“How did you get those guys to vote for you … how did you convince them to put you in charge?

“I think you won your last election at 64 percent of the vote … so you’re incredibly popular in Boston, and they trust you to run the city. How did you convince these Boston people?”

“I still don’t understand how you got elected. I mean, obviously you’re good at your job and your charming and all that, but that was enough for them to convince them?”

“If you can become the mayor of Boston, maybe you know one of arguably the most racist cities in America, then maybe there is hope for everyone yet.”

Ooof.

Wu handled herself deftly, but there were moments Tuesday night when she looked more comfortable sitting in front of a hostile, Republican-led Congressional hearing in Washington than responding to Chieng’s attempt at humor.

“You might be surprised by Boston. Next time you come, we’ll have to take you around a little more,” Wu said. “We’re an incredibly diverse, welcoming, beautiful city … we are majority people of color, we’re 28 percent people born from another country. Boston is a place where people have always come for almost 400 years to make good in the world.”

I usually love Chieng, a Malaysia-born comedian who spent part of his childhood in Manchester, N.H. He invited Wu on because he wants to highlight Asian American leaders and Democrats who are trying to figure out how to stand up to the Trump administration. It was clear that he respects, and even admires, Wu.

This was supposed to be a friendly conversation, but it felt more like friendly fire. I guess that’s what happens when a running joke falls flat.

Let’s be clear this stereotype of Boston being super racist is getting super old. We’re 50 years past the ugly days of court-ordered busing in Boston to desegregate public schools. The scrappy white Boston of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck movies was fading 20 years ago, and feels even more dated today.

We have long been a majority-minority city — for a quarter of a century now. Our last two mayors have been women of color, as is the current City Council President, the state Attorney General, and one of our members of Congress.

It felt like Chieng was hoping he could go viral like “SNL Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che did in 2017 during a segment about the upcoming Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.

“For three hours, I just don’t want to talk about any social issues or politics,” Che said. “I just want to relax, turn my brain off and watch the blackest city in America beat the most racist city I’ve ever been to.”

Yes, Che got blowback from Bostonians, and even an invitation from then Mayor Marty Walsh to come to Boston for a sit down to talk about his experiences with racism in the city.

But I don’t think Che ever met with Walsh. The comedian stood by his comment and tried to tamp down controversy by later posting on Instagram: “Listen boston, my grandma is racist too, but i still love her. & i still love you.”

I hope Chieng takes up Wu’s invitation to come to Boston so she can show him what the city’s really like. He’ll begin to understand how Wu became mayor, which is putting in the work over the past decade to get votes from every corner of the city as an at-large City Councilor and later her run for mayor. She won election after election because voters want someone who looks like them in City Hall.

Chieng has been to Boston because that’s where his family used to come to grocery shop for Malaysian foods they couldn’t find in New Hampshire.

“Boston is my childhood Chinatown,” he said. “We go there for supplies to bring it back to New Hampshire. You know, there’s not a lot of Malaysian grocery stores in Manchester, New Hampshire….So, I know, Boston.”

Chieng went on to say that he has a “lot of love for Boston” and how people were “nice” to him when he has been there.

Well, nice isn’t our reputation either. But this is a city that has worked hard to move beyond our racist past. And that’s no laughing matter.

Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.

Police in three different communities are investigating if three overnight break-ins in Boston, Somerville and Cambridge are connected.

Three masked thieves are seen on surveillance video busting into the City Smoke Shop in Boston’s North End at 2:31 a.m. Tuesday. Moments before, they hurled a large brick into the glass door, shattering it to get in and steal. 

“It’s infuriating, you know what I mean?” said Waldy Nova with City Smoke Shop. “People work hard to establish a business to make sure we’re doing right by the community around us and to have something like that happen is disheartening, it’s heartbreaking.” 

Three stores hit overnight

Then 30 minutes later at 3:00 a.m., police said a strangely similar scene played out in Somerville. 

Three masked guys wearing the same clothes as the Boston break in are caught on camera wielding a large brick to smash the window at D and K Smoke Shop. They snatched cash-vapes and cigarettes. 

“It happened within one minute,” said owner Kumraz Gurung. “Disappointment because it’s a small business.” 

Then again, a third strike not too far away in Cambridge with the same MO at 3:40 a.m. Three masked thieves are seen on video bursting into the Cambridge Smoke Shop and stealing cash. They even toppled over a case full of product before taking off. 

“It’s $3500 around it will cost us,” said Hitesh Prajabata at the Cambridge Smoke Shop. 

The shop has already been hit three times since last January.  “Don’t do this thing because we are very small business and it affects us a lot,” said Prajabata. 

Police are now investigating if the three break-ins in the three different communities are connected. 

“Get a job”

Business owners wonder if the thieves are after cash or product to resell, but they want the thieves to realize how much damage they leave behind.

“I mean get a job you know what I mean?” said Waldy Nova. “Work, there’s so many people who are working for their livelihoods and for their families to have the American dream right.” 

No one has been arrested and if you recognize the suspects in any of the videos, please call Boston, Somerville or Cambridge police.

The break-ins are the latest in a string a burglaries targeting vape and smoke shops in the Greater Boston area. Last week, thieves were caught on camera breaking into a vape shop in Brighton.