Finally! Ted Landsmark applauds new beginning for Boston

Ted Landsmark has waited his whole life for Boston to discover common ground.

On Friday, soon after Mayor Martin Walsh declared racism a public health crisis, the wait was over.

“For him to make this declaration is an acknowledgement of a truth people in this city and this region have needed to address proactively for many decades,” said Landsmark. “It’s not just about talk anymore.”

It’s about confronting racism that blacks, like Landsmark, are forced to live with but others don’t experience. That’s until a video — like the one of George Floyd dying under the knee of a Minneapolis Police officer — or some other image is shared with the world.

Ted Landsmark knows. On April 5, 1976, a teenage anti-busing protester wielding the American flag like a spear aimed it right at Landsmark. Former Herald photographer Stanley Forman captured it all on film.

The photo, which came to be titled “The Soiling of Old Glory” and won a Pulitzer Prize, forced a pivot in the city’s volatile dialogue about busing.

“That photo, the video in Minneapolis and the (Rodney King) video in LA all captured moments many Americans have had to experience,” Landsmark said. “That still photo of me in 1976 is a precursor to numerous videos individuals can now capture.”

Theodore Landsmark stands with a Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Herald American photograph by Stanley Forman showing Landsmark being threatened at an anti-busing rally at City Hall in 1976.
Stanley Forman’s photo titled ‘The Soiling of Old Glory,’ shows an attack on a young black lawyer, Ted Landsmark, in downtown Boston during a 1976 anti-busing demonstration.
COMMON GROUND: After Ted Landsmark, above, was attacked with a flag at City Hall Plaza in 1976, he struck up an unlikely friendship with the attacker’s brother, Stephen Rakes.
REVISITING: Ted Landsmark at City Hall Plaza near where he was attacked by a protester with a flag pole in 1976.
(Boston,MA 07/16/15) BRA member Ted Landsmark speaks on Thursday, July 16, 2015 during The BRA Board of Directors Meeting at City Hall. . Staff photo by Patrick Whittemore.
NEW ARRIVAL: Theodore Landsmark, former president of the Boston Architectural College, will go before the City Council next week for a confirmation vote to the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Ted Landsmark

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It was bystanders who exposed the heartless killing of Floyd in Minneapolis almost three weeks ago that has ignited protests around the world and calls to defund the police.

It has also compelled Walsh to announce Friday he’s cutting 20% of the overtime budget for police to reallocate the funds for programs for youth and more.

“His heart and his head have been in the right place on this issue,” Landsmark told the Herald Friday. “Boston was the only city that saw race as a key issue years before COVID-19 and years before the demonstrations.”

Landsmark was referring to the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Resilient Cities grant awarded to the city in 2017. This next step, he added, will cement the Hub’s reputation as a leader.

“Boston is a great city,” Landsmark added. But the work, he says, has just begun. He is challenging everyone to pick up a camera or use their smartphones to “capture and disseminate … horrendous racial abuses” when they happen.

“These images speak truth to power,” he said.

The septuagenarian was standing alone on City Hall Plaza that fateful day in 1976 when hate boiled over. Forced busing tore the city apart and he was hurled into the center of that storm.

He was a young lawyer out of Yale with a passion for architectural design who just wanted to do his job. But history got in the way.

Landsmark has gracefully handled his truth. He had just finished lunch at home — where else — when he picked up the phone to speak to the Herald Friday.

“You’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of me with that photo,” he said with a laugh. “But this is a good day. This is a very good thing.”

Racism is now seen as a health crisis. As Police Commissioner William Gross said Friday at the same City Hall Plaza: “The city has come a long way from the old Boston to the new.”

