Paying Attention!Click
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We Have Plenty to
Celebrate This Holiday Season
published 12/14/01
While we all tend to focus
on what needs to be fixed, what is wrong with the
community or the world and lament at our own misfortunes
there is much to celebrate this holiday season.
Despite those who are constantly crying about the
tensions between races in the Merrimack Valley we have
come a long way in a very short period of time. It took
most immigrant groups a hundred years or more to gain the
acceptance of native born Americans in the work force or
at the ballot box. Immigrants who have come here in the
last 20 years have gained a much greater acceptance than
any other group in a much shorter period of time.
I was reminded of this while giving a deposition to the
Department of Justice last week in this silly law suit
about how our charter is discriminatory in Lawrence. In
1985 it was almost impossible for an Hispanic candidate
to win an election in the city, much less top the ticket
in all white neighborhoods. Racism and resentment between
both communities were very high and there was a level of
distrust that seemed unconquerable.
This year, only sixteen short years later, there is a
much greater understanding and a cooperative relationship
between Hispanics and Non Hispanics. Universally, Marcos
Devers has been hailed as a leader and gained the trust
of people in every neighborhood in the city. Devers
happens to be of Dominican descent yet topped the ticket
in most white neighborhoods. Not exactly something you
would expect from a community of racists.
Jose Santiago has been elected twice as a state
representative with the help of many non Hispanics. White
people such as myself and Nunzio DiMarca have served on
the Hispanic Week board of directors and we have both
enjoyed a mostly positive relationship with people of all
races in the city.
While there is still racial tension in some small
political circles, Lawrence enjoyed a great year of
ethnic festivals where people of all ethnicities gathered
to celebrate various cultures. There was no violence.
There was no hint of hatred or resentment between anyone.
Hundreds of thousands of people came from all over the
state to our city and saw how we work together. Other
cities like Cleveland and Los Angeles see a rise in
violence when minorities feel like they have been
discriminated against. Here in Lawrence (Haverhill and
Lowell included) minorities take part in the American
process by airing their grievances at public meetings and
sitting down with community leaders to solve the problem
and work out our differences.
Businesses like Gem Group take advantage of programs from
Northern Essex Community College to teach their immigrant
workers how to speak English while they are on company
time. They recognize the value of Lawrence’s
immigrant population as a work force and are willing to
help them become better citizens and better workers.
During this holiday season people of every different
nationality have come together to help the victims of the
September 11th attacks, the homeless, the poor and the
disadvantaged. For all the whining and complaining that
occurs about race relations and the differences between
people in our community, I would say Lawrence and the
surrounding cities are doing very well. We still have a
long way to go before we achieve the ideal (and let me
say things will never be perfect) but I see a great many
positive relationships being enjoyed all over the
Merrimack Valley that never would have been possible a
mere 16 years ago.
There are still racists among every ethnicity. There are
still closed minded people with various prejudices in
every corner of our neighborhoods. But those who hold
feelings of animosity towards others based on race,
religion or even sexual preference are now the exception,
not the rule. We have come to a point of acceptance on a
level never reached before in the history of the nation.
Lets not lose site of that as we approach the new year.
Let’s shine some light on the progress we have made
and truly celebrate how far we have come without losing
site of the progress yet to come.