History: Boston In The 1970s

People of Irish descent form the largest single ethnic group in the city, making up 15.8% of the population, followed by Italians, accounting for 8.3% of the population. People of West Indian ancestry are another sizable group, at 6.4%, about half of whom are of Haitian ancestry. Some neighborhoods, such as Dorchester, have received an influx of people of Vietnamese ancestry in recent decades. Neighborhoods such as Jamaica Plain and Roslindale have experienced a growing number of Dominican Americans.
The city also has a sizable Jewish population with an estimated 21,000 Jews within the city and 22 synagogues. The adjacent communities of Brookline and Newton are both approximately one third Jewish.