ONE IF IT’S A CHINA WOMAN, TWO IF IT’S A POLISH ARAB WOMAN [Sat, 9-18-21]

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter

That’s the way the anti-immigrant people will have to signal Paul Revere this time around. In the race for mayor of Boston, it’s two immigrants, women yet, who are the last candidates left. Michelle Wu’s parents immigrated from Taiwan, and Annissa Essabiai George is a “first generation Arab Polish American.”

It would not be strange to have two members of the city council running against each other for mayor, but a China woman and a Polish Arab are already members of the council? And they’re women! How did that happen?

I can remember when Tom Atkins was trying to be the first Boston city council member of color [black in his case], and he had the advantage, at least, of being a man.

Of course, it’s possible that even today, a Chinese woman and a Polish Arab woman might not be as scary to white voters as an extremely smart black man.

If you have read this column for very long, you have already heard about Tom, but let me review…

He came to Indiana University on the Residence Scholarship Plan, from Elkhart, so we were dorm mates. His father was a Pentecostal minister and his mother was a maid. He became the first black student body president of his high school, and the first black student body president at a Big 10 University. He went to Harvard for law school, and was the first black to run for city council. The white folks of Boston were not pleased, to say the least.

I was beginning doctoral work at Boston University School of Theology during his run. One night, Helen and I got a babysitter for our pre-school daughters and had supper with Tom and Sharon, who, to complicate matters a bit more, was white. I knew her, too, for we were history majors at IU, and so were in many classes together. After supper, Tom said, “I have to go to a voter rally, but Helen and Sharon can chat while you go to the rally with me, John.”

It wasn’t exactly a rally. It was a meeting of the radical black power guys of Boston. They were not sure they wanted to back Tom because he might just be an “Uncle” Tom. He had to convince them. Bringing a white guy to the meeting did not help his credentials. Didn’t help my heart, either. It was a tough venue for this redneck hillbilly liberal from Gibson County, “The Mississippi of the North,” in which to experience his first time as the only white guy!

I survived, and Tom got elected. Now there is a Thomas I. Atkins Living Learning Center at IU. I assume there will soon be a Michelle Wu or Annissa George LLC at Harvard. Or perhaps not. Maybe voting for a China woman or a Polish Arab woman is just run-of-the-mill stuff for Boston folks now. If so, they owe it to Tom Atkins.

John Robert McFarland

Yes, I know that “China woman” is antiquated and somewhat racist. That’s the way I mean it. It’s really hard to find something that matches the eye-popping level of “Polish Arab woman.”