Massachusetts is 17% Black & Latino: Legislature 95% White
Friday, September 28, 2012 at 03:20AM Do your state lawmakers look like you? For white men in Massachusetts, the answer usually is yes. Minorities and women are far less likely to find a familiar face on the floor of the House or Senate, even as the state becomes more diverse. Women comprise just over half the state’s population, but men outnumber them 3 to 1 on Beacon Hill. Combined, blacks and Latinos hold only 5 percent of the state’s 200 legislative seats, despite making up 6.6 percent and 9.6 percent of the population, respectively, in the 2010 Census. Asian-Americans are more than 5 percent of the state population, but there only are three lawmakers of Asian descent on Beacon Hill. Two are just completing their first terms.
When it comes to reflecting diversity, Massachusetts government falls short of its progressive image, said Paul Watanabe, a political science professor and director of the Institute of Asian American Studies at UMass-Boston.