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June 2, 2005
Times change
The recent battle over the appointment of J. Keith
Motley as chancellor of UMass Boston is quite consistent with
the city’s history. Boston has always been a city of immigrants.
Many live in ethnically homogeneous communities where they compete
vigorously with others for political power and economic advantage.
There has been a system of “to the victor belong the spoils.”
Ethnic groups which are small cannot compete effectively. For
decades, this has been the lot of African Americans. In 1940,
only about three percent of Boston’s population was black.
For decades African Americans were powerless to change their plight.
Times change. Over the years the city’s population of blacks,
Latinos and Asians continued to grow. The 2000 US Census revealed
that Boston’s population is now mostly so-called minority.
This demographic fact means that the old order will have to change.
It will no longer be possible for those in power to make decisions
which affect the welfare of ethnic minorities without considering
their opinions.
Blacks, Latinos and Asians have every reason to be especially
concerned about the administration of UMass Boston. One-third
of the students are members of their groups. Prior to the appointment
of Motley as interim chancellor there was considerable unrest
on campus. While it would have been unreasonable to expect that
Motley could have solved all the issues in only ten months, there
was a new sense of optimism.
Motley was well known at UMass Boston. For two years he served
as vice chancellor of Student Affairs. Prior to that he was an
official at Northeastern University where he focused on student
matters. It was generally believed that Motley was a strong candidate
to be named chancellor. However, suspicions began to rise when
he did not make the final cut of candidates. His name was included
only after a protest.
There are some who insist that the playing field is level. They
are either disingenuous or extremely unobservant. Unfortunately,
racial discrimination still plagues American society. It is appropriate
for those who feel victimized by a public decision to protest.
Apologists for the subtle discrimination which racial minorities
encounter almost always raise the issue of qualifications as being
responsible for a racially discriminatory decision. Blacks’
protest is dismissed as an unconstitutional call for reverse discrimination.
An objective observer would assume that all candidates have been
subjected to an exhaustive evaluation.
According to Steve Bailey of the Boston Globe, the search committee
of the board of trustees did not even examine a consultant’s
report commissioned by Caritas Christi Heath Care to assess Dr.
Michael Collins’ performance as CEO. Dr. Collins resigned
after the consultant’s report was finished. Certainly Dr.
Collins qualifications are suspect.
We will never know for certain what factors contributed to the
trustees’ decision. UMass President Jack Wilson wisely averted
a political crisis by naming Motley vice president of the whole
UMass system. And we can only pray that Dr. Collins lives up to
expectations as chancellor of UMass Boston.
It should be clear from the Motley crisis that African Americans,
Latinos and Asians will no longer passively accept discrimination.
The good news is that they want to create a society which is fair
and open to everyone.
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