This holiday season, it would seem Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is dreaming of anything but a White Christmas.
According to an email circulated on Wednesday, the Democratic mayor was planning an invite-only “Electeds of Color” Christmas party for Boston’s non-White city councilors — but an email slip-up sent the invitations to their Caucasian colleagues as well.
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In an email from mayoral aide Denise DosSantos, Mayor Wu cordially invited the minority councilmembers and their plus-ones to “the Electeds of Color Holiday Party,” scheduled for Wednesday, December 13 at the city-owned Parkman House.
The Boston City Council is currently made up of seven White members and six members of various minorities.
However, despite only planning to invite the latter group, DosSantos accidentally included all the councilors on the email chain. Less than 15 minutes later, she sent a follow-up email apologizing for the confusion and rescinding the unintended invitations.
“I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding a Holiday Party for tomorrow,” she 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.”
Wu, who became Boston’s first Asian mayor in 2021, downplayed the racial overtones of the situation — despite the fact that it likely would have excluded her own husband, who is White. According to a statement from the mayor’s office, allowing minority council members to host a holiday party has been an annual tradition for quite some time.
“I’ve been a part of a group that gathers, representing elected officials of color across all different levels of government in Massachusetts,” Wu told local outlet WCVB. “A group that has been in place for more than a decade, and the opportunity to create a space for people to celebrate and rotate who hosts.”
She also defended DosSantos from criticism, calling the whole thing “an honest mistake.”
“I think we’ve all been in a position at one point where an email went out, and there was a mistake in the recipient,” she said.
Councilor Brian Worrell, a Black Democrat, similarly saw no problem with the party’s guest list. “We make space and spaces for all kinds of specific groups in the city and city government,” he said. “This is no different, and the Elected Officials of Color has been around for more than a decade.”
Some of the uninvited councilmembers largely shrugged off the incident, with Democratic Councilman Frank Baker telling the Boston Herald “To offend me, you’re going to have to do much more than not invite me to a party.”
But as Baker also noted, “I find it unfortunate that with the temperature the way it is, that we would further that division.”
The “Electeds of Color” holiday party reportedly proceeded as planned on Wednesday night despite the public criticism surrounding it.
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