Gastón, Trotter, and Asian American Institutes Mobilize New Majority Conference

By Thijs Messelaar

Minorities have become the majority in Massachusetts.

According to the Census 2000, Boston's constituents are mainly people of color. This vast "minority" population, however, remains relegated to the margins of the city's political, economic, and social structures.

But three UMass Boston leaders have accepted the call to help consolidate Boston's minority leaders against this glaring disparity.

At the request of city councilors Chuck Turner, Felix Arroyo, Charles Yancey, and others, Andrés Torres of the Gastón Institute, Paul Watanabe of the Institute for Asian American Studies, and Castellano Turner of the Trotter Institute hosted a daylong initiative, The New Majority Conference, October 18.

The conference represents a launching pad for a movement against the under representation of Boston's communities of color, as well as a way to begin uniting these communities.

"We accepted this role as the facilitators of this initiative, as it's consistent with our mission -- the inclusion of all communities," Watanabe said. "We have been perceived within the city as the first place to go for this sort of thing."

According to Watanabe, UMass Boston is the only campus in the city that has ethnic research institutes specifically interested in Boston.

"The three of us were approached by community politicians to establish a forum where different constituencies could come together regarding Boston's changing demographics," said Torres.

"People sent us notes along with their conference registration money saying they've been waiting years for this," Watanabe added.

While the upcoming Democratic convention next summer was not the sole impetus for increased organization among Boston's communities of color, it has been a catalyst. The Boston officials' claim of the city's racial diversity was used as a major selling point to the Democratic Party when it came time to secure a convention site.

The three expressed disgust for what they see as the "same old" political pandering tactics.

"All the [racial diversity] hubbub surrounding the convention is so ironic, because for a major U.S city we are still so incredibly segregated," said Torres.

So how will the New Majority Conference work to breakdown the so-called color wall?

Morning discussion groups covered issues from civil rights to community development and after lunch attendees broke into strategy sessions to consider their steps to action.

This conference serves as an attempt to stop the usual fractured relations between various ethnic groups, Turner said. In the year leading up to the conference, separately each community group spent months refining their priorities.

"It was gratifying--and hopeful--that when the lists were put down, they had articulated very similar ideas," said Turner. "All we are helping to do now is provide the context for them to come together."

"It respects them to bring them all together," said Watanabe. "What a resource they all can be, so I hope that we all listen to them, that they will listen to each other. This has the potential to be very powerful."

Torres, Watanabe, and Turner all admit to being uncertain about exactly how the work done at the conference will translate in the long term. But they know what it could mean for the near future.

"Some possible outcomes that people want to see include the realignment of city councils, redistricting, and some kind of change in the accepted democratic institutions," said Turner.

"The institutes will document this initiative, analyze, and interpret the work that comes out of the conference," said Torres. "This could trigger some process towards a transformation."

Support for this initiative has been provided in part by grants from United Way of Massachusetts Bay and the Foley Hoag Foundation.

Image: Andrés Torres, director of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, Paul Watanabe, codirector of the Institute for Asian American Studies, and Castellano Turner, interim director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture, spearheaded October 15's New Majority Conference. (Photo by Harry Brett)

Go to menu