PAYING ATTENTION!
by Tom Duggan

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The Racism Behind District School Committees
(Published 7/01/99)

For years Lawrence has seen many immigrant groups flock to what we half heartedly call the immigrant city. Italian, German, French and yes even Irish immigrants were once the new kids on the block. Even they were resented by the populations which came before them. Each of those groups were treated unfairly and discriminated against. Each of those groups were forced into the low income, low class neighborhoods because they were poor foreigners, with foreign cultures and foreign languages. They were people who had not earned positions of power simply because they had no history and little information about our way of life.

As the years progressed each of these groups became Americans. Most worked hard to learn English and become part of AMERICAN culture. Only after overcoming poverty, cultural, and language differences did those minorities gradually became policemen, business owners, city councilors and yes, even Mayors, and State Representatives. But it didn’t happen over night. And it certainly did not happen by the federal government bullying local officials into changing the city charter for people who had not yet paid their dues. It was done with hard work, determination, and proving to the rest of the citizens that they were ready to handle the awesome responsibility that comes with elected office.

Today we have a large Hispanic population in Lawrence making those very same accomplishments. We have seen a rise in Hispanic business owners and community activists who are truly interested in being Americans and Lawrencians, not just seasonal visitors. We have even seen a rise in Hispanic politicians. As these citizens in the community make their presence felt they are climbing the ladder of success like every other group before them.

What is most disturbing to me is that now, the federal government is stepping in to force our City Charter to accommodate, perhaps even cater to minorities in city elections. Their claim is that the charter is “designed” by whites to exclude minorities from elected office, thereby denying their civil rights. The government’s “stated” goal is to make it easier for Hispanics to achieve positions of political power in Lawrence, and that is a tragedy.

At a time when Hispanics are achieving political power on their own and maturing as American citizens, the federal government is here to say, “STOP! You in the Hispanic community can’t do this on your own as every other group was allowed to do. We (big brother) are going to be your savior! You are not smart enough, hard working enough, or caring enough to climb the ladder on your own. So now we are going to do it for you.” This is interference by the fed in alocal city government and it should be challenged to the Supreme Court if necessary. But the fed knows we won’t take on that fight so they win, because our leaders throw up their hands and give in.

The federal solution is to blackmail city officials to change the charter and elect school committee members by district. This is suppose to ensure that Hispanics will capture more seats on the school committee by drawing districts in large Hispanic neighborhoods. So what the federal government is really saying is that Hispanics vote only for Hispanic candidates and now that the seats are elected by district, more Hispanics will be elected. Is anyone paying attention here?

I always thought that lumping people together based on ethnicity was racism and that the government was suppose to fight such racism? I also thought that the supreme court outlawed gerrymandering districts based on race unless there was proven past practice of overt racism denying specific groups of people civil rights. No one here has been denied the right to vote. No Hispanic has been denied the right to run for office in Lawrence as long as they are a U.S. citizen.

Even if every Hispanic person in Lawrence voted tomorrow (70% of the population) there is still no guarantee that Hispanics would be elected to public office. But what do I know? I only served in elected office for 2 years and participated in every city election since 1985. The outsiders must know more than I do, because your local officials are not even willing to fight them on your behalf. The City Council unanimously voted to bow down and change the charter to make the Feds happy. Not one of them had the courage to stand up for you and fight for the very basic principal that local people know what is best for local people. The Fed should worry more about drugs and illegal aliens coming onto the country than forcing their liberal philosophies on poor communities that can’t defend themselves. The Fed doesn’t even know our election history and they are telling us what to do? Well in case someone from the fed bothers to read this column here are some things to consider while you are systematically invading our right to local control.

When School Committeeman Ralph Carrero sought the nomination for mayor in 1997 he was defeated in almost every Hispanic neighborhood in the city by an anglo named Kevin Geary. Some said it was because Carrero constantly flip flopped on issues like bilingual education and the firing of Superintendent Jim Scully. Others claimed that Geary just worked harder to get out his message. But the reasons for Carrero’s crushing defeat is unimportant. The fact is, Ralph Carrero was a School board member who had previously won a city wide election defeating anglo candidates in anglo neighborhoods. This was eight full years before the federal government said that your city charter denied Hispanics access to elected government. And then Mr. Carrero himself was the victim of crossover voting in Hispanic DISTRICTS by members of his own race who supported anglo Kevin Geary over him for mayor.

