>Also the weather sucks, the accent sounds stupid, and the
>streets make no sense. Fuck that place.

No offense, but I held my breath and tried to reason with your argument up until this emotionally-charged, and immensely ignorant and bitter statement. I was born and raised in Boston (I also happen to be a dark-skinned black man) and I have never encountered overt racism my whole life that I have lived there. Not once have I even had any brushes with law enforcement. It generally all depends on where you were when you visited or briefly lived in Boston. What other neighborhoods, besides what was mentioned, did you go to? (Dorchester and Mission Hill are mixed neighborhoods by the way, even though the majority has always been Afro-American and Hispanic). What types of people did you hang out with or encountered? Yes, Boston does have a tainted history with racism, but so does EVERY city in America and around the world where there are mixed races of people with different beliefs, values, philosophies, politics, religions, idealizations etc. Racism happens everywhere, and to single out Boston is a rather clouded and narrow-minded view. For the most part, Massachusetts (and all of New England) is one of the most important areas in the nation that took part in the establishment of America. It also jump-started education, progressiveness, liberalism and the abolition of slavery: not to mention some of the most important figures in African-American history were from Massachusetts and had fought in the The Boston Revolution: the war that helped to create the United States. So while I agree with you on some level (and I'm sorry you had to encounter racism by a few bad apples) you can't ignore and fail to acknowledge Boston's important role in African-American history.