why do so many fans of other teams hate us?

[Donoghus]

It's a loaded question and a lot to it but I'll give it a shot.

1)  Very loud & passionate sports fans.  Not just Celtics but across all sports in Boston.  Fans have always been very vocal & protective about their teams.  Any perceived slight usually leads to a avalanche of Boston fans defending their teams.  It's probably the most parochial sports city in North America.  Not to mention that even when their teams are in the crapper, there is still a ridiculous amount of passion there.

2)  Winning.  You don't win this many championships over the past 16 years and not peeve off other fanbases.  Winning breeds envy which breeds contempt.  Its really that simple when it comes to sports fandom.

3)  Offshoot of east coast/media bias.  Boston is a northeastern city.  Between several national media types that attended college in Boston and the fact that ESPN is based in Connecticut, there has been a much larger spotlight shown on Boston & New York sports teams than, say, teams in Kansas City or Milwaukee throughout the years.   How many times do you see Red Sox/Yankees on ESPN or a Sportscenter lead story being on some Boston or New York team?  This leads to huge backlash from other cities that point the finger at major media outlets and scream "east coast bias".    This is without even getting into Bill Simmons & the obvious effect that he has had on the view of Boston sports fans/teams.

4)  Deflategate.  Obviously, a much more recent factor but a factor, nonetheless.  The crapstorm that arose from this so called incident.   The way the media blew this thing out of proportion and how this event really pushed the "us v. them" narrative to a whole different level.  The vocal outcry by Patriot fans against this thing.  The constant attention by the national media on this for months created a huge fatigue and certainly created some backlash towards Boston sports fans.

5)  Boston's racial history.  Justified or not, this has played a factor over the years.  Especially outsiders view of the city.

[Eja117]

My anti-Boston friends pretty universally claim that Boston is a racist city.  With continued criticisms within the media (e.g., SNL comedian recently identified Boston as the "most racist city" he has ever visited; A 2015 BU study that reported a life expectancy of 90 years for residents of Back Bay compared to a life expectancy of 59 years in nearby Roxbury), celebration of the predominantly white Celtics teams of the past, and the Brady/Belichik era of dominance, etc., I assume this is an ongoing narrative. Hopefully I'm speculating inaccurately, though.

Dio they ignore the part where Boston had the first black basketball player? Or do they discuss that this is what you see when you walk down the steps of our state house?  I agree Boston can be a cruddy hypocritical place. But so can other places.

Boston also had the first black pro head coach. But these are facts and facts aren't important these days. People go by their gut and many peoples guts say bad things about Boston and race.

Aren't we one of only 4 states that had a black governor? Chief Justice of our Supreme Court too

Quit playing their stupid game by pathetically reaching for info to say, "See, we're not so bad."

I'm not saying we're not so bad. I'm saying we're better.

"I'm not racist, I have friends who are black."

I totally agree with you. People in other cities always have black friends.

[Eja117]

This doesn't help:

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones says he was subjected to a torrent of N-words and other racist taunts at Fenway Park during Baltimore's game against the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.

"A disrespectful fan threw a bag of peanuts at me,'' Jones said, according to USA Today. "I was called the N-word a handful of times tonight. Thanks. Pretty awesome.''

Jones, one of just 62 African-American players on the Opening Day rosters of the league's 30 teams this year, said he was the target of further taunts as the game continued.

"Very unfortunate," Jones said. "I heard there was 59 or 60 ejections tonight in the ballpark. It is what it is, right. I just go out and play baseball. It's unfortunate that people need to resort to those type of epithets to degrade another human being. I'm trying to make a living for myself and for my family."

He said it was not the first time hecklers in the stands at Fenway had targeted him with a slew of racist abuse, but Jones told USA Today and The Boston Globe that Monday night's taunts were among the worst experiences of his 12-year big league career.

That's not from 1960. It's from last night.

Was this caught on video?  I'm not seeing any statements by the Red Sox.

Yeah, I'm sure he's lying. Because his motivation to do so is what, exactly?

Anybody who has been in the bleachers at Fenway knows how obnoxious those drunken idiots can be.

The Red Sox believe it happened. Why don't you?

