Three things stood out during five days and nights of visits last week to occupy Boston in Dewey Square – how peaceful things are, how committed the occupiers are, and how lily-white the place is.

 

 An Occupy Boston protestor
holds a sign

Hardly any people of color were seen taking part as embedded, boots-on-the ground participants, and none were seen giving speeches or up on stage entertaining. The same seems to be true for the occupiers in other states.

“I don’t know why they aren’t showing up,” said Lucy Walters, a college student who was in the information tent at Occupy Boston. “Many of them are certainly in the 99 percent we’ve all been talking about. They’re certainly welcome.” 

Obviously uncomfortable with the question about why so few people of color are there, Sarah Franks, a state employee who was in the media tent, looked around anxiously and then blurted out, “There’s one over there!” Jan Singleton, a graduate student, jumped in to say, “We need to work harder on outreach. We want everyone to come.”

Tony, an African-American who declined to give his last name, said, “I asked my friends to come with me, but they didn’t want to. They told me, ‘We’re not wanted there.’ So I came by myself.”

Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, offered to check out the Dewey Square encampment with CommonWealth in tow, which we did on a nice sunny day last Thursday.

“This looks monolithic to me,” he said. “The diversity is just not here. There is a cultural divide that leads to a disconnect. There is not a good cultural fit. Our influence is obviously not seen here.”

Ronald Richardson, associate professor of African-American Studies at Boston College, got down to brass tacks. “Unfortunately, the Occupy folks, as sincere and correct as they are about economics, have not grasped the continuing significance of race in America,” Richardson says. “The movement is largely a movement of white Americans who are upset about the economy. White Americans still ignore what they find uncomfortable. I suspect the Occupy people are at ease without the added problems of a lot of black folk mixed in. But meaningful change is not going to come about without us.”

Richardson adds: “There may also be a sense in which black people feel that popular protest would be an attack on Barack Obama. Perhaps they fear adding to his problems.”

People of color, though, have organized their own separate movement — Occupy the Hood. Locally, the first effort took place last Friday night in Dudley Square. Many white people showed up, and Occupy Boston has expressed support for Occupy the Hood.

But return visits by Commonwealth to Occupy Boston on both Saturday and Sunday revealed no rainbow.