Dorchester Historical Society apologizes for ‘white Dorchester’ holiday card
"Horrified might not be strong enough of a word."
The Dorchester Historical Society is profusely apologizing for the “VERY unintended implications” of a card it recently sent to promote an upcoming holiday party.
Riffing off the lyrics of the classic Bing Crosby song “White Christmas,” the group’s card — an image of which was posted online the Wednesday before Thanksgiving — read, “We’re dreaming of a white Dorchester.”
The phrase, which was meant to refer to snowfall, appeared alongside a graphic showing the nonprofit’s Boston Street house in Dorchester.
Still, particularly given the Boston neighborhood’s majority nonwhite population, the card raised more than a few eyebrows. And after it began circulating on social media Monday, the historical society swiftly deleted the image from their website and began repeatedly apologizing.
“This was an unfortunate oversight on our part and the event photograph has been removed from our social media,” the group tweeted Monday afternoon. “We were simply changing the words to the classic Christmas carol and did not think it through properly.”
The historical society said the card was designed with the Bing Crosby song in mind and “should have never gone to press,” adding that they were “truly sorry” for the “unintended consequences.” The group also thanked users for bringing the issue to their attention and said they did not want to “project that message, even if completely accidentally.”
“Horrified might not be strong enough of a word,” they wrote in another tweet.
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Several Twitter users did point out Monday that, despite the recent mishap, the historical society has put an emphasis on highlighting Dorchester’s evolving, diverse history.
The group ultimately replaced the “white Dorchester” slogan on the original invitation for the Dec. 9 open house with a twist on a different “White Christmas” lyric on their website:
“May your Dorchester days be merry and bright.”
