Boston in the 80’s and early 90’s was pretty much as bad as it’s been described.
I am from Western MA and when I went to college in the early 80’s I was surrounded by kids from Boston. I was actually stunned when I heard them talk about the blacks back home. In my city, I would have gotten my ass kicked if I spoke like that in public.
A lot has changed since then. I doubt that people are as “rough” as they used to be. But it was bad, back in the day.
As I heard a comedian say, "We weren't racist, we hated everyone who wasn't Italian."