Staff Reports
Whoopsies! Someone at Boston City Hall made a little boo-boo when an exclusive holiday party invite, meant for “electeds of color,” found its way into the inboxes of the entire City Council. Denise DosSantos, Mayor Michelle Wu’s City Council relations director, meant to send out the invite to just the six councilors of color and a plus one each. But uh-oh, the email went out to everyone, including the seven white councilors. Talk about an invite snafu!
Boston City Hall mistakenly sends out 'electeds of color' party invitations to entire council https://t.co/UC2YgVzQMd Racist much?
— Julie Christian (@jchristian61) December 13, 2023
In a speedy follow-up email, DosSantos made like a firefighter putting out a big ol’ oopsie daisy fire, dishing out a dollop of apology for the mix-up. She was all, “My bad, everybody! Sorry if I offended anyone with my accidental invite blast. Oopsies!” Can you believe the nerve of sending out an invite meant for only certain folks to err’body? Embarrassing!
One of the white councilors, Frank Baker, wasn’t sipping the Kool-Aid on this one. He called the whole shebang “divisive” and “unfortunate.” He didn’t shed a tear for not being included, but he thought the invite fiasco wasn’t a “good move,” especially with all the recent tension among the Council. Can’t say he’s wrong – that’s quite a pickle, huh?
But wait, there’s more! The elected officials of color were all about defending the event, saying that the “Elected Officials of Color” group has been throwing these shin-digs for more than a decade. They were all like, “Chill out, people! We make ‘spaces’ for all kinds of groups, so back off!” They even went as far as saying the event should offend no one and that it’s just a bunch of like-minded folks having a little holiday soiree together. Well, isn’t that a pretty little package of holiday excuse-making and hand-waving?
Now, the city mayor’s office claimed that this exclusive little party was just one of many happening this month. Apparently, they change it up every year, and this time, the host was none other than Mayor Wu, who happens to be an Asian American woman. Sounds like someone might need to tighten up their email distribution list next time, huh?
