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May 5, 2005

Historical self deception

The Civil Rights Project at Harvard stirred up quite a controversy recently with the publication of its study on racial discrimination against African Americans and

Hispanics in Metro Boston. The results of the study ran counter to the long held belief that the racial discrimination which plagues America has somehow missed Greater Boston.

Historically, Boston has taken the lead in the battle against racial discrimination. Boston was a major center of opposition to slavery. Frederick Douglass and other supporters of abolition were free to express their ideas openly. While the South was committed to racial apartheid, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law in 1855 forbidding discrimination in education. This law was passed after Benjamin Roberts sued to prevent his daughter Sarah from being required to attend an all black school. He lost the case, but the Legislature remedied the problem.

In 1865 the state Legislature also passed a law ending racial discrimination in places of public accommodation. In 1866 two blacks in Boston were elected to the state Legislature, a first for America. From then until the turn of the century black candidates were consistently elected to the Legislature.

George L. Ruffin was appointed a judge in the Charlestown District Court in 1883. He became the first black judge in the North. During the Reconstruction period in the South blacks were appointed to a number of judicial and legislative offices.

It must be noted that the black population during this period was relatively small. The total population of Boston in 1910 was 670,585. Only 13,564 residents were black. That is a mere two percent. Thirty years later in 1940 the black population had grown to only about three percent. A population group that small could hardly be perceived as a political threat to anyone.

Politicians often declare that Boston is a city of neighborhoods. Another way of making the same statement is that Boston is a city of immigrants and ethnic groups. Residents of various neighborhoods frequently shared the same ethnicity. This was very true decades ago. Italians lived in East Boston and the North End, the Irish lived in South Boston, East Dorchester and West Roxbury, Jews lived in Mattapan and parts of Dorchester, blacks lived in Roxbury and North Dorchester, the Yankees lived on Beacon Hill and the Back Bay. There were also smaller ethnic groups such as Poles, Arabs and Ukrainians that lived in smaller sections of the city.

The battle over school busing in the 1970s established that ethnic neighborhoods could not maintain control over governmental services such as housing and schools. Demographic shifts since then have substantially changed the ethnic landscape. According to the 2000 Census, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians are now the majority population of the city. As these groups begin to flex their muscles there will be a political power shift in Boston.

It would be unwise for those in power to defer to Boston’s glorious history for equal rights in America and ignore the enormous demographic changes underway in the city. The population of the old neighborhoods is changing. More racial and ethnic diversity is visible. For some accustomed to the old ways, change is threatening. To newcomers, the uncertainty of acceptance is challenging.

Sophisticated leadership is needed to cope with the changes effectively. The Civil Rights Project provided a valuable public service by pointing out the issues.

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