Mr. Carrero’s accomplishments and failures in Lawrence prove two very important points. First, Hispanics ( and aglos) do not, and have not voted simply based on race as the liberal elitists in government want everyone to think. Second, Hispanics can and have risen to positions of political power based on issues and abilities without the meddling hand of the federal government.

Even State Representative Jose Santiago himself stated on the night of his victory ( over anglo Paul Iannuccillo) that his strong support in the Hispanic community was not enough to put him over the top and that the support of the anglo community was crucial to his success.

How can that be? Evil, racist anglos who supposedly “designed” an entire city charter to keep out Hispanics, now voting for a Hispanic to represent them in the state house? Obviously our officials at the federal level were not paying attention to Ralph Carrero and Jose Santiago. They certainly were not paying attention to City Council candidate Marcos Devers who was defeated, but came in forth out of eight candidates, beating out three other anglos in a city wide election. And Let’s not forget the election of Pauline Brown in District C who defeated Hispanic candidates twice in the largest Hispanic district in the city.

There are many reasons why school board member should not be elected by district. One of them is the fact that we do not have neighborhood schools. Students who live in south Lawrence go to schools in North Lawrence and vice versa. With a history of school boards in Lawrence who constantly pass the buck and do not get involved. ( see last weeks column) it is easy to see a debate over who should HAVE TO help a parent who votes in one committee
member’s district but whose child ( or even children) goes to school in someone else’s. The reason why we have city wide members on the school board is to give you the best possible representation if one or more of the members (who might live in your district) are apathetic and do not get involved. Which is often the case. This coupled with the fact that some districts have only one or two schools and other districts have eight or nine, it is easy to see the lack of sanity in what is being forced down your throat.

Let’s remember, at the time this law suit was filed every single district in Lawrence was already being represented on the School Committee. Mayor Kennedy lived on the border of districts A and B, (East Haverhill Street). John Housianitis lived in district C (Fairmont Street). Ralph Carrero and Carol Bannon lived in District D ( Tower Hill) . Betty Lacharite lived in Mount Vernon (District E) and Jim Sweeney and Tom Duggan both lived in District F. After considering this and the real history of Lawrence elections, one has to wonder why the heavy hand of government is interfering with the workings of a local city charter.

Whatever the real reasons are, Mayor Dowling and the Council have an obligation to fight these federal bullies because it is bad for the city. It is based on false pretenses and it certainly does not serve the people of Lawrence to have an even more divided school committee than we already have. Sadly enough the City Council cried and whined about how awful this proposal was, yet not one of them voted against it because they said it would cost too much money to fight. Well, excuse me for saying so, but I always thought it was more important to stand up fight for justice no matter what the cost. Sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to maintain your principals and defend the rights of others. Just imagine if President Lincoln had adopted this philosophy and said the price of fighting the civil war was too high, so we should let slavery stand to save the union? Unfortunately for you, today’s politicians do think about honor and principal. The mayor and council don’t think your rights are important enough to stand up for and make a sacrifice.

And the majority of those promoting this idea are Hispanics who hope to benefit by rising to power in their ethnic neighborhoods and gaining political office. They must agree with the racist federal government that Hispanics will vote for them because they are Hispanic, and they can not get a fair shot in the anglo community. The fact is, Hispanic INDIVIDUALS do not all vote the same. Hispanics are not all of one mind or one philosophy. As individuals, people who happen to be of Hispanic ( or anglo) origin vote for the person if they believe that the individual candidate will serve them well. Just ask Pauline Brown, Jose Santiago, or Ralph Carrero. It’s just too bad nobody in the government bothered to do that. Because it is clear that the federal government would have seen that major flaw in their assessment of the situation had they simply bothered to do their homework, and pay attention.