FILE – In this June 7, 2020, file photo, protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally on Mount Washington overlooking downtown Pittsburgh, to protest the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. In recent years, there have been dozens of examples of officers who had numerous complaints against them of excessive force, harassment or other misconduct before they were accused of killing someone on duty. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
BOSTON MA. JUNE 11: Medical assistant Darlene Underwood joins other health care workers as they hold a moment of silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time a police officer had his knee on the neck of George Floyd, on the lawn outside Boston Medical Center on June 11, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Philonise Floyd, a brother of George Floyd, arrives to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on proposed changes to police practices and accountability on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, June 10, 2020, in Washington. (Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP)
Wendy Long, left, and Sister Mamie, repost signs that were removed form the Lafayette Park parameter fence at the site of protests, Wednesday, June 10, 2020, near the White House in Washington. The protests began over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A mural is seen on a boarded up business as a Los Angeles Police Department car drives by, Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Many businesses were boarded up during protests over the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a black man died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
George Floyd's funeral procession arrives at Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery, Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in Pearland, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The Funeral home team pushes the casket of George Floyd into the hearse after the funeral service for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, Pool)
The hands of funeral home staff move the casket of George Floyd into a hearse after the funeral service for Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, Pool)
Pallbearers recess out of the church with the casket following the funeral for George Floyd on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/Houston Chronicle via AP, Pool)
Actor Jamie Foxx, right, speaks with Rodney Floyd during the funeral service for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, Pool)
Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd attends the funeral service for Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, Pool)
Protesters and activists walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, June 6, 2020, in New York. Protests continued following the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Hundreds of demonstrators gather on the Champs de Mars as the Eiffel Tower is seen in the background during a demonstration in Paris, France, Saturday, June 6, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, U.S.A., after being restrained by police officers on May 25, 2020. Further protests are planned over the weekend in European cities, some defying restrictions imposed by authorities because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
People gather calling for justice for George Floyd in Rome's Piazza del Popolo square, Sunday, June 7, 2020. Floyd died May 25 after being restrained by police in Minneapolis. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)
Kisha Coleman pauses by the casket of George Floyd during a public visitation for Floyd at the Fountain of Praise church Monday, June 8, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, Pool)
Houston police chief Art Acevedo and Charlene Davis embrace after Davis prayed for him as she stood in line at a public visitation for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston, Monday, June 8, 2020, in Houston.(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
FILE – This May 31, 2020 photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff shows former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was arrested Friday, May 29, in the Memorial Day death of George Floyd. Prosecutors are charging Chauvin, accused of pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck, with second-degree murder, and for the first time will level charges against three other officers at the scene, a newspaper reported Wednesday, June 3, 2020. (Hennepin County Sheriff via AP, File)
BOSTON MA. JUNE 7: A woman holds the image of George Floyd as she marchs against police violence from Boston City Hall to thew Ruggles T station near police headquarters on June 7, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Malaysia Hammond, 19, places flowers at a memorial mural for George Floyd at the corner of Chicago Avenue and 38th Street, Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests continued following the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Justin Diamond, the fiancé of George Floyd, left, holds hands with a supporter at North Central University after a memorial service for Floyd Thursday, June 4, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Philonise Floyd embraces cousin Shareeduh Tate, at a memorial service for his brother, George Floyd at North Central University Thursday, June 4, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, shows J. Alexander Kueng, from left, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. They have been charged with aiding and abetting Derek Chauvin, who is charged with second-degree murder of George Floyd, a black man who died after being restrained by the Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
FILE – This undated file handout photo provided by Christopher Harris shows George Floyd. The message from protesters around the United States is that George Floyd is the latest addition to a grim roster of African Americans to be killed by police In demonstration after demonstration, protesters are carrying signs that include the names of other blacks whose lives ended violently in encounters with police. (Christopher Harris via AP, File)
WOBURN, MA: June 2, 2020: A mural in honor of George Floyd is painted on an I-93 underpass in Woburn, Massachusetts. (Staff photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON, MA - MAY 31: A protester raises a fist during a Justice for George Floyd rally at Government Center on May 31, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Staff Photo By Angela Rowlings/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON, MA - MAY 31: Demonstrators march past the State House during a Justice for George Floyd rally on May 31, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Staff Photo By Angela Rowlings/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Protestors return to the area around the Centennial Olympic Park and CNN center where some confronted police, who sprayed some demonstrators with pepper spray, after a peaceful march the Georgia State Capitol that swelled into the hundreds in Atlanta, Friday, May 29, 2020. They carried signs and chanted their messages of outrage over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
FILE - In this Monday, May 25, 2020, file frame from video provided by Darnella Frazier, a Minneapolis officer kneels on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed man who was pleading that he could not breathe, in Minneapolis. Police around the U.S. and law enforcement experts are broadly condemning the way Floyd, who died in police custody, was restrained by a Minneapolis officer who dug his knee into the man's neck. (Darnella Frazier via AP, File)
A protester gestures in front of the burning 3rd Precinct building of the Minneapolis Police Department on Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody Monday, broke out in Minneapolis for a third straight night. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A man poses for a photo in the parking lot of an AutoZone store in flames, while protesters hold a rally for George Floyd in Minneapolis on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Violent protests over the death of the black man in police custody broke out in Minneapolis for a second straight night Wednesday, with protesters in a standoff with officers outside a police precinct and looting of nearby stores. (Carlos Gonzalez/Star Tribune via AP)