The city--affectionately dubbed the "People's Republic of Cambridge" by residents proud of their progressive politics--may seem an unlikely breeding ground for municipal discrimination. Zucker, however, suggests that the city's liberal image may have allowed a pattern of racism to go undetected.

"[T]here's a cultural disconnect. People think that [Cambridge] is a progressive town, but the progressive veneer has allowed a lot of inappropriate things to go on unnoticed," Zucker says. "Black folks who've lived in this town are not surprised that discrimination occurs. And the white liberals shouldn't be either."

Although MCAD associate director John Ahearn says he is not aware of a higher percentage of discrimination complaints coming from Cambridge than from other Commonwealth communities, city officials say there are some informal indicators of discontent.

"In general we could do a better job of diversifying the color of the faces at City Hall," admits City Councilor Katherine Triantafillou, adding that minority job fairs and diversity training would be a move in the right direction.

Few allege that the city is remiss in the hiring of minorities, suggesting that the real problem lies in creating an environment in which minority employees can thrive.

The municipal government is the city's largest employer, providing jobs for 10 percent of the Cambridge labor market, and many city officials admit that addressing diversity hiring and workplace atmosphere must be a priority.

The city's municipal workforce is 25 percent minority, nearly identical to the city's overall rate of 24.7 percent and significantly higher than Greater Boston's 13.9 percent. In addition, the city has met its goals in nearly all employment sectors. Administration, however, remains 3 points below the target rate of 16.3 percent.

Nelson Salazar, director of Concilio Hispano Cambridge, a non-governmental organization funded by a combination of state funds and private foundations, offered criticism of hiring practices in city government.

"The positions they've been hiring...minorities is for maintenance positions," Salazar says. "There's not much from the managerial perspective. Affirmative action has provided access for white women to top-level positions but done little for racial minorities."

But hiring underrepresented groups is only half the battle. Room for improvement, say some city officials, lies in retention of the minority employees once they're hired.

"The problem is, are they staying and are they being promoted to higher positions?" Triantafillou asks.

Last month's consolidated complaint indicates that some employees, at least, believe that mission has not been fulfilled.

The substance of last month's consolidated complaint is an alleged pattern of long-term workplace discrimination including imposing standards not imposed on white colleagues and denials of the autonomy, support and respect necessary to fulfill their positions.

Wong says she was "effectively demoted" whenasked to report to a more junior member of theCity Manager's office, then required to report tothree different white supervisors.

Meanwhile, her project--the North CambridgeCenter for Families--was denied further staffsupport.

In addition to the petty physical retaliationHampton says she suffered on the job, she says shereceived a surprising lack of support whendisciplining white employees and was monitoredmuch more excessively than were her whitecounterparts.

The City Manager