Boston Mayor Michelle Wu blamed political motivations for the uproar in reaction to her “Electeds of Color” party invite, during remarks made in an interview Monday. (Stuart Cahill, Boston Herald, file)
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu continued to defend her decision to hold an exclusive “Electeds of Color” holiday party, saying that the way the invite was “leaked” and coverage by the national media was politically motivated.
The local political landscape is well aware of the “Electeds of Color” group, said the mayor, who went on to suggest that some of the backlash against last week’s party may have been driven by the “shock” some people are experiencing over what leadership looks like in the City of Boston.
“We did not have enough elected officials of color in previous administrations dating way back to even think about hosting something like this,” Wu said Monday on WBUR’s Radio Boston. “This is the first time the mayor is able to host as a member of this group, because prior to me, all the elected mayors were not part of this group.
“So I think there’s maybe a shock that that presents to some people, of what does leadership look like?” Wu added. “But this is our city. This is reflective of our community.”
The party, first reported by the Herald, caught international attention after a Wu administration official, on behalf of the mayor, mistakenly sent all Boston city councilors an email last Tuesday inviting them to a holiday party that was meant exclusively for “electeds of color,” prompting an apology and mixed reactions.
Fifteen minutes after the mayor’s director of City Council relations sent out the email, inviting each councilor and a guest to a holiday party at the city-owned Parkman House, the employee sent a follow-up email to councilors, apologizing for the prior email, which was apparently only meant for those who were invited.
The party was quickly criticized by some for being “divisive,” while others, including the mayor, defended the event for creating space for specific groups in city government.
“I think the email situation is maybe what got it on the national radar when it was leaked by someone who wasn’t invited because they weren’t part of this group,” Wu said on Monday. “But this is a well-established group that’s been around for a long time.
“I think everyone knows about it locally in office and knows that we have celebrations, and there’s a little bit of a political motive in terms of leaking it, and then following through on the national scale.”
Wu also pointed to what she described as the “misinformation” surrounding the coverage of the event, saying that “those with a particular motive will sort of cast the facts as they see them.”
While last Wednesday night’s party at the Parkman House was open to elected officials of color from this particular “affinity group,” the mayor held a larger holiday party at the same venue Monday afternoon, that was open to all city councilors, Wu cabinet members, and the city’s State House delegation.
The party was poorly attended, according to a source familiar with the matter, who said that of the more than 40 elected officials invited, only three state representatives, a state senator and two city councilors attended.
A Wu spokesperson said there were about 50 people at the party, meaning that, according to the source’s head count, the mayor’s cabinet members and guests far outnumbered the six elected officials.
City Councilor Erin Murphy, who is white and was not invited to last week’s party, took issue with the mayor’s latest remarks.
“I don’t care who leaked the email invite,” Murphy told the Herald. “It was sent to over 40 people so it could have been anyone. In a world that seems increasingly intolerable and unaccepting, I pray daily that we find a common ground, a path to togetherness. I hope that those of us in power find ways to bring people closer, not further apart.”
Other disinvited councilors reached on Monday declined comment.
