00:00started with this email sent out by a city staffer on Tuesday on behalf of Mayor Michelle Wu
00:05inviting all city councillors to an Electeds of Color holiday party on Wednesday night.
00:10About 15 minutes later, the same staffer sending out an email apologizing for sending out the
00:16invite to all city councillors. The mayor saying the party is just intended for minority elected
00:21officials. There are many, many events that are private events for all different sorts of groups
00:26and so we've clarified that and look forward to seeing everyone at one of the other dozens of
00:31opportunities to celebrate the holiday party.
00:32...invitation for her holiday party exclusively attended for Electeds of Color. It was mistakenly
00:37distributed to all members of the Boston City Council by an aide. Approximately 15 minutes later,
00:42the aide, Denise DeSantos, sent a follow-up email and apologized for the earlier message about the
00:47holiday party scheduled for the next day.
00:49Yeah, she was making a list of everyone who isn't white. But to her embarrassment, the invitation went
00:55to the entire city council, even the white folks. That's right. In 2023, the mayor of one of America's
01:01biggest Democrat-run cities through a racially segregated holiday...
01:06...and identities with shared experiences that come together.
01:08I think somebody wanted to make this an inflammatory issue and they've clearly succeeded.
01:12I have two microphones in my face asking me about an annual holiday party that we have and whether or not
01:17I should, you know, care about their feelings that there's a holiday party for people of color that they
01:22weren't invited to because they don't share those experiences.
01:24This is Boston Mayor Michelle Wu defending racist Christmas gatherings that exclude people
01:50based on nothing other than their race. Talk about a lefty losing it.
01:54I think we've had individual conversations with everyone so people understand that it was truly
02:01just an honest mistake that went out in typing the email field and I look forward to celebrating
02:08with everyone at the holiday parties that we will have besides this one as well.
02:12Besides this one, that would be the segregated party that excluded white people, that one, yes.
02:20Mayor Lightfoot's two-year anniversary in office. To mark that occasion, Lightfoot announced she would
02:24only grant one-on-one interviews to black and brown journalists. WGN political reporter
02:29Tamon Bradley sat down with her to learn more about that decision.
02:34Your office says that you invited black and brown journalists to this round of interview. Why? I'm happy to
02:41vouch for Craig Wall, for Heather Sharon and others.
02:44Well, look, I think in this one day when we are looking at the two-year anniversary of my inauguration, as a one of a color, as a lesbian, it's important to me that diversity is put
02:59front and center.
03:01Mayor Lori Lightfoot defending her most unusual decision to only invite black and brown journalists to her office for one-on-one interviews.
03:08Johnson will address the media this morning, one day after an announcement from the Justice Department that it was looking into the city of
03:15Chicago's hiring practices.
03:17Mayor Johnson will answer questions at 10. We'll make sure to be there for you.
03:21The DOJ, though, specifically looking into the number of black men and women in Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration,
03:27which he talked about an event on Sunday.
03:29When we say our people hire our people, I just want to name this. Two administrations ago, 70 to 75 percent of the administration was primarily made up of white and white men.
03:43In my administration, 45 percent of my administration is black, 25 percent is Latin A, 30 percent is white, 8 percent is Asian.
03:54It is the most diverse administration in the history of Chicago.
04:00And here's why I'm naming this is because there are some detractors that will push back on me and say, you know,
04:06the only thing that the mayor talks about is the hiring of black people.
04:10No, what I'm saying is when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else.
04:17We are the most generous people on the planet.
04:23I don't know too many cultures that have play cousins. That's how generous we are.
04:27We just make somebody a family member, right? This is how we are.
04:32And so business and economic neighborhood development, the deputy mayor is a black woman.
04:39Department of planning development is a black woman.
04:43Infrastructure deputy mayor is a black woman.
04:47Chief operations officer is a black man. Budget director is a black woman.
04:53Senior advisor is a black man.
04:56And I'm laying that out because when you, when you ask, how do we ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business?
05:05Having people.
05:08Having people.
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