While there were two racist jugheads from South Boston hate-criming on a homeless man (and citing allegiance to TRUMP in the process), on the other side of the river in Somerville, the mayor (Joe Curtatone) has hung a “Black Lives Matter” banner at Somerville City Hall. Bravo!

“We see this as an important opportunity for an important national conversation” about race, Curtatone said. He said the move was “a very clear statement we are making to the community that we recognize that structural racism exists in our society; it exists in our public and private institutions.”

Curtatone said the partnership is not meant to criticize the work of the Somerville Police Department, which he referred to as a model for community-based policing efforts. He said it was actually a “statement of faith” in the department.
“They’re fantastic,” he said, adding that the police chief supports the cause. “This is not just about law enforcement. The goal is to address racism in all of our other public and private institutions. We are in this as a whole city, not with just a focus on police.”

bostonglobe.com