In her brief opening remarks, university President Janet L. Steinmayer greeted the panel and, lauding their bona fides, said she “can’t help but be optimistic about our future,” while still acknowledging that the economic, political and health crises of the day disproportionately affect communities of color.
That’s why, she added, it’s crucial for people to get involved and vote.
“Whatever the outcome, I hope that all of you — especially Lesley students — will commit to remaining civically engaged.”
All the panelists expressed that same essential sentiment, with Mayor Siddiqui saying that, despite gains by people of color, there’s “still so much work to do.”
“We must not stay away from the constant and deliberate work to remove the stain (of racism) from our lives, especially for Black and Brown Americans,” Siddiqui said.
Crawford agreed that, despite reason for optimism, the struggle continues.
“Here we are again, fighting for the same thing we have been fighting for forever,” Crawford said, explaining that the Voting Rights Act of 1964 was a huge step forward, “but then we stopped.”
“Right now is the opportunity for us to make some real, real change,” she said.
Janey agreed, saying, “I’m reminded of the work that’s not done, but I’m also reminded that this a 400 year history.”
Her opinion was echoed by Sena, who said, “People of color have had a disadvantage for many years, as we know … on all levels, social injustice exists.”
A time of crisis
Gwann asked the panelists to weigh in on the situation faced by people of color in the midst of the COVID-19 panic, and the accompanying economic stress often compared to the Great Depression.
Janey responded, “For Black folks, things have been bad, have already been bad.”
She spoke about her grandfather telling her he subsisted on butter sandwiches every day during the Depression, but the economic hardships didn’t end with the New Deal. Disparities in wealth, health, criminal justice and other areas of life persist, and she believes working within the system is the best way of changing the system.
“We have to move forward legislation that undoes some of the harm done” since the nation’s founding. “We’ve got to come up with legislation that addresses structural racism.”
Siddiqui responded to the Boston city councilor, “We knew the pandemic would exacerbate both our cities’ issues,” and talked about how some disparities, such as laptop computers and Wi-Fi for public school students, were addressed only after the pandemic struck, even though the state had the resources to close the “digital divide” much sooner.