ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
April 28, 2005
Harvard study: Blacks, Latinos see widespread racism in Hub
Jeremy Schwab
Researchers discovered widespread perceptions of
racial and ethnic discrimination in the Boston area when they
polled blacks and Latinos about the attitudes they encounter in
the workplace, in restaurants and other public venues and when
looking for housing.
The authors of the new report from Harvard University’s
Civil Rights Project wanted to do more than just document the
problem, however.
So, one evening last week, they invited Christian, Muslim and
Jewish spiritual leaders to Boston College to discuss racism and
its effects. The goal was to increase dialogue about race among
members of different racial, ethnic and religious groups.
Participants denounced the evils of racism and suggested remedies
ranging from more dialogues between racial groups to increased
political activism to fight racial disparities.
“We have to begin to look at how in certain religious sectors
there is racism that exists,” said Rev. William Dickerson
of Greater Love Tabernacle Church in Dorchester. “A lot
of black churches are asked to sing at white congregations. Black
clergy are not asked to preach. We can sing and tap dance, but
somehow we are not intelligent enough to [preach].”
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino sent a letter last week to the authors
strongly disputing the study’s implications that Boston
is not a welcoming place for blacks and Latinos. The study did
not specify whether incidents of perceived discrimination occurred
in Boston or surrounding communities.
Menino touted the city’s acceptance of diversity as part
of his public relations efforts surrounding the Democratic National
Convention last summer.
Before last week’s discussion, study author Josephine Louie
of the Civil Rights Project gave the crowd of nearly 100 people,
including many African Americans, whites and Muslims, an overview
of the study’s findings.
“It appears the more overt forms of racial discrimination
are less common than the more subtle forms,” she said.
Louie noted that 22 percent of African Americans and 23 percent
of Latinos said they had been called names or insulted a few times
a year.
Meanwhile, 57 percent of African Americans and 38 percent of Latinos
said that they were treated with less respect than others because
of their race a few times a year.
The study, titled “We Don’t Feel Welcome
Here: African Americans and Hispanics in Metro Boston,”
found that 47 percent of African Americans and 26 percent of Latinos
said they received poorer service at restaurants due to their
race or ethnicity a few times a year.
The proportion of African Americans who felt unwelcome because
of their race a few times a year in professional sports venues
was 38 percent, in museums 27 percent and in shopping areas 44
percent. For Latinos, the proportions were 29, 14 and 38 percent,
respectively.
Many of the over 400 African Americans and Latinos polled said
they faced discrimination in housing and the workplace.
Forty-four percent of African Americans and 19 percent of Latinos
said that very often white building owners do not sell or rent
to members of the respondent’s racial or ethnic group. Twenty-one
percent of African Americans reported a personal experience with
racial discrimination at work within the last year, while 15 percent
of African Americans reported a personal experience with discrimination
in housing.
Among Latinos, these 17 percent reported experience with discrimination
in employment, and 10 percent reported experience with discrimination
in housing.
In most categories, African Americans were more likely to report
instances of unequal treatment than were Latinos, but many in
both groups reported such treatment.
Those of higher socioeconomic status were equally as likely,
and in some cases more likely, to report personal experiences
with some form of day-to-day discrimination.
The results of the study raised questions among panelists about
the notion that residents of the Boston area have largely overcome
their racial prejudices.
“The kind of moral outrage when looking at these statistics
is not there,” said Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Executive Director Sheila Decter. “A lot of people do not
recognize that the job is not done.”
Audience members and panelists at last week’s discussion
emphasized that religious leaders should use their pulpits and
positions of influence to create more awareness of the ongoing
problem of racism in society.
“There is a lot of Roman Catholic teaching that talks about
the evil of racism, but we don’t talk about it that much,”
said Roxbury resident Janice Jackson, who was raised Catholic.
Other speakers suggested that residents create forums for racial
dialogue in their neighborhoods. Panelists included Dickerson,
Decter, Imam Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American
Society, Rev. George Welles of the Church of Our Saviour Episcopal
in Milton and Catholic Archbishop of Boston Seán O’Malley.
Back
to Lead Story Archives
Home
Page