congratulations LLM [Boston Globe] Hey, 'Daily Show': Stop calling Boston the most racist city in America. It's not funny.

!chuds !metashit LLM rhetoric has hit the mainstream @LandlordMessiah @LLM

Brave Boston Redditor posts a Michelle Wu appreciation thread.

Declares her a feminist icon and says anyone who disagrees is a “Russian bot” and will be blocked.@MayorWu supporters are literal NPCs 😂 pic.twitter.com/YipvZSQWtG

— Bostonians Against Mayor Wu (@AntiWuCoalition) March 27, 2025

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/26/business/michelle-wu-daily-show-boston-racist/

Memo to big-shot comedians: If you're trying to crack jokes about Boston being the most racist city in America, it might be time to get a new bit.

Race was a recurring theme Tuesday night during Mayor Michelle Wu's first appearance on "The Daily Show." About five different times during her 15-minute segment, in one way or another, guest host Ronny Chieng asked Wu how could Irish-bro Boston elect a young Asian American woman as mayor:

"I don't usually make demographics such a big deal. But like, how did you become mayor ... of Boston?"

"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?"

"I still don't understand how you got elected. I mean, obviously you're good at your job and you're charming and all that, but that was enough for them to convince them?"

"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.

Wu handled herself deftly, but there were moments Tuesday night when she looked more comfortable sitting in front of a hostile, Republican-led congressional hearing in Washington than responding to Chieng's attempt at humor.

"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 Chieng, a Malaysia-born comedian who spent part of his childhood in Manchester, N.H. He invited Wu on because he wants to highlight Asian American leaders and Democrats who are trying to figure out how to stand up to the Trump administration. It was clear that he respects, and even admires, Wu.

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.

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 "Saturday Night Live" 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-Mayor Marty Walsh to come to Boston for a sit-down to talk about his experiences with racism in the city.

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: "Listen boston, my grandma is racist too, but i still love her. & i still love you."

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 it's where his family used go 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, N.H. ... 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.

https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1ii2y2h/how_did_boston_become_known_as_the_most_racist/