“The Red Sox want to publicly apologize to Adam Jones and the entire Orioles organization for what occurred at Fenway Park Monday night. No player should have an object thrown at him on the playing field, nor be subjected to any kind of racism at Fenway Park,” Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said in a statement. “The Red Sox have zero tolerance for such inexcusable behavior, and our entire organization and our fans are sickened by the conduct of an ignorant few.”

This could be shocking to some but people (even pro athletes) are known to lie, exaggerate, or embellish, for attention or because of various other reasons like excuse making (right David Price?). Never met the guy so I have no reason to think he's lying or telling the truth.  I haven't met them, but I can ask myself why don't you hear this from every minority athlete? Why didn't I hear this from KG, and Doc, and Rondo, and Ortiz, and Pedro? Maybe they did and I just didn't hear it.

So then we go to evidence. There were 30,000 people there with smart phones and so far I'm not seeing video of this and I'm not hearing other players corroborate the story. As far as I know he didn't point anyone out to security.

Looking at the Sox statement they could have easily confirmed that this happened. They didn't. They just said that it shouldn't and they're absolutely right.

Do I think it could have happened or has probably happened at some point? Definitely. Do I have to jump to conclusions without any data one way or the other? Nope.

Let's see the data. Let's see lists of ejections by stadium and year and the reasons for it. I'd be very curious where Boston would stack up.  Somebody might have to eat some crow. Might be me. Might not.

But I certainly don't expect fans and players of other teams to say wonderful things about us all the time.

[kraidstar]

In terms of Boston sports, my wife moved to Boston with no sports allegiances of any kind.  We went to a few games at Fenway, but she found the fans obnoxious at best, and passively racist at worst, and we stopped going.  We went to minor league games instead.  Pawtucket was great, but New Hampshire was as bad as Fenway, and this was AA baseball.

We didn't go to any Celtics games while she was there, but my one Celtics game in 2002 left me with a similar bad taste (except the fans were blatantly homophobic instead of passively racist).  Despite them being my favorite team, and living in Boston for another decade, I never returned to the Garden (or Fleet Center/whatever name it went by.)

We moved to DC in 2012.  Nats fans are much nicer than Sox fans.  I can show up to a Wizards game in a Celtics shirt, and no one says anything, except maybe some playful banter.  Minor-league baseball is as family-friendly as it should be, unlike we found it to be at the games we went to in New Hampshire.

Maybe for some people there is a history that goes back decades, but our exposure to and knowledge of Boston fandom is largely from the last decade or so, and even though I'm a fan of the Celtics, my opinion of Boston fans isn't that far off from those who root for rival teams.

Mind you, I don't think it's all fans, and it's probably not a majority of fans, but there are enough to create a very off-putting atmosphere in a way that we haven't experienced elsewhere.  (We've also been to MLB games together in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and the Mets.  We haven't seen the Yankees because we imagine it would be similar to Boston.)

And that's not to insult Boston.  We'd move back tomorrow if we could.  But it is real.

Was the NH team the Fisher Cats, the Jays' AA club in Manchester?

I find that interesting because I've been to more sporting events than I can count and I've literally never heard a racist comment from anyone.

I've never been to a Fisher Cats game, but I've been to dozens of Sea Dogs games, and the fans are classy and great. Same with the Red Claws and Pirates. I even went to a WWE event recently (not a fan, but it was surprisingly awesome). Maybe it's because Portland is such a nice city, but the fans come from all over, so you'd think there would be some racists.

The only game I've been to in Manchester was a Celtics preseason game, there were no problems there. But Manchester overall is a bit economically depressed, and there are some unpleasant characters around.

Never seen any racism at the UNH football and hockey games in Durham.

Only been to a couple pro games in Boston, but I didn't hear any racism or homophobia. Maybe it was a small sample size, and I've been lucky.

On my travels I did see both the Toronto Blue Jays and Anaheim Angels play in their respective towns. The fans definitely seemed less intoxicated and more relaxed than in Boston. There were a remarkable number of Jays jerseys around Toronto (and some Expos ones too!), but they are certainly a mellower breed.

I think this local intensity - mostly for the pro teams - makes the bad apples that much worse, but it doesn't necessarily mean racism is more prevalent, it just might be more open due to the level of "passion" and intoxication.

[green_bballers13]

They hate the success.

The incidents at Fenway were unfortunate. A couple idiots make the fanbase look bad. It's foolish to paint Boston as a racist city as a result of a few people.

