Hey, ‘Daily Show': Stop calling Boston the most racist city in America. It's not funny.

Boston Globe

26-03-2025

'How did you get those guys to vote for you … how did you convince them to put you in charge?
'I think you won your last election at 64 percent of the vote … so you're incredibly popular in Boston, and they trust you to run the city. How did you convince these Boston people?'
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'I still don't understand how you got elected. I mean, obviously you're good at your job and your charming and all that, but that was enough for them to convince them?'
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'If you can become the mayor of Boston, maybe you know one of arguably the most racist cities in America, then maybe there is hope for everyone yet.'
Ooof.
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Wu handled herself deftly, but there were moments Tuesday night when
'You might be surprised by Boston. Next time you come, we'll have to take you around a little more,' Wu said. 'We're an incredibly diverse, welcoming, beautiful city … we are majority people of color, we're 28 percent people born from another country. Boston is a place where people have always come for almost 400 years to make good in the world.'
I usually love
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This was supposed to be a friendly conversation, but it felt more like friendly fire. I guess that's what happens when a running joke falls flat.
Comedian Ronny Chieng hosted The Daily Show Tuesday night, including a segment with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.for Writers Guild of America East
Let's be clear this stereotype of Boston being super racist is getting super old. We're 50 years past the ugly days of court-ordered busing in Boston to desegregate public schools. The scrappy white Boston of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck movies was fading 20 years ago, and feels even more dated today.
We have long been a majority-minority city — for
a quarter of a century now. Our last two mayors have been women of color, as is the current City Council President, the state Attorney General, and
one of our members of Congress.
It felt like Chieng was hoping he could go viral like 'SNL Weekend Update' co-host Michael Che did in 2017 during a segment about the upcoming Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.
'For three hours, I just don't want to talk about any social issues or politics,' Che said. 'I just want to relax, turn my brain off and watch the blackest city in America beat the most racist city I've ever been to.'
Yes, Che got blowback from Bostonians, and even an invitation from then
But I don't think Che ever met with Walsh. The comedian stood by his comment and tried to tamp down controversy by later posting on Instagram:
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I hope Chieng takes up Wu's invitation to come to Boston so she can show him what the city's really like. He'll begin to understand how Wu became mayor, which is putting in the work over the past decade to get votes from every corner of the city as an at-large City Councilor and later her run for mayor. She won election after election because voters want someone who looks like them in City Hall.
Chieng has been to Boston because that's where his family used to come to grocery shop for Malaysian foods they couldn't find in New Hampshire.
'Boston is my childhood Chinatown,' he said. 'We go there for supplies to bring it back to New Hampshire. You know, there's not a lot of Malaysian grocery stores in Manchester, New Hampshire....So, I know, Boston.'
Chieng went on to say that he has a 'lot of love for Boston' and how people were 'nice' to him when he has been there.
Well, nice isn't our reputation either. But this is a city that has worked hard to move beyond our racist past. And that's no laughing matter.
Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at