They came by the thousands to praise Kevin White, to mourn him, to bid him farewell. But the flood of stories, tears, and laughter has been about something much bigger than the former mayor, as huge a figure as he was.
It has also been about Boston’s transformation, one White alone could not have authored - or would ever have claimed to. His time was about more than big buildings and Tall Ships. It was also about immense possibility, and long-closed doors opening, even if just a crack.
During his tenure, Boston became a city in which many who had felt marginal before began to see themselves. For Juan Lopez, standing in a long line of mourners waiting to pay their respects on Beacon Hill Tuesday afternoon, that was White’s great gift.
Lopez, like many immigrants who fled Cuba in the late 1960s, arrived here with a quasi-religious devotion to democracy. He had hoped to find a way into public service, but worried there wouldn’t be a spot in government for a Latino.
White made it clear there would be: Micho Fernandez, now Micho Spring, was one of his top aides. As the Latino population in Boston grew, White supported the neighborhood festivals that gave the community strength. He appointed a Hispanic liaison. In 1977, Lopez got his first job out of high school at the Jamaica Plain-Mission Hill Little City Hall. He eventually became a Hispanic liaison for White’s successor, Ray Flynn.
These seem like small things now. Back then, they were huge.
“It was the first time you saw Latinos out there,’’ Lopez said. “The energy he brought in was very exciting. People felt respected and included, and that is what this country means to me.’’
Of course, White did not come up with the idea that government should reflect all of the people it represents. It was in the air during the tumultuous ’60s and ’70s. Everywhere, old ways were being set - or forced - aside.
White wasn’t instrumental in - or even equal to - all of it. But despite his faults and missteps, he rode the waves of change, particularly early in his tenure. It was a remarkable choice for someone who sprang from the Irish-American political tradition that had had a lock on the city for so long.
“The energy was global,’’ Lopez said. “It was all about what the world needs to be, respect for differences. But he was a catalyst.’’
White’s City Hall was one to which many people felt attached back then, Lopez said, and not just because local politics was the biggest game in town.