Behind Mayor Wu's Fight for Economic and Racial Equity in Boston

On November 2, 2021, Michelle Wu made history as the first woman and person of color to be elected mayor of Boston. “We are ready to become a Boston for everyone,” Wu declared amidst cheers from a crowd of roaring supporters. “We're ready to be a Boston that doesn't push people out, but welcomes all who call our city home. We're ready to be a Boston where all can afford to stay and to thrive.”

Wu’s speech reflected her longstanding vision for progressive reform in the city, to which she has been committed to since the early days of her mayoral campaign. A member of the Boston City Council from 2013 to 2021, and former Council President from 2016 to 2018, Wu was a prominent and vocal figure, sponsoring and authoring numerous legislation on behalf of small businesses, women, and communities of color.

Wu is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. She studied economics, environmental science, and public policy at Harvard University, and worked in management consulting for a few years before earning a law degree at Harvard Law School. Wu’s first priority has always been fighting to protect vulnerable members of the Boston community.

Determined to target the root cause of enduring economic disparity along racial lines, Wu focuses on expanding equal economic opportunities to Boston’s residents of color. “Addressing the root causes of the racial wealth gap means rewriting the rules that shape our political and economic systems and rethinking who gets to write the rules in the first place,” Wu’s campaign website writes.

She is a fierce advocate for local businesses, which are gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Boston’s Small Business Relief Fund (SBRF) 2.0, Wu allocated $12.8 million in COVID relief funds to small businesses in order to boost economic recovery. She upheld her commitment to racial equity by prioritizing minority-owned businesses, which were impacted most by the pandemic, as fund recipients. More than half of recipients were minorities, with eighteen percent being immigrants.

On top of her COVID relief package, Wu aims to preserve the unique merits of local businesses against "commercial gentrification.” As a councilor in 2018, Wu worked with fellow Council member Lydia Edwards to pass legislation that amended Boston’s Zoning Code. The amendment restricted the location and number of chain stores in areas of the city, and made it more difficult to obtain a permit to open new ones. With greater financial resources and visibility, large retail chains tend to drive out local businesses, damaging economic opportunities for residents. Through the Boston Zoning Code amendment, Wu and Edwards aimed to limit the operational scope of large retail businesses, thereby creating spaces where small businesses could thrive, independent of commercial gentrification. In an article by North End Waterfront that quoted Wu and Edwards, the two underlined their commitment to “even[ing] the playing field to assure local businesses [had] a fighting chance” against national chains.

The new Zoning Code also adopted fair housing requirements that would create affordable, accessible housing for historically excluded Bostonians, amending centuries of housing injustice against low-income residents of color. By passing amendments aimed at boosting financial wellbeing and housing affordability, Wu intends to help Boston’s communities of color build generational wealth and thrive economically.

A business in Boston can become successful through numerous methods. One of the most effective is the procurement of contracts. Contracts with the city of Boston can increase a business’ visibility and revenue, allowing owners to establish a name for themselves in a competitive industry. But a disproportionate amount of contracts are awarded to white business owners, with only a shocking 1.2% of Boston’s contracts going to black and Latine-owned businesses.

Seeking to remedy the disparity, Wu launched multiple initiatives aiming to increase diversity in the city’s contracting. The Contracting Opportunity Fund grants financial support to small businesses in hopes of giving them a competitive edge, improving their chances at obtaining contracts with the city. Other legislation Wu helped pass, such as the Equity in City of Boston Contracts Ordinance, requires Boston to actively seek contracts with minority and women-owned businesses, removing barriers and providing opportunities for historically-excluded business owners.

To advance these crucial pieces of legislation, Wu continues to work with various advocacy groups. Notably, in her time as a councilor, she worked with the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA) to pass the Equity in City of Boston Contracts Ordinance. BECMA lobbied then Mayor Marty Walsh to ensure the ordinance was being carried out, holding hearings to discuss diversity issues in contracting and to push for change. Wu was an integral part of the advocacy and communications process.

“[Michelle]’s a listener,” Segun Idowu, Boston’s Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion and former President of BECMA, said. “She's very much about taking in what's happening and responding appropriately. She is very committed to community process and engagement.”

As a second-generation Taiwanese immigrant in the United States and a mother of two, Wu is all too aware of the impact of racial inequity on struggling families. She understands how the disconnect between a government and its constituents creates barriers for people, but believes public policy is a useful tool in removing these barriers and uplifting whole communities. A former owner of a teahouse business herself, Wu hopes to “champion an economy built for the success of small businesses” by advancing protective legislation.

Wu’s personal experiences have shaped her stances on policies impacting both current and future residents of Boston. “She is a mother first and foremost,” Idowu said. “And that’s kind of how she leads as well. I mean, she's always considering, ‘how will this impact my boys, who will have to grow up in this city?”

Today, Boston’s racial wealth gap remains one of the most severe in the United States. Shocking statistics reveal the disparity between a black household and a white household’s median net worth. Wu has her work cut out for her if she intends to equalize economic opportunity to all residents of Boston and reverse centuries of systemic discrimination against marginalized communities. But Wu is the first woman of color the city elected to such a position of power. Her unique background allows her to feel a deep sense of duty, empathy, and connection to the people whose lives she seeks to improve.

Undoing centuries of economic damage will be difficult. As the most scrutinized woman in a city of two million, Wu faces barriers and resistance at every policy passed, bill introduced, and press event conducted. But her supporters and allies praise her persistence and dedication to her dream of creating a more economically equal Boston.

She may just have a chance.

Audrey Tang