Racist Boston didn’t deserve Bill Russell

It was a bad idea to screw Boston.

Many of the city's people came out to honor Bill Russell, who died on Sunday at the age of 88.

There was a lot of praise and commentary about this man.

Russell was a great basketball player. He was the dominant player in the game. He was the best person on the planet. He spoke and walked it.

When it came to civil rights, Russell was even larger than he was on the floor.

He was treated badly by the city when he was there winning eight NBA titles in a row for the racist people that were in attendance.

They used to call him an ass back then. The word was worse.

The Celtic great was honored by the Boston Red Socks before their game at the park. The franchise that was the last to have a black player on its roster was the same one that had the first black player in 1947.

Tom Yawkey resisted as long as he could. The team decided to change the name of the street outside the stadium to Jersey Street.

Russell didn't have to read about the racism and bigotry that took place in Boston. He lived it and experienced it in a variety of ways.

Boston should have been a great place to live. It was not good.

Russell, a man of integrity and honor, did not allow Boston to off the hook. He once described Boston as a flea market of racism.

Fans didn't like the fact that Russell was Boston's first black star. He was yelled at by some Celtics fans. Russell said he felt unwanted during his time in the spotlight.

Russell's home in suburban Boston was vandalised while he was out at a country club.

His daughter wrote about it in the New York Times.

The house was left in a state of disrepair. The N-word was painted on the walls and beer was poured on the pool table. There were also gross acts if that wasn't enough.

His bed was defecated by the vandals who broke in that night. Russell was very upset by the event.

The Celtics retired his jersey in a private ceremony. The doors to the game were opened an hour before the game started. Only family and friends were allowed to have fun.

Russell didn't want the same people who hated him when he celebrated.

The first Black player drafted by the Celtics told Andscape that Russell thought Boston was the most racist place he had ever been.

Many wish you could chalk it up as the old days, and give people a pass for the bad things they did to black and brown people.

You wouldn't be right if you did that.

Boston's racist history is still going strong. It is alive and well, but it still rears its ugly head.

Marcus Smart said that fans in Boston made racist comments.

Adam Jones had racial slurs thrown at him. A bag of food.

The Jones incident prompted CC to chime in. In Boston, where he played 17 seasons, the N-word has never been used to describe him.

The Bruins were knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2012 by the Washington Caps after fans in Boston used racial slurs to describe the Caps player.

The media up there is also involved. The entire staff of WEEI in Boston was sent to sensitivity training after Christian Fauria pretended to be Don Yee, Tom Brady's agent.

Russell was an amazing man because he was able to fight on even though he faced a lot of challenges. It would have torn a man apart. That's not Russell. He won every time. He was on the correct side of history.

That cannot be said about Boston.

It was a bad idea to screw Boston. It has been done.