[kozlodoev]

The peanut bag incident happened. There was at least one caller on Toucher and Rich today morning that corroborated it, said nearby fans identified the offender and he was removed.

The rest of it... *shrug*. You're telling me that Boston is the only place where racist punks are yelling stuff?

edit: This is not to diminish the despicable behavior of one individual (one individual is one too many, for sure). But if you want to know what a racist crowd sounds like... let's just say stuff like this happens in some parts of Europe with alarming regularity (see below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyNaZA8TBlA

[RJ87]

I'm not saying we're not so bad. I'm saying we're better.

"I'm not racist, I have friends who are black."

I totally agree with you. People in other cities always have black friends.

When I made the decision to go to college in Boston, my grandmother and mother begged me not to go because it was a racist city. Neither of them ever lived there, but the city has a reputation and after 6 years living there, I get it. Overall, I loved the city and enjoyed my time there. Racism has layers, it's not just someone overtly calling you the n-word or throwing something at you or threatening you. Implicit racism is an actual thing. In addition to Boston, I've also lived in LA, NYC, New Jersey and North Carolina but some of the most disheartening things I've experience happened to me during my time in Boston. Doesn't mean I think everyone from Boston is a racist or even that Boston is truly a racist city, but it's naive to not see why it may have a reputation - especially when it comes to media portrayal. Look at the like Michael Che incident.

[kozlodoev]

I'm not saying we're not so bad. I'm saying we're better.

"I'm not racist, I have friends who are black."

I totally agree with you. People in other cities always have black friends.

When I made the decision to go to college in Boston, my grandmother and mother begged me not to go because it was a racist city. Neither of them ever lived there, but the city has a reputation and after 6 years living there, I get it. Overall, I loved the city and enjoyed my time there. Racism has layers, it's not just someone overtly calling you the n-word or throwing something at you or threatening you. Implicit racism is an actual thing. In addition to Boston, I've also lived in LA, NYC, New Jersey and North Carolina but some of the most disheartening things I've experience happened to me during my time in Boston. Doesn't mean I think everyone from Boston is a racist or even that Boston is truly a racist city, but it's naive to not see why it may have a reputation - especially when it comes to media portrayal. Look at the like Michael Che incident.

Care to elaborate perhaps?

[SparzWizard]

It's a loaded question and a lot to it but I'll give it a shot.

1)  Very loud & passionate sports fans.  Not just Celtics but across all sports in Boston.  Fans have always been very vocal & protective about their teams.  Any perceived slight usually leads to a avalanche of Boston fans defending their teams.  It's probably the most parochial sports city in North America.  Not to mention that even when their teams are in the crapper, there is still a ridiculous amount of passion there.

2)  Winning.  You don't win this many championships over the past 16 years and not peeve off other fanbases.  Winning breeds envy which breeds contempt.  Its really that simple when it comes to sports fandom.

3)  Offshoot of east coast/media bias.  Boston is a northeastern city.  Between several national media types that attended college in Boston and the fact that ESPN is based in Connecticut, there has been a much larger spotlight shown on Boston & New York sports teams than, say, teams in Kansas City or Milwaukee throughout the years.   How many times do you see Red Sox/Yankees on ESPN or a Sportscenter lead story being on some Boston or New York team?  This leads to huge backlash from other cities that point the finger at major media outlets and scream "east coast bias".    This is without even getting into Bill Simmons & the obvious effect that he has had on the view of Boston sports fans/teams.

4)  Deflategate.  Obviously, a much more recent factor but a factor, nonetheless.  The crapstorm that arose from this so called incident.   The way the media blew this thing out of proportion and how this event really pushed the "us v. them" narrative to a whole different level.  The vocal outcry by Patriot fans against this thing.  The constant attention by the national media on this for months created a huge fatigue and certainly created some backlash towards Boston sports fans.

5)  Boston's racial history.  Justified or not, this has played a factor over the years.  Especially outsiders view of the city.

I'm just majorly upset that the clown Goodell stripped the Patriots of their draft picks. Wasn't even mad about Tom Brady resting 4 games enroute to winning a Superbowl WITH PROPERLY INFLATED FOOTBALLS.

And ESPN is also one who stirred the crap into a bigger load, and thus, I hate ESPN lol.

[Evantime34]

I'm not saying we're not so bad. I'm saying we're better.

