Census 2000 revealed that people of color now comprise a majority of the population in the city of Boston. What the data cannot tell us is how communities can work together at this historic moment to recreate our social and political institutions, cultural and economic life in order to reflect this diversity. The purpose of the New Majority conference is to identify a common agenda for Boston's communities of color and begin to develop strategies and sustainable structures to promote and build upon that agenda. We hope that this working conference may serve as a unifying call to action for individuals and organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to change.
The New Majority is not a monolithic group. The New Majority communities are diverse, comprising populations whose countries of origin are spread geographically across many regions of the world. Many racial, ethnic, and cultural differences exist among these groups, as well as differences in political outlook and life experience.
We need to build coalitions based on shared practical goals and needs. Our coalitions need to recognize where we come from as distinctive communities with our own histories, where we are going, and what we are specifically trying to accomplish. If we coalesce to accomplish specific goals for improving our communities, we will be better able to accomplish our aims.
We need to build unity that values and recognizes differences among New Majority communities, especially differences in migration history, race, ethnicity, country of origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, and social class. While this diversity enhances the richness of New Majority communities, absent mutual understanding it can also create social prejudices, schisms and divisions.
United, we seek to:
Toward this end, we seek to establish ongoing mechanisms for cross-racial/ethnic collaboration on a broad spectrum of issues; define and adopt a decision-making process for a New Majority unified agenda; and identify a basis for respectful disagreement on issues about which there is no consensus. Broad issue areas for discussion will include: