Saying she felt “violated” after being accused of bigotry toward Asians by Chinese community leaders, City Councilor Maureen Feeney (Dorchester) denied the allegation this week.
Feeney claimed she is the victim of a smear campaign launched by Nancy Lo, Mayor Thomas Menino’s election chief and the highest-ranking Asian woman in City Hall.
The controversy stemmed from a remark Feeney made during a Feb. 8 hearing of the Government Operations Committee, which she chairs. Feeney called Lo, who had become a subject of inquiry by the committee, “Dragon Lady,” prompting leaders of Chinatown’s business community to send letters of protest charging anti-Asian bigotry and threatening to file a discrimination complaint.
Feeney rejected the charge, claiming the remark was taken out of context. She was merely using the term “in describing how she is referred to.”
“Unfortunately, I could have gone into much greater detail into other things that she has also been called,” she said. “I think the [Asian-American business and religious leaders] feel they probably overreacted based on what they know now. I’ve never even thought of Nancy Lo as an Asian woman. I just thought of her as a colleague in government.”
Feeney claimed the inquiry is just one of many looking into complaints about Lo’s behavior as the head of the elections department.
According to Feeney, staffers are treated shabbily, at times to the point of risking their health. One worker suffered a heart attack while two others were put on medication and are currently undergoing therapy, Feeney said.
“The stories are horrific,” she said. “[The unions] are appalled at what this woman has done. There are grievances left and right being filed. No one would believe the stories that have been told.”
Feeney cited her strong relationship with the Asian community as evidence to refute the bigotry charge. She included her cooperation with the Department of Neighborhood Development to create housing for Vietnamese families.
“Do you know that the first Vietnamese cultural center in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is being built in my district?” she asked rhetorically. “Who do you think initiated that cultural center? Me.”
“The Vietnamese have brought a new vitality [to Dorchester]. With the proposals they’ve brought and the businesses they have brought, they saved my district. I represent one of the most racially balanced districts in the entire city. I have never lied to my constituency.
“If there’s a word that would stab my soul, it would be [bigot]. It’s one word that never in my lifetime I would have believed would be used against me.”
Feeney took a swipe at the mayor himself, saying, “He instigated half of this.” She did add that “even the mayor feels bad about” the Chinese community’s reaction.
Feeney said William Moy, the moderator of the Chinatown Safety Committee, has assured her that the issue has been blown out of proportion and he is sympathetic with the councilor’s position.
Both Lo and the mayor’s office had no comment on the issue.
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