Panel Tackles Issue of Race in Local Politics

In a panel last night at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), two members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and a professor spoke about past and present race problems in Boston politics and agreed that there are viable solutions within institutionalized structures.

The event, called “Melting Pots and Mosaics: Why Race and Ethnicity Still Matter in Boston,” sponsored by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, took place at the KSG’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government and drew a crowd of about 40 persons.

State Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston), addressed the historical role of race in Boston and the way Boston’s current problem of race and politics has developed.

According to the 2000 federal census, Rushing said, people of color now make up half of Boston’s population, but they are not adequately represented in city politics.

State Rep. Jarrett T. Barrios ’90-’91 (D-Cambridge) pointed to the importance of understanding how issues of race and ethnicity come into conversation when talking about who holds political power.

He said redistricting was one example of a power structure that prevents people of color from being heard.

“It’s very much a dynamic which influences not only how the map is drawn, but whose issues are taken seriously in politics,” Barrios said.

Paul Watanabe, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said the problem of representation is also manifested in the low level of political participation among people of color. They feel a sense of alienation in the political process and feel that their participation is not going to have an impact on issues that are fundamentally important to them, he said.

“I can’t imagine a city where there’s a greater disparity between the mainstream and the people who hold the power,” he said.

According to Watanabe, other problems include the lack of public support for structures, such as public higher education, that help promote greater mobility for people of color and the continued invisibility of many communities in Boston.

Near the end of the panel discussion, an audience member asked what could be done to fix the problem.

Rushing said he believes there need to be major structural changes in government. Such a change could occur, Watanabe said, in city elections.

He proposed opening elections to taxpaying immigrants who also have a stake in the community, among other reforms.

Watanabe said people of color were taking an active part in local politics but said there needs to be greater support.

“It’s a struggle, but there is activity at the community level...but there aren’t enough of them and not enough funding,” he said.