BONDS SAYS BOSTON IS TOO RACIST FOR HIM... ME TOO

A couple days ago I heard about this and saw a segment on ESPN with two Boston reporters discussing racism in Boston. ESPN gave some interesting facts and views prior to the interview citing Bill Russell's struggles with racism while living in Boston, the Dee Brown incident (black man at an ATM drew the attention of four cops with guns drawn), and how Boston was the last city to have a black man on a major league baseball team. One reporter was taking the position that the Boston Bonds was referring to is an image from the 1950s and 1960s, and how many professional athletes live there without complaints. The other reporter, who was black and an author on racism in Boston, talked about "pre-Mo Vaughn" and "post-Mo Vaughn." How Mo Vaughn was the first black athlete the city embraced. It seemed he was taking a soft approach and holding back during this discussion.

The reality is how much of the general population's racist views that many minorities encountered have changed over the last decade? Did they all of a sudden go to courses on racial sensitivity? Were they required by the city to have at least one black friend? Another perspective the first reporter failed to mention was the difference between the treatment of recognized professional athletes by the general population of Boston and the average black man. Dee Brown, former Boston Celtic point guard, was "an average black man" one weekend morning in an affluent Boston suburb when he decided to take out some money from an ATM machine. A few minutes later he was surrounded by four police officers with their guns drawn. Messed up.

This issue strikes a cord with me because Boston was the only major city I visited where I had a blatant racial incident. During grad school, I played on the club volleyball team and we went up to Boston for a tournament. The night before we played, some of us decided to go hangout at a bar. In Harvard Square (yes, in Harvard Square), we walked around and saw a bar with their doors wide open and it was fairly packed, so we decided to check it out. We got to the doors where the host look at us and said, "We're closed."

Our group was comprised of six Asian Americans and one caucasian. One of my teammates said, "But your sign says you're opened and for a few more hours?"

"We're closed."

None of us were in the mood to deal with such crap so we walked away and went to another bar. Typically, I might have started a ruckus, but I wasn't with close friends and I didn't feel like expending my energy for such a situation that evening. But it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth for the city of Boston.

Barry Bonds on Boston:

The Boston Globe reported in Friday's editions that Bonds said the town was "too racist for me" and that he would "never play there."