Crime & Safety
Boston Police Praise White Man In Black History Month Tweet
The police department quickly took down the post and apologized.
BOSTON, MA – The Boston Police Department quickly walked back a tweet over the weekend criticized as being "tone-deaf" for its honoring of Black History Month. The original tweet hailed former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach for being the first NBA coach to draft an African-American player, have an all-African-American starting five and hire Bill Russell, the league's first African-American coach.
After taking heat for the post – one user wrote, "as lovely as all those things are that Red did, black history month is not about white men" while others called it "clueless" and a "swing and a miss" – the department took it down less than an hour later and replaced it with a tweet celebrating Russell.
How kind of the Boston Police Department to mark Black History Month by honoring a white man pic.twitter.com/Yza0kcyl9U
— Astead (@AsteadWesley) February 12, 2018
#ICYMI: In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth we pay tribute to Bill Russell, one of the greatest @celtics of all time and the first African-American head coach in the history of the NBA when he was named @celtics coach on November 15, 1966. pic.twitter.com/gKX7zpcUQt
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) February 12, 2018
The Boston Police Department later issued an apology, tweeting that the intention was "never to offend."
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BPD realizes that an earlier tweet may have offended some and we apologize for that. Our intentions were never to offend. It has been taken down.
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) February 12, 2018
In a statement Monday, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the post was "completely inappropriate" and a "gross misrepresentation" of Black History Month in the city. Read Walsh's full statement below:
"Yesterday's tweet from the Boston Police Department was completely inappropriate and a gross misrepresentation of how we are honoring Black History Month in Boston. We are celebrating the accomplishments and limitless contributions of the Black community to our city and the entire country, from Harriet Tubman to great leaders of today such as Chief Justice Ireland, artists like New Edition and Michael Bivins, powerful activists including Mel King and Superintendent Lisa Holmes, the first African-American woman to lead the Boston Police Academy training program. I am personally committing to the people of Boston that we will always honor our Black leaders, activists and trailblazers with the respect they deserve, not just in February, but every day and every month of the year."
Photo of Boston Police Cruiser by Jenna Fisher/Patch
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