"I'm not racist, I have friends who are black."

I totally agree with you. People in other cities always have black friends.

When I made the decision to go to college in Boston, my grandmother and mother begged me not to go because it was a racist city. Neither of them ever lived there, but the city has a reputation and after 6 years living there, I get it. Overall, I loved the city and enjoyed my time there. Racism has layers, it's not just someone overtly calling you the n-word or throwing something at you or threatening you. Implicit racism is an actual thing. In addition to Boston, I've also lived in LA, NYC, New Jersey and North Carolina but some of the most disheartening things I've experience happened to me during my time in Boston. Doesn't mean I think everyone from Boston is a racist or even that Boston is truly a racist city, but it's naive to not see why it may have a reputation - especially when it comes to media portrayal. Look at the like Michael Che incident.

I'm sorry that you felt Boston was racist. Too often when people call Boston a racist city, a bunch of white people are quick to argue that statement. For white people to tell black people that Boston isn't racist is a bad look.

I believe that it is up to the offended party to decide if something is racist and if those offended believe something to be racist then the offending party should attempt to act better rather than convince the offended party they are wrong.

Boston clearly has a problem of being a racist city, and we need to work towards remedying the problem rather than pretending it doesn't exist.

What is crazy to me, is that Boston is one of the most progressive cities in the country, and I've always thought the people who live in the city were accepting of other cultures. I think that the racism comes from the old guard and those living outside the city but maybe that's just me rationalizing things to make it seem like the area I like in and come from isn't racist.

[saltlover]

In terms of Boston sports, my wife moved to Boston with no sports allegiances of any kind.  We went to a few games at Fenway, but she found the fans obnoxious at best, and passively racist at worst, and we stopped going.  We went to minor league games instead.  Pawtucket was great, but New Hampshire was as bad as Fenway, and this was AA baseball.

We didn't go to any Celtics games while she was there, but my one Celtics game in 2002 left me with a similar bad taste (except the fans were blatantly homophobic instead of passively racist).  Despite them being my favorite team, and living in Boston for another decade, I never returned to the Garden (or Fleet Center/whatever name it went by.)

We moved to DC in 2012.  Nats fans are much nicer than Sox fans.  I can show up to a Wizards game in a Celtics shirt, and no one says anything, except maybe some playful banter.  Minor-league baseball is as family-friendly as it should be, unlike we found it to be at the games we went to in New Hampshire.

Maybe for some people there is a history that goes back decades, but our exposure to and knowledge of Boston fandom is largely from the last decade or so, and even though I'm a fan of the Celtics, my opinion of Boston fans isn't that far off from those who root for rival teams.

Mind you, I don't think it's all fans, and it's probably not a majority of fans, but there are enough to create a very off-putting atmosphere in a way that we haven't experienced elsewhere.  (We've also been to MLB games together in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and the Mets.  We haven't seen the Yankees because we imagine it would be similar to Boston.)

And that's not to insult Boston.  We'd move back tomorrow if we could.  But it is real.

Was the NH team the Fisher Cats, the Jays' AA club in Manchester?

I find that interesting because I've been to more sporting events than I can count and I've literally never heard a racist comment from anyone.

I've never been to a Fisher Cats game, but I've been to dozens of Sea Dogs games, and the fans are classy and great. Same with the Red Claws and Pirates. I even went to a WWE event recently (not a fan, but it was surprisingly awesome). Maybe it's because Portland is such a nice city, but the fans come from all over, so you'd think there would be some racists.

The only game I've been to in Manchester was a Celtics preseason game, there were no problems there. But Manchester overall is a bit economically depressed, and there are some unpleasant characters around.

Never seen any racism at the UNH football and hockey games in Durham.

Only been to a couple pro games in Boston, but I didn't hear any racism or homophobia. Maybe it was a small sample size, and I've been lucky.

On my travels I did see both the Toronto Blue Jays and Anaheim Angels play in their respective towns. The fans definitely seemed less intoxicated and more relaxed than in Boston. There were a remarkable number of Jays jerseys around Toronto (and some Expos ones too!), but they are certainly a mellower breed.

I think this local intensity - mostly for the pro teams - makes the bad apples that much worse, but it doesn't necessarily mean racism is more prevalent, it just might be more open due to the level of "passion" and intoxication.

