Racism in the Boston area

Derek takes a look at that Harvard study on racism in greater Boston and discusses his own experiences as a black man born and raised in Boston, says he is more worried about anti-gay violence than racism, but concludes there is still enough racism out there to warrant some soul-searching by whites:

... It's easy enough for us to rail against institutional racism, but what about attacking the pervasive nature of homegrown neighborhood racism? When do conscious members of the white community stand up and take action where they live? One tidbit that gets overlooked in the study is that it sampled people from around the region, not just in Boston. The suburbs have as much soul searching to do as any area of the city.

Peter, though, disputes the Harvard study, saying that minorities might be getting bad service not because they're minorities but because:

Service is terrible everywhere. Service personnel have no respect for anyone. Get used to it!