Hope and a diverse nation
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IN AMERICA, presidential elections are the ultimate act of community. Millions vote, and, though the contest is usually close, the winner is embraced as everyone's president.
Barack Obama's victory says a great deal that is good about the nation, about its optimism and its readiness to grow. Not least, it says something positive about race relations in America.
According to CNN exit polls, of those who said race was a significant factor in their voting decision, the support for Obama and John McCain closely mirrored the overall national totals - fully as many voters apparently liked the idea of electing the nation's first black president as disliked it. More telling, in the long run, is that the number was low - age was cited as a significant factor by more than twice as many voters as race.
Still, the election has put race more profoundly - and more hopefully - in the forefront of American consciousness than at any time since 1968. Frank talk about the economic and social value of diversity and inclusion, both domestically and in the globalized economy, helped propel Obama's candidacy.
But as we have found in Massachusetts, the elevation of an African-American to the highest political office provides an opportunity for progress - a culture and a tone - but solves little by itself.
Education gaps, health outcomes, hate crimes, unemployment rates, crime and incarceration statistics, foreclosure rates and housing discrimination have not resolved themselves in Massachusetts overnight. Progress in these areas will probably continue to be slow unless the community rises up with a determination to act as a community. An elected leader and a handful of committed activists can help, but significant progress will rely on broad sectors of the population rallying to take advantage of the opportunity.
In Massachusetts, efforts such as the leadership training program The Partnership, the Latino advocacy group ¿Oiste?, and the diversity initiative Commonwealth Compact have made a start at doing just that: leveraging the actions of organizations across the state to achieve substantial progress in making this a destination of choice for people of color. Some 100 organizations have just filed reports detailing their diversity with the Compact, including large employers such as
This is important but difficult work. Governor Patrick has improved matters. He remarked on the diversity at his inaugural ball, said, "get used to it," and then made good, appointing racial minorities to 19 percent of top positions - three times the rate of Governor Mitt Romney. But the state still has difficulty attracting talent it desperately needs - the economy depends on brains, after all - because too many people of color believe our reputation as being inhospitable. Just ask the Convention Center Authority how difficult it is to get predominantly black and Latino groups to gather here. Ask the city why some African-American delegates balked at bringing the Democratic National Convention here in 2004. Ask Harvard Medical School why it has such difficulty preventing many of its minority students from decamping once they graduate.
Last month a group of hospital CEOs and officials from local health organizations explored the idea of coordinating - rather than competing - to recruit top talent of color. This is a strong start. The healthcare community includes large individual players, but its clout would be multiplied if it could act as a community.
The first words from Obama on election night stressed the need to retain and build community on many fronts. America's ideals, he said, are "democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope."
The campaign book used a different phrase: "The Audacity of Hope." Where audacious hope may excite a campaign, a president and a nation may indeed be better served by a hope that can last, that can sustain disappointment and persevere, that gains strength through numbers, and that will never yield to petty cynicisms or setbacks.
In Massachusetts, real progress toward a welcoming environment for diversity - one that enriches the state economically as well as socially - will rely on a community determined to take advantage of the moment, a lot of hard work, and, yes, unyielding hope.
Steve Crosby is dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at UMass Boston. Robert L. Turner is director of the Commonwealth Compact. 
