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At MLK breakfast, Wu calls critics of ‘electeds of color’ party ‘fearmongers’
In follow-up comments on Tuesday, Wu took issue with the idea that talking about racial disparities in any context is inherently divisive.
Speaking at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center on Monday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called out those who expressed outrage over her hosting a holiday party for elected officials of color.
The party, which took place last month, generated national headlines after a member of Wu’s office accidentally sent an email invitation to all members of the Boston City Council. The staffer quickly apologized for the confusion, but a chain reaction had already started.
The party is an annual tradition organized by an affinity group that represents elected officials of color across all levels of government in Boston, Wu said a few days later. She said that there was misinformation spread about that party and that there was a “political motive” behind the email mistake being leaked to the media.
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“I am tired of those fearmongers and mob baiters who fan the flames and call for unity,” she said at the MLK breakfast. “Viral outrage ricocheted internationally, as those who had never before cared about representation railed against this as exclusionary.”
On Tuesday, Wu was asked about those comments during an appearance on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio.”
“This is broader than government and politics. It’s connected to what we see happening in universities and academia, but it’s connected to lots of examples all across the business sector and in peoples’ daily lives, where there is a push to say ‘the way to not be divisive is in fact to never talk about race, to never bring up programs that should be specifically trying to address disparities, and essentially to pretend that any mention of racial inequities is dividing people further,’” Wu said on GBH.
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She said that politicians like her are often asked to “unite” people, but requests for them to do so are often simply calls to ignore efforts to proactively address diversity.
“When they say ‘don’t divide us,’ it really means ‘don’t defy us,’” Wu said.
There is a concerted push both locally and around the country by people who want to uphold the status quo, she said. This is manifested in calls to ban books, wrap curricula, and portray historical moments in a “distorted” way.
Thinking about the legacy of Martin Luther King requires a commitment not just to peace and justice in a “warm and fuzzy way,” Wu said, but to concrete action.
“That still requires a lot of work,” she said.
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