Stop someone on the streets of any American city and ask them what comes to mind when they think of a typical Bostonian and the word “Irish” will likely be somewhere near the top of the list. The city’s strong Irish heritage has been one of its hallmarks since large numbers of Irish immigrants began settling there in the 1840s. It has permeated nearly every facet of Boston’s culture and nowhere is this more evident than in the name of the city’s legendary NBA franchise, the Boston Celtics. Fans of the Celtics (and other Boston franchises) are often stereotyped by other fans as rowdy, red-haired, intoxicated Southies. Even the team’s demographic constitution during the 1980s Bird/McHale/Ainge-era seemed to reinforce the misconceptions the rest of the country has always believed about Boston.
But anyone who has lived in or visited the city knows that Beantown isn’t a homogeneous mass of rowdy redheads; it is a vastly diverse city with some of the most unique ethnic enclaves in the country. Amongst the hundreds of nationalities residing in Boston is one the United States’ largest Brazilian communities. Neighborhoods like Allston/Brighton and East Boston are lined with Brazilian-owned businesses, markets and restaurants. In adjacent cities like Somerville and Everett, Brazilians comprise more than five percent of the population. More than 330,000 Brazilians live in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, the second largest population of Brazilians in the United States behind Florida.
With so many Bostonians having ties to Brazil, it is only appropriate that two of the newest members of the Celtics roster happened to have been born there. Rookie center Fab Melo was born and raised in Juiz de Fora, an industrial city north of Rio de Janeiro, before moving to Florida at 17-years-old. Nine year veteran Leandro Barbosa, the newest addition to the Celtics roster, was born in Sao Paolo and played professionally in Brazil as well as for the Brazilian Olympic team.
Surrounded by the familiar sounds of Carioca Funk and Musica Popular Brasileira, the flavors of coxinha and feijoada, and of course the language and people of Brazil right in the middle of Boston may help make the two newest additions to the Celtics roster feel at home in green. It may also present an interesting opportunity for the Boston Celtics franchise to tap into an emerging international market in Brazil.
Bem-vindo a Boston Leandrinho e Melo!
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