Nov 16, 2021, in Boston City Hall, Michelle Wu (吴弭) raised her hand and was sworn in as new Boston Mayor, marking an important moment for the city’s long political history, the first female Asian American mayor of Boston.

On Nov 3, Wu won the city’s general election after being 64% ahead of Annissa Essaibi George, the Democratic candidate, and city councilor.

Annissa Essaibi George admitted defeat and acknowledged the accomplishments of her opponent before Wu’s victory speech.

“I want to offer a great big congratulations to Michelle Wu. She is the first woman, the first person of color and, as an Asian American, the first elected to be mayor of Boston,” George said. “I know this is no small feat.”

Michelle Wu, 36-year-old, was born in a Taiwanese family who immigrated to the U.S, grew up in Chicago, attended Harvard University and Harvard Law School, and became the first female and Asian president of the Boston City Council in 2016–2018.

Michelle Wu’s election as Boston Mayor marks a turning point in Boston’s political structure, Boston only elected white men as mayor throughout the long city history. According to NPR News, Boston has a “history of fraught racial tensions and forced desegregation”. This also represents the rising force of Black, Latino and Asian residents which make up more than half of the population and white groups continue to shrink.

Andrew Conant, a filmmaker who lives in Boston, expressed his happiness of seeing Michelle Wu’s election which broke the long line of male mayors in Boston history.

“Change in this city has taken a long time to come,” He said. “This is a very proud moment for my city.”

Boston’s demographic also reflects the national trends, that according to the 2020 census, the white identity in the proportion of the whole U.S population decreased 9 percent compared to two years ago, most of the urban cities, including Los Angeles, New York, and Miami– shows the increasing percentage of People of Color populations.

“Wu broke the 200-year plus stranglehold that white men held on the city’s top job by forging a new coalition of progressive, Black, Latino and young voters.” GBH News journalist,

Saraya Wintersmith wrote, gives the best summary of its importance.

After Boston, many cities have taken after this and will continue to elect people of color for city government.

In the Seattle mayor election 2021, Bruce Harrell, nearly 20% exceeded his opponent, present SCC President Lorena González, winning the 57th mayor of the City of Seattle.

63-years old Bruce Harrell, an African- Japanese American who spent the majority of his life in Seattle political institution, graduated from the University of Washington, served on Seattle City Council through 2008~2019.

During the election, he was supported by a number of longtime political leaders of color with the central value of a belief in shared Seattle residents’ “principles of equity and justice”.

Nowadays, minorities, especially people of color, are starting to have a larger voice in government thanks to elections like these. The historical trend of a white-dominant American government is being disestablished by minority voters, beginning a new era of progress starting in cities like Boston.