ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
November 4, 2004
Minority voters waking up
to new power in Hyde Park
Yawu Miller
Reminiscing about his youth in Hyde Park recently,
at-large City Councilor Stephen Murphy came to a sobering realization:
of 36 close friends he grew up with, only three are still in the
neighborhood.
Hyde Park, which occupies most of the city’s largest ward,
is now 57 percent people of color, a fact that becomes apparent
on a stroll through Cleary Square as black and brown faces constitute
the overwhelming majority of the passers-by.
It also became painfully apparent in last September’s Democratic
primary when Murphy lost Ward 18 — and the race —
to African American Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral, ending
his bid to unseat her.
“It’s a different city than the one I grew up in,”
Murphy commented, noting that adjacent Ward 20 is also changing.
“The demographics in the whole city are changing.”
Hyde Park’s population includes blacks (40 percent), Latinos
(12 percent), Asians (1 percent) and others including people of
Middle Eastern and Greek extraction and Italian Americans. Ward
18, which includes part of Mattapan, stretches from Mattapan Square
to the Stony Brook Reservation on the West Roxbury line.
Hyde Park’s demographic shift has not been sudden, according
to Murphy, who says the changes began in the ’80s. The 2000
Census was the first to note the minority majority in the neighborhood.
But while people of color make up a majority of the neighborhood’s
residents, whites have traditionally dominated the neighborhood’s
political power. Ward 18 is still Mayor Thomas Menino’s
home turf and the Ward 18 Democratic Committee has long been his
domain.
Two years ago, black Democratic activists filed a formal complaint
with the state party after Ward 18 Chairman James Gillooly, who
works in the city’s Transportation Department, refused to
accept nominations from a group of African Americans seeking seats
at the state convention.
Political activist Mukiya Baker Gomez says people of color are
often intentionally kept out of the inner channels of political
power in Hyde Park. Many in the neighborhood are not aware they
have the power to determine who represents them in the State House
or City Hall.
“I don’t think people have a sense of the power they
have here,” she told the Banner. “I don’t believe
that people understand the power of their collective action.”
Last year, people of color in Hyde Park got a taste of their newfound
power when longtime Hyde Park resident Felix Arroyo clinched an
historic second place in the city’s at-large council race.
Arroyo topped the ticket in Ward 18, while Murphy came in in fourth
place citywide.
That performance was repeated this year with Cabral’s win.
Although black candidates have not yet materialized to challenge
the incumbents, the potential is there, according to Gareth Kinkead,
president of the Colorado Street Citizens Group.
“You’ve got a lot of young folks who are moving in
here,” he said. “They’re educated, ambitious
and ready for change. And white voters are ready for change too.
They’re not seeing color. They’re seeing people who
can get the job done.”
Kinkead said white politicians are now more responsive to his
organization’s needs, noting that District 5 City Councilor
Rob Consalvo often attends Colorado Street meetings. Consalvo
says the constituents in the Mattapan side of his district keep
him busy.
“They vote, they vote in good numbers, they call, demand
attention and hold our feet to the fire,” he commented.
Ward 18 has a minority majority, the white voters still wield
formidable power. Elected officials like Consalvo must weigh the
needs of the white parts of Ward 18 against the often differing
needs of the majority people of color in the ward.
Consalvo, who earns high marks for constituent service in his
district, uses the oft-repeated assertion that residents throughout
his district have the same needs. But when the topic moves away
from city services and into the realm of legislative action, he
admits there are differences.
“You see differences on any issue,” Consalvo said.
“I’m getting that on rent control. I’m getting
that on the budget. There isn’t one issue that everyone
in any district agrees on. My job is to listen to both sides of
the issue and make an informed decision.”
Ballot referenda, like the year 2000 question that called on the
state to restrict the right to vote of people incarcerated on
felony charges, underscore those differences. That year, only
15 percent of Ward 18’s 20th precinct in Mattapan voted
for the measure. In the more white, conservative Readville section
(precinct 21), 95 percent of the voters supported the measure.
Voters in neighborhoods where minorities predominate tend to vote
to the left of the city’s predominantly white wards. With
issues like rent control, which is expected to go before the council
within the next month, there is always the possibility that a
councilor’s vote may alienate a constituency.
Council votes aren’t the only thing that can alienate a
constituency. In December of 2000, Murphy made comments at a South
Boston tree-lighting ceremony that many observers said derided
the Kwanzaa holiday celebrated by African Americans.
While black voters may not have forgotten that apparent slight,
Murphy offers other explanations for his poor showing in Hyde
Park: a lack of name recognition.
“They don’t know me,” he said of the voters
of color in Ward 18. “And that’s partly my fault and
partly the fault of the Chuck Turners of the world saying ‘you
need to bullet vote.’”
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