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Those of us who grew up in New England, myself in Connecticut, knew there was always a silent racism in the region. It's always held up in the media as the most tolerant area of the country. I remember those busing protests in Boston in the seventies and they got pretty nasty. My uncle lived there at the time and said plenty of whites in the area routinely dropped the N word in conversation. Don't kid yourselves about the "tolerance" of Bostonians and easterners in general. It never gets in the press because of the dominance of New York and the DC media, but racism especially towards blacks, is a fact of life in that part of the country. Remember too most of these white racists are DEMOCRATS.

I was eating in a little Italian Restaurant in the North End some time before the 2012. The waitress was calling back into the kitchen something about "the n*gga" and then by way of explanation told me "The boss says we've all gotta' vote for the n*gga again." Another customer (seemed like Southie Irish to me), laughed and said Obama would probably be in town for a fundraiser because "Africans are always sniffing after blood diamonds, and this f***ing ape ain't no different. But f*** the Republican guy. Don't like him anyway. F*** Republicans."

It was a small neighbor spot kind of down an alley a few streets away from the Navy Yard, but I had never been there before, and being of the 2nd generation of my family to not be from Southie I don't have even the slightest hint of "Boston charm" about me -- I was also a college freshman at the time and a slightly preppy dresser, so it would be hard to mistake me for a Boston hood rat or something. The incident rolled so many of my negative impression of Boston into one experience that I almost laughed out loud at what was an unbelievable situation, but between the "f*** Republicans" guy and wondering whether the waitress meant the owner of the restaurant or a mob boss when she said "the boss" I finished eating and left a nice tip.

That's Boston, beneath the veneer.