"Guess segregation is good again": Michelle Wu Holiday Christmas 'No-Whites' Party sparks outrage as Boston Mayor defends invite

Recently, the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, made headlines after her office sent out an email invitation to all members (seven white councilors and six colored) of the Boston City Council for an “Electeds of Color” only holiday party, reported Boston 25 News.

The email was sent from Denise DosSantos, Michelle Wu’s director of City Council Relations who addressed “Honorable Members” and stated:

“On behalf of Mayor Michelle Wu, I cordially invite you and a guest to the Electeds of Color Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 13 at 5:30 p.m. at the Parkman House, 33 Beacon Street.”

As soon as netizens got the heat of the controversial email, it sparked a mass outrage online, with people calling out Michelle Wu and her office for alleged segregation, discrimination, and racism.

In this regard, an X (formerly Twitter) user commented under @libsoftiktok’s tweet on the same.

---

“It's discriminatory and morally offensive”: Internet erupts in fury as Michelle Wu’s “Electeds of Color” holiday party invite goes viral

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s Director of City Council Relations sent out an email to all members of the Boston City Council about a holiday party.

However, the party was only meant for people of color. In fact, the subject of the email read as follows: “Elected of Color Holiday Party Tomorrow.”

Inside the email, there was an invitation for everyone to attend the party on December 13, 5:30 pm onwards, at Boston’s Parkman House, but was in reality meant exclusively for people of color.

The email also asked for RSVPs and revert in case the attendee had any “dietary restrictions.”

About 15 minutes following the first email invite, Denise DosSantos, a Black woman, sent out a follow-up email to the council members apologizing for the earlier email. It read:

“I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding the Holiday Party for tomorrow. I did send that to everyone by accident, I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.”

Unfortunately, this email did not include an invitation for White people but rather just an apology for having sent it to everyone (it wasn’t supposed to invite white people), stirring up the controversy online. There was also no apology for holding an alleged racially segregated party.

In the wake of this, the internet acted in disbelief and fury, and put Michelle Wu and her administration under fire. Here are some of the comments underneath @libsoftiktok’s tweet.

Following the backlash, Democrat Mayor Wu told Boston 25 on the afternoon of the event that the Electeds of Color group existed for many years and was similar to other Boston-based multi-faith groups that hold their own holiday celebrations.

“We celebrate all kinds of connections and identity, 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,” Wu noted.

Michelle Wu also confirmed that the email was indeed a mistake and did not aim to create a divide in the city council.

She also asserted that the Electeds of Color group met regularly and was asked to host a holiday party this year.

As per the Boston Herald, there is a larger holiday party scheduled for next week which was meant for everyone working under Wu’s administration, including cabinet members, city council members, and the Boston state delegation at the State House.

For those uninitiated, Wu herself is a 38-year-old woman and the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. She was elected as the mayor of Boston in November 2021, becoming the city’s first female and first Asian American mayor.