Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's office reportedly mistakenly sent an email invite Tuesday to white officials on City Council for an event intended exclusively for "electeds of color," a.k.a. non-white representatives. The event coordinator in the Wu administration, who had made the mistake, has since clarified that the inclusion of City Hall's white councilors was an "accident."
In the email, the mayor's director of City Council relations Denise DosSantos told the body's "honorable members" that, "on behalf of" Wu, she was cordially inviting each of them and a guest to the annual "Electeds of Color" holiday party on Wednesday evening at the historic Parkman House, which is slightly west of the Massachusetts State House, the commonwealth's Capitol building, on Beacon Hill. The legislative body is comprised of seven white City Council members and six "councilors of color."
Imagine the Mayor of a major #American city hosting a Holiday Party where colleagues are excluded solely because of their race. The antebellum south perhaps? Nope. Michelle Wu's Boston in 2023 pic.twitter.com/VXJ3D5oDDN
— Edward Coyle (@SirEdwardCoyle) December 13, 2023
However, about 15 minutes later, the mayoral administrator emailed again in a follow-up announcement apologizing for the previous message, which wasn't meant for all recipients, according to The Boston Herald. "I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding a Holiday Party for tomorrow," DosSantos, a Cape Verdean 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."
City Councilor Brian Worrell, who is black, defended the invite, arguing that the exclusive get-together exemplifies representation of "all kinds of specific groups" in city government. "We make space and spaces for all kinds of specific groups in the city and city government," Worrell, who was vying for the Council presidency before tentatively agreeing to assume the vice-president position next term, said in a press statement to The Herald. "This is no different, and the Elected Officials of Color has been around for more than a decade." Speaking defensively of the city employee who had bungled the email invitation, Worrell stated: "Denise has a strong working relationship with the Council and our office. As she said in her follow-up email, she meant no ill will."
In an email addressed to DosSantos and her colleagues, City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, an African immigrant and Muslim-American, asserted that there is "no need for apologies at all." Fernandes Anderson told DosSantos: "Your email should not offend anyone and there is absolutely no confusion. 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." Adding that "Many groups celebrate and come together in various ways, and it's not about excluding anyone," she said, "Instead, it's about creating spaces for like-minded individuals to connect and support each other." The black Cape Verde-born councilwoman then further applauded the Wu administration's efforts to "organize a holiday celebration specific to elected officials of color" as "commendable" work.
Commenting to The Herald, outgoing City Councilor Frank Baker, who is white, described the mayor's decision to exclude others based on race "unfortunate and divisive," but emphasized that the email didn't offend him personally. "I don't really get offended too easily,” Baker told the local news outlet. "To offend me, you're going to have to do much more than not invite me to a party."
Baker said he wasn't certain what the reasoning was behind the mayor hosting a segregated social function divided along racial lines, but remarked that he didn't think it was a "good move," given the recent tensions and controversies afflicting City Council.
Wu's move is atypical compared to the conduct of past mayoral administrations, according to attorney Michael McCormack, who had held an at-large seat on City Council for five terms. If ex-Mayors Tom Menino or Ray Flynn, for example, were to host a holiday gathering, the city heads would have ensured the invite was offered to the entire City Council, he told The Herald. "I'm just hoping it was a mistake. It's not something that anyone in the mayor's office should be proud of," McCormack remarked.
Wu spokesman Ricardo Patrón said the soiree is is just one of many going on this month, noting that there is another larger-sized party to take place next week that's open to all of Wu's cabinet members, city councilors, and the State House delegation.
Patrón said that Wu, an Asian American woman, was asked as an "elected official of color" to host Wednesday's affair for the "Electeds of Color" group, whose host as well as location changes annually. Wu's press office has not responded to Townhall's request for comment inquiring if the "accidental" invite extended to white City Council members has officially been rescinded.
Wu told Boston 25 that the "Electeds of Color" group has "been in place for many, many years" and compared its race-based event to Boston's various multi-faith holiday celebrations. "We celebrate all kinds of connection and identity and culture and heritage in the city. Just yesterday we hosted in the city our official Hannukah celebration; we have had tree lightings. We want to be a city where everyone's identity is embraced […] and there are spaces and communities we can help support," she said.
In the aftermath of the 2021 mayor election, Wu faced ridicule from racial-justice activists who felt that she wasn't a diverse-enough pick. Wu had previously beaten three black candidates who couldn't even come close in the preliminary race.
The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Wu broke a nearly 200-year streak of white men elected to lead the city.
Kim Janey became Boston's first black, first female mayor, but she finished 4th in the preliminary among 5 mayoral candidates of color. (Janey even endorsed Michelle Wu.)
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) November 16, 2021
NPR had applauded the diversity of the contenders. What changed? Why downplay an Asian American woman's win? pic.twitter.com/FizBISLYxN
Wu, a Harvard alumna, has backed embattled Harvard University President Claudine Gay amid backlash over Gay's discriminatory testimony to Congress regarding the Ivy League institution's response to the rise of antisemitism on campus. Gay failed to definitively state that calling for the genocide of Jews would be a violation of Harvard's harassment-and-bullying policies.
In an interview on Boston Public Radio, Wu said she "supports the statements and the actions" of Harvard Corporation, which has decided not to fire Gay, Harvard's first black president, following the combative congressional hearing. "I also have a sense of what it's like to take just a short clip out of a very hostile, long situation," Wu commented, noting that Gay has said she's sorry.