More than a score of speakers pointed out to the Committee that the Negro in Boston is devoid of political power. For a variety of reason he has been effectively excluded by the "power structure" from the decision-making process. Vital decisions which affect his life are made, not only without his participation, but without his consultation.

The Reverend Gilbert H. Cald-Well, pastor of the Union Methodist Church, charged: "The city naively assumes that whatever is good for Boston is therefore good for the Negro. The Negro leadership has failed because the city has not been willing to take it seriously. The city has not listened.... Much of the energy being expended in Boston in the area of race relations seems to be concerned with devising ways in which to say that there is no problem.... Until the city recognizes the problems faced by its Negro citizens, and demonstrates a massive commitment to solve these problems, the Negro will have no faith in the political leadership."

Melvin King, director of the South End Settlement House, Youth Opportunity Center, pointed out: "The Negro has no representation on the School Committee or in the city government. The people who have been degraded and discriminated against are denied the opportunity to express their feelings about those people who have discriminated and degraded them."

Not only does the Negro community feel its powerless but it believes that it is ignored and that Whites make no effort to communicate with its members until there is a riot.

Boston Negroes who participated in the meeting said that public employees fail to show them respect and that public agencies fail to inform the Negro community of available municipal services.

Guido St. Lauriant of the Blue Hill Christian Center, Men's Division, said: "You hear people talk about the suburbs, but Roxbury is really a suburb because we are out of everything. We don't get any communication. The average man who really needs to know about MDTA [Manpower Development and Training Act] or some other program has no knowledge of it. The people are not aware of what the program is or who is administering it, or what it might mean to them. They advertise cigarettes. They can advertise these programs too."

Mrs. Gerturde Cuthbert of the Roxbury Multi-Service Center said: "If you do not hear complaints about the voluntary agencies, it does not mean that they are so wonderful and have such a high quality of service, as much as it means that these agencies are so scattered in the community that nobody realizes that they are here. These private agencies are run by boards of directors, and I wonder how may residents of Roxbury sit on these policy-making boards."

Conclusions

Employment

The overall picture of employment opportunities in the Roxbury-North Dorchester-South End areas of Boston was bleak and unencouraging. Because if the persistently high rate of unemployment and under-employment, several residents suggested that vigorous implementation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 dealing with equal employment opportunity might bring some relief to the chronically unemployed.

It was also suggested that patterns of discrimination rather than individual cases be attacked by the Federal and State enforcement agencies. Certainly, high unemployment among Negro male adults constitutes a serious danger in the Roxbury-South End areas. However well-intentioned the efforts of the State and Federal officials may be to end job discrimination, these efforts have not been sufficient to correct this condition.

The impression of the area residents is that officials of the Division of Employment Security of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the MDTA are not sufficiently aggressive or resourceful in finding employment or training opportunities for Negroes.

However, self-help programs, such as the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) in Roxbury, may improve the economic lotof many in this area.

Housing

The majority of residents in the Roxbury-South End areas are tenants. Participants told of the poor condition of housing and the exhorbitant rent which many tenants must pay. In addition, the Committee heard charges the Negro families are uprooted because of urban renewal; that racial discrimination against those who seek housing is scarce, especially for large families; and that public housing continues to be segregated.