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Historical Society Apologizes For 'White Dorchester' Holiday Invitation

DORCHESTER (CBS) - The Dorchester Historical Society has apologized for an invite that backfired.

The invitation for their annual "Holiday Open House" was titled "We're dreaming of a white Dorchester."

white dorchester card
(WBZ-TV)

They say they were just making a play on the words of the song "White Christmas" and did not mean to imply that others would be left out.

"We are very truly sorry about our graphic used for this event. This was an unfortunate oversight on our part and the event photograph has been removed from our social media. We were simply changing the words to the classic Christmas carol and did not think it through properly," the society tweeted.

"Thank you for alerting us to this matter as we certainly do not want to project that message, even if completely accidentally. Again, thank you."

The title of the online invitation now says, "May your Dorchester days be merry and bright."

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said it was a case of "good people" who made "a big mistake."

"They certainly didn't mean anything mean or vicious or racist about it. I felt really bad when I saw it last night because they do a lot of good work there, they're a non-profit that doesn't have a lot of money," Walsh told reporters Tuesday.

"It's a lot of volunteers, so they don't have any professional people around them trying to spin this thing and I honestly think they made an honest mistake."

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