BOSTON (WHDH) - A holiday celebration was the subject of controversy in Boston Wednesday after an invite that was supposed to only go to elected leaders of color was sent instead to the entire Boston City Council.
The invite came via email. Hours before the party, some were criticizing how the city handled the situation.
“I do find it divisive, but what are you going to do about it,” said District 3 Councilor Frank Baker. “You don’t want me at a party, I’m not going to come to a party.”
7NEWS obtained an initial email sent to all city councilors Tuesday. The email was from one of the Mayor Michelle Wu’s staffers and read “I cordially invite you and a guest to the Electeds of Color Holiday Party.”
Fifteen minutes later, another email went out rescinding the invite to the white councilors, clarifying “I did send that to everyone by accident, I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so.”
“I think we’ve all been in a position at one point where an email went out and there was a mistake in the recipients,” Wu said Wednesday. “So, it was truly just an honest mistake.”
Mistake or not, Baker said this was just one example of the racial divisions inside City Hall.
Wu, meanwhile, defended the party at the historic city-owned Parkman House, which is an annual event with a rotation of hosts across different levels of government.
“It seems like some of the folks who are concerned might also just not have all the information, right?” she said.
“I can understand someone might be confused or worried if certain people weren’t being invited at all or were being left out of any type of celebration,” she continued. “But I assure you, everyone on the Boston City Council has got an invitation to multiple types of events and holiday parties.”
Wu was seen entering the party shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Other elected officials also attending said it was sad to see holiday tiding tainted by controversy.
“The controversy really should be that this is the first time we’ve had a woman mayor and a person of color and Asian elected here in the city,” said State Rep. Russell Holmes.
Beyond Baker, 7NEWS reached out to the other excluded Boston city councilors for comment on this situation. They all either declined to comment or did not respond.
Boston City Councilors who are members of the Electeds of Color group earlier in the day Wednesday said the organization has been around for years and has hosted several parties for its members.
“It’s not at all divisive,” said Councilor At-Large Ruthzee Louijeune. “It’s creating spaces for people in communities and identities with shared experiences to come together.”
“The fact of the matter is, it’s much ado about nothing in terms of having a holiday party,” said District 5 Councilor Ricardo Arroyo.
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