The United States is a nation of immigrants. And so is the region of Greater Boston. We’ve gone through waves of being more and less open to immigration, but the effect across recent generations has been a steadily diversifying population. Not only is racial diversity increasing in the aggregate, but a growing number of families are forming across racial and ethnic lines. Today, for instance, one in five babies born in Massachusetts is of mixed race or Latino ethnicity. 

While it is a near certainty that our multiracial population will continue to grow, it remains to be seen whether all people regardless of background will be able to fully participate in, shape, and lead social and economic institutions that have traditionally been White-dominated. These demographic trends help blur the hard lines that enable racism, but many experience change as loss and view the world in zero-sum terms, even when that is irrational. Indeed, in recent years there’s been a resurgence of political movements worldwide that reflect a fear-driven backlash to changing racial demographics.

Please join us to discuss these trends through the release of a new Boston Indicators report. 

Agenda

Welcome
M. Lee Pelton, President & CEO, The Boston Foundation

Presentation of Report
Trevor Mattos, Senior Research Manager, Boston Indicators

Responses and Discussion
Rachael Rollins, District Attorney, Suffolk County, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Zebulon Miletsky, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, Stony Brook University
Peter Kiang, Professor & Director of Asian American Studies Program, UMass Boston
Luc Schuster, Senior Director, Boston Indicators (Moderator)

Audience Q&A