly.
Damn white of them to do so!
Mark
cool. I'll be your native guide! :)
Hee-Hee. Good one.
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