- Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, held a holiday party for ‘electeds of color’
- Wu’s office mistakenly sent the invitation to all 13 members of the city council, and then had to retract the invites sent to white people
- Wu defended the gathering and was all smiles outside the event
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was all smiles as she was joined by other city and state leaders at a ‘no whites’ holiday reception Wednesday evening.
‘I’m proud to host many many of these across all different types of collations,’ Wu said outside of the controversial event.
The segregated holiday party for ‘electeds of color’ has been held for years in Boston, but garnered scrutiny this year after an email invitation was sent to all 13 members of the city council, only for them to be rescinded from the seven white councilors 15 minutes later.
Wu was seen on Wednesday night arriving at Parkman House – the city-owned Beacon Hill property where the party was held – with Russell Holmes, a Massachusetts state representative.
Caterers were seen bringing in trays of food for the guests, and around a dozen people were seen by DailyMail.com arriving at 5:30pm. The party was over within two hours.
Outside the venue, Wu and Holmes defended the ‘no whites’ event and said there are countless examples of representative groups based on race, with both citing the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, DC, as an example.
Wu said the event allows representatives to build collations and represent communities. She added the holiday season is a great time together.
She again defended the email scandal saying that many have experienced the embarrassment of sending an email by mistake.
There are many gatherings across Boston based on different representative groups, Wu said, adding that ‘everyone’ has gotten invitations to multiple similar events.
The Boston Herald reported there were seven white council members, who were not invited – and six people of color who were.
‘This is a group that has been in place for many, many years,’ Wu, the first Asian American mayor of Boston, said earlier in the day. ‘We celebrate all kinds of connection and identity and culture and heritage in the city.
‘Just yesterday we hosted our official City Hall Hanukkah lighting.
‘We have had tree lightings, and we want to be a city where everyone’s identity is embraced, and that there are spaces and communities we can help support.’
She said the invitation to white people was ‘an honest mistake’, refusing to accept that dividing people by race could be offensive.
‘I think we’ve all been in the position at one point where an email went out and there was a mistake in the recipients,’ she said.
‘So there was truly just an honest mistake.
‘There are multiple ways that we celebrate with everyone. There are several parties where all the entire city council and all of our elected colleagues have been invited to.’
The 38-year-old daughter of Taiwanese immigrants said she and her team had ‘had individual conversations with everyone, so people understand that it was truly just an honest mistake that went out in typing the email field.’
She added: ‘And I look forward to celebrating with everyone at the holiday parties that we will have beside this one as well.
‘And it is my intention that we can again be a city that lives our values and creates space for all kinds of communities to come together.’
Wu’s invitation for Wednesday’s party was sent out to all councilors in error by her aide, Denise DosSantos.
DosSantos followed up the email 15 minutes later apologizing for the invite, clarifying it was only meant for the city’s councilors of color.
‘I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding a Holiday Party for tomorrow,’ DosSantos, a black woman, wrote.
‘I did send that to everyone by accident, and I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.’
There was no apology for actually planning to host a racially segregated party.
Wu was elected Mayor of Boston in November 2021, becoming the city’s first female and first Asian American mayor.
Michael McCormack, an attorney and former five-term Boston city councilor, said Wu’s hosting an exclusive party is not typical of her office, and argued former mayors Tom Menino and Ray Flynn would have invited the entire chamber.
‘The problem is that Boston and race, unfortunately, are synonymous,’ McCormack said.
‘I’m just hoping it was a mistake. It’s not something that anyone in the mayor’s office should be proud of.’
However, Wu’s spokesman Ricardo Patron said on Wednesday the mayor was asked to host the annual party by the Electeds of Color group, and the host and location changes each year.
Patron said the party was just one of a number that were happening over the festive season, and Wu was planning a larger holiday party next week for all her cabinet members, city councilors and the entire legislature.
Some of those disinvited from the party because they were white shrugged it off, while others said it was a sad state of affairs.
‘We stopped getting to know each other, and we started attacking each other,’ said Frank Baker, who is white.
He said it was part of ‘the wake’ of the pandemic, and a failure to ‘connect at the heart.’
‘I find it unfortunate that with the temperature the way it is, that we would further that division,’ Baker said, adding: ‘I don’t really get offended too easily.
‘To offend me, you’re going to have to do much more than not invite me to a party.’
Others defended the move, with black city councilor Brian Worrell saying the holiday party was an example of Boston’s government reflecting ‘all kinds of specific groups.’
‘We make space and spaces for all kinds of specific groups in the city and city government,’ Worrell told the Boston Herald.
‘This is no different, and the Elected Officials of Color has been around for more than a decade.’
Worrell also reportedly said DosSantos has a good working relationship with the city council and he didn’t take offense to the way the incident unfolded.
‘As she said in her follow-up email, she meant no ill will,’ he said.
Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, in an email to DosSantos and Wu’s team, said the email invite ‘should not offend anyone and there is absolutely no confusion.’
Feeling there were ‘no need for apologies at all’, Fernandes Anderson said: ‘Just like there are groups that meet based on shared interests or cultural backgrounds, it’s completely natural for elected officials of color to gather for a holiday celebration.’
She continued: ‘Many groups celebrate and come together in various ways, and it’s not about excluding anyone.
‘Instead, it’s about creating spaces for like-minded individuals to connect and support each other.’
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
