As you might know, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu held a holiday party last night for "elected of colors" from the Boston City Council. Before I give my thoughts consider this excerpt from NBC10 Boston:
It all started with an email sent out by a city employee on Tuesday on behalf of Mayor Michelle Wu, inviting all city councilors to an "Electeds of Color Holiday Party" being held Wednesday night. About 15 minutes later, the same staffer sent out an email apologizing for sending out the invite to all city councilors. The mayor said the party is just intended for minority elected officials.
"There are many, many events that are private events for all different sorts of groups, so we've clarified that and look forward to seeing everyone at one of the dozens of other opportunities to celebrate the holidays together," Wu said Wednesday, just hours before the party.
"I think we all have been in a position at one point where an email went out and there was a mistake in the recipients, so there was truly just an honest mistake that happened in issuing the invitation," she added.
Wu said the "Electeds of Color Holiday Party" has been held for more than a decade without any issues.
After Wednesday's City Council meeting, two councilors attending the event defended the party.
"It is not at all divisive, it is creating spaces for people, and communities and identities with shared experiences to come together," said Ruthzee Louijeune, Boston city councilor-at-Large. "We are still breaking barriers and it is so important for us to carve out and create that space."
Outgoing City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo agreed
"I think someone wanted to make this inflammatory, and they have clearly succeeded -- I have two microphones in my face asking me about an annual holiday party and whether or not I should care about their feelings that there is a holiday party for people of color they weren't invited to because they don't share those experiences," he said.
"The fact of the matter is much-to-do about nothing in terms of having a holiday party," Arroyo added. "In no way is it supposed to be divisive, causing any friction, and in my experience most of my colleagues are aware the EOC exists."
So here are six observations.
1. Let's be very clear. Had the late Tom Menino or Marty Walsh held a holiday party for the Boston City Council and only its white members had been invited then there would have been holy hell to pay, and heads would have rolled. Wu was a member of Boston City Council from 2014 through 2021. I cannot imagine she would have been happy about being excluded from a gathering of fellow Boston City Councilors based on the color of her skin.
2. Wu isn't apologizing for having the party, but rather for inviting the wrong people. Again, if such a party had been held exclusively for white members of the Boston City Council. Had Wu received such an invitation knowing she was not to be included on account of her race, she would have raised hell and rightly so.
3. The fact that "Elected of Colors" Holiday party has been going on for a decade doesn't make it right. That argument certainly wouldn't hold water had there been a tradition of having a holiday gathering intended exclusively for white members of the Boston City Council.
4. Councilors Louijeune and Arroyo claim there is nothing divisive about this gathering yet in the same breath insist that spaces must be carved out because white city councilors don't share their experiences. Somehow, I doubt Louijeune and Arroyo would be amused if their white colleagues held their own party and excluded because they didn't share their experiences. Today, it's separate holiday parties. Tomorrow, it's separate bathrooms and drinking fountains.
5. It would be easy to dismiss criticisms leveled at Wu as right-wing white privilege. But left-wingers are unwilling and/or unable to comprehend that identity politics turns off people of all races including people who might otherwise be sympathetic to their point of view. Gatherings intended to exclude people on account of their race such as this violate the spirit of peace and goodwill to all.
6. The Boston City Council is an elected body and the holiday season ought to time for inclusion and togetherness. The Elected of Colors holiday party is every bit as wrong as Whites Only Councilors holiday party.
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