Published June 22, 2010

First, stop what you’re doing and read about the fascinating quest of Margaret Sullivan, a Boston police historian who discovered a tiny clue in an old book and wound up rewriting the city’s racial history.

His name was Horatio J. Homer. Sergeant Homer. He joined America’s oldest police force in 1878 and served with distinction for 40 years. He was buried in an unmarked grave and forgotten.

After reading Kevin Cullen’s column in the Globe today, I called Larry Ellison, the president of MAMLEO, the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers.

“I thought it was amazing,” Ellison told me. “I had no idea that any persons of color were on the force that far back.”

Until recently, the official record showed that Boston hired its first black cop in 1919, after the police strike. Not so.

Fast forward to 2010. The BPD’s ranks still aren’t nearly as diverse as city itself. Last August, Bianca Vazquez Toness reported on the department’s ambitious efforts to diversify. Despite the department’s progress, very few minorities make it to supervisory positions.

Of the most recent batch of 50 police sergeants, Ellison told me, one was black.

“I was very pleased that (Homer’s appointment) was that far back but also troubled by the fact the way things are going now. There won’t be many Sgt. Homers in the Boston Police Department,” Ellison said. “It’s just as hard to be promoted now as it was then.”

Of the 2,000 Boston cops, Ellison said, there is one captain of color. There are no female captains and no female lieutenants.

“What better way (to honor Homer) than to have a police force in 2010 reflective of progress?”

I have a request in to interview Commissioner Ed Davis, who has addressed this matter candidly before. Meanwhile, Ellison and MAMLEO are filing suit to challenge the antiquated sergeant’s test, which Ellison said favors cops who are good at studying for the test, not those most qualified to lead.