I lived in Florida for about 7 years and saw tons of racism, and that was in the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg. If you headed inland away from cities, it was even worse.
Now I am not saying I haven't seen racism here in Boston, but the people in Florida we're a lot more open about their racist views.
Growing up in Everett and Chelsea there was a very diverse population so most of the kids grew up seeing people as people. That's even more common now. Boston has come a long way in the last 40 years. I don't see racism being any worse here than in other cities I have been in like NYC, Philly, Baltimore, and Cleveland.
What constitutes racism in your mind? I've lived nearly 50 years in Alabama and just over 30 in Huntsville. For the most part people go about their daily lives (work, shopping, ...) interacting with other races without issues or exhibiting racist behavior.
Well, one incident was at a restaurant and the server thanked us for the nice tip because the dirty Hispanics don't tip. What she didn't know was my wife was Puerto Rican. Another episode I saw was at the casino when a black guy hit on a hand of black jack when he should have held giving the house the win. White guy next to him started calling him a stupid n word.
Those were two incidences. I have more stories. Heck I was told by a black guy at the neighborhood pool that I was a nice guy, for a white guy. It goes both ways.
So, do those incidences sound like racism to you? To me it does!
I think modern society has really dumbed down the usage of racist/racism (and other things as well). The level of racism in the US is as low as its ever been but you would not know it by the rhetoric. Separate water fountains/bathrooms, separate but equal education, having to ride at the back of the bus, not being able to eat in a restaurant, strange fruit hanging from trees, etc. That's racism. Someone using a racial slur is certainly offensive, insensitive and ignorant but I wouldn't necessarily label it racism. Does the waitress spit in the food of those dirty Hispanics or deliberately serve them poorly or slowly? Or was she just venting in a crude, offensive manner because she'd previously served a large Hispanic group and didn't receive a tip?
Personally I find the excessive usage of racism/racist annoying and think it is a hindrance to actually improving race relations further but objectively it shows how far we've come. I'd much rather have media racism stories be on people saying offensive things than on a black guy ending up dead because he talked to/looked at a white woman wrong.