Yeah, it was the Fisher Cats.  Went to a couple games.  The second game we sat behind home plate -- there was a fan near us riding Aaron Hicks really hard the entire game.  Why he was picking on Aaron Hicks, I'll never know.  Around the 5th inning or so an usher told him to chill out, but next time Hicks came up he started again.  Thankfully he was asked to leave after that.  There was nothing overtly racist about anything he said, but Hicks was the only one he went after, and also happened to be the only African-American player in New Britain's lineup that day.  Coincidence? Possibly, but possibly not. That behavior was inappropriate for AA baseball regardless if there was racial motivation behind it.

A couple of months later, this happened:  http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/_NECN__Mass__Officer_Suspended_Following_Racial_Slur_at_Red_Sox_Player_NECN-251621331.html. We weren't surprised.

We've just never experienced that type of behavior outside of New England sports. We go to games in Frederick Maryland, which has plenty of racial issues in its history, both in its past as a slave state and in its present with occasional KKK displays.  But inside the ballpark we just don't feel that same discomfort as we did in New England.  Can't explain it fully, but it's something you really feel if you grew up elsewhere.

[RJ87]

I'm not saying we're not so bad. I'm saying we're better.

"I'm not racist, I have friends who are black."

I totally agree with you. People in other cities always have black friends.

When I made the decision to go to college in Boston, my grandmother and mother begged me not to go because it was a racist city. Neither of them ever lived there, but the city has a reputation and after 6 years living there, I get it. Overall, I loved the city and enjoyed my time there. Racism has layers, it's not just someone overtly calling you the n-word or throwing something at you or threatening you. Implicit racism is an actual thing. In addition to Boston, I've also lived in LA, NYC, New Jersey and North Carolina but some of the most disheartening things I've experience happened to me during my time in Boston. Doesn't mean I think everyone from Boston is a racist or even that Boston is truly a racist city, but it's naive to not see why it may have a reputation - especially when it comes to media portrayal. Look at the like Michael Che incident.

Care to elaborate perhaps?

Sure, I'll reopen an old wound. Why not?

A few years back, me and some friends (mostly black and latino) where at a relatively well known college bar on Boylston. We were seated a few tables over from a group of predominantly white girls who had become rowdy to the point that the cops were called. Two cops walk in and one starts talking to the manager and the other makes a beeline for our table and tells us we need to leave. We try to explain to the officer that it wasn't us but he kept saying we were belligerent and we needed to cooperate. Finally, the manager and the other cop comes over and explain that it's a different table, they go over to the other the table and far more politely asks them to leave. The 1st cop even helps one of the girls with her purse. Did we even get an apology? Nope.

[Evantime34]

I'm not saying we're not so bad. I'm saying we're better.

"I'm not racist, I have friends who are black."

I totally agree with you. People in other cities always have black friends.

When I made the decision to go to college in Boston, my grandmother and mother begged me not to go because it was a racist city. Neither of them ever lived there, but the city has a reputation and after 6 years living there, I get it. Overall, I loved the city and enjoyed my time there. Racism has layers, it's not just someone overtly calling you the n-word or throwing something at you or threatening you. Implicit racism is an actual thing. In addition to Boston, I've also lived in LA, NYC, New Jersey and North Carolina but some of the most disheartening things I've experience happened to me during my time in Boston. Doesn't mean I think everyone from Boston is a racist or even that Boston is truly a racist city, but it's naive to not see why it may have a reputation - especially when it comes to media portrayal. Look at the like Michael Che incident.

Care to elaborate perhaps?

Sure, I'll reopen an old wound. Why not?

A few years back, me and some friends (mostly black and latino) where at a relatively well known college bar on Boylston. We were seated a few tables over from a group of predominantly white girls who had become rowdy to the point that the cops were called. Two cops walk in and one starts talking to the manager and the other makes a beeline for our table and tells us we need to leave. We try to explain to the officer that it wasn't us but he kept saying we were belligerent and we needed to cooperate. Finally, the manager and the other cop comes over and explain that it's a different table, they go over to the other the table and far more politely asks them to leave. The 1st cop even helps one of the girls with her purse. Did we even get an apology? Nope.

Tp for sharing and I'm sorry that happened to you.

[green_bballers13]

I'm not saying we're not so bad. I'm saying we're better.

"I'm not racist, I have friends who are black."

