UMN to Latinos: "Thanks For Voting Obama"

I had the best flan that I’ve ever had last night. It had two distinct layers – one thick and creamy and another light and eggy – with a miraculous caramel swirl on top. Let’s hope the Union of Minority Neighborhoods (UMN) has more receptions in the near future; I can go for freshly smashed guacamole and accompanying sweets more often.

Of course, there won’t be too many occasions like this. The UMN threw the informal cocktail party “to thank the Latino community for its overwhelming support of Barack Obama.” That’s right; for those who are unfamiliar with the urban sociopolitical landscape, subgroups of cyclically oppressed non-white folks are historically unwilling to unite for the common good.

Due to stubborn religious intolerance and the Cuban Missile Crisis, many Latinos regularly vote Republican – an abhorrent trend that it looks like Obama might have dented. Without pandering or condescending (like I will), UMN Executive Director Horace Small simply wanted to thank other minorities who pulled for his guy. “Your schools suck, and so do ours,” reminded Small.

Though people weren’t shy to crack Heinekens and enjoy themselves, this was no celebratory gloat session. With Question 1 denied and Obama in the White House, UMN workers are already hard at work on issues such as CORI reform that rode the bench during election season. Also be on the lookout for more blacks and Latinos running for public office across Massachusetts; local NAACP organizer Michael A. Curry is plotting a statewide recruitment drive.   

The most popular person in the room was state senator-elect Sonia Chang-Diaz. Following a regrettable race in which some of her opponent’s allies questioned her ethnicity and in some cases even rejected her after their candidate was bagged by FBI officers, the Second Suffolk’s legislative rookie is understandably anxious to forge ties with groups that set minority agendas. 

It’s no secret that Chang-Diaz has a boulder-riddled road ahead, and her constituents are up front about demands. That said; considering the sentiments of both those who did and those who did not support her against Dianne Wilkerson, there won’t be hard feelings so long as Chang-Diaz fights for communities that are regrettably underrepresented at the Statehouse.

Make no mistake: a lot of white people – both those who are ruthlessly bigoted and those who just don’t like their daughters dating black and Latin dudes – will do everything they can to prevent minority power structures from blossoming. But if more people of color are given the opportunity to bond over delectably toothsome homemade flan, then I’m certain that they can upset racist agendas and unbalanced Caucasian dominance on Beacon Hill and beyond.