I totally agree with you. People in other cities always have black friends.

When I made the decision to go to college in Boston, my grandmother and mother begged me not to go because it was a racist city. Neither of them ever lived there, but the city has a reputation and after 6 years living there, I get it. Overall, I loved the city and enjoyed my time there. Racism has layers, it's not just someone overtly calling you the n-word or throwing something at you or threatening you. Implicit racism is an actual thing. In addition to Boston, I've also lived in LA, NYC, New Jersey and North Carolina but some of the most disheartening things I've experience happened to me during my time in Boston. Doesn't mean I think everyone from Boston is a racist or even that Boston is truly a racist city, but it's naive to not see why it may have a reputation - especially when it comes to media portrayal. Look at the like Michael Che incident.

Care to elaborate perhaps?

Sure, I'll reopen an old wound. Why not?

A few years back, me and some friends (mostly black and latino) where at a relatively well known college bar on Boylston. We were seated a few tables over from a group of predominantly white girls who had become rowdy to the point that the cops were called. Two cops walk in and one starts talking to the manager and the other makes a beeline for our table and tells us we need to leave. We try to explain to the officer that it wasn't us but he kept saying we were belligerent and we needed to cooperate. Finally, the manager and the other cop comes over and explain that it's a different table, they go over to the other the table and far more politely asks them to leave. The 1st cop even helps one of the girls with her purse. Did we even get an apology? Nope.

Tp for sharing and I'm sorry that happened to you.

Does that make Boston a racist city? Or were the police officers in that instance racist?

I understand that this city has a bad history with race, and last nights events at Fenway don't help the reputation. Is it ok to blanket this city by saying that implicit racism is a thing (more here than elsewhere)? Isn't there a chance that there are racists that live here, but most are good people?

I would argue that while this city is less integrated, the populace votes much closer to a progressive, non-racist platform. My implicit read here is that more people in Boston understand the struggles of African Americans through history than in other areas of the country.

Anecdotally, many of the actual racists I have met in the state live in suburban/rural areas.

[RJ87]

I'm not saying we're not so bad. I'm saying we're better.

"I'm not racist, I have friends who are black."

I totally agree with you. People in other cities always have black friends.

When I made the decision to go to college in Boston, my grandmother and mother begged me not to go because it was a racist city. Neither of them ever lived there, but the city has a reputation and after 6 years living there, I get it. Overall, I loved the city and enjoyed my time there. Racism has layers, it's not just someone overtly calling you the n-word or throwing something at you or threatening you. Implicit racism is an actual thing. In addition to Boston, I've also lived in LA, NYC, New Jersey and North Carolina but some of the most disheartening things I've experience happened to me during my time in Boston. Doesn't mean I think everyone from Boston is a racist or even that Boston is truly a racist city, but it's naive to not see why it may have a reputation - especially when it comes to media portrayal. Look at the like Michael Che incident.

Care to elaborate perhaps?

Sure, I'll reopen an old wound. Why not?

A few years back, me and some friends (mostly black and latino) where at a relatively well known college bar on Boylston. We were seated a few tables over from a group of predominantly white girls who had become rowdy to the point that the cops were called. Two cops walk in and one starts talking to the manager and the other makes a beeline for our table and tells us we need to leave. We try to explain to the officer that it wasn't us but he kept saying we were belligerent and we needed to cooperate. Finally, the manager and the other cop comes over and explain that it's a different table, they go over to the other the table and far more politely asks them to leave. The 1st cop even helps one of the girls with her purse. Did we even get an apology? Nope.

Tp for sharing and I'm sorry that happened to you.

Does that make Boston a racist city? Or were the police officers in that instance racist?

I understand that this city has a bad history with race, and last nights events at Fenway don't help the reputation. Is it ok to blanket this city by saying that implicit racism is a thing (more here than elsewhere)? Isn't there a chance that there are racists that live here, but most are good people?

I would argue that while this city is less integrated, the populace votes much closer to a progressive, non-racist platform. My implicit read here is that more people in Boston understand the struggles of African Americans through history than in other areas of the country.

Anecdotally, many of the actual racists I have met in the state live in suburban/rural areas.

If you read my original post, I explicitly state I don't believe Boston is a racist despite personal experiences there. I'm simply trying to say yes, it has a reputation and I understand why.