Massachusetts is one of the most racist states in the USA.
In the early 70’s I was on a ship that was undergoing a 2 month upkeep in Boston Naval Shipyard. Seems anywhere you went, especially near the Shipyard was N(word) this and N(word) that. If on a bus, in a restaurant, on the street or wherever, that was normal conversation...NO whispering or talking in a low voice. Seemed the locals went out of their way to say N***er, coon, spade or shine when there was a black person within hearing distance. It was like a taunting challange.
Now, I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and probably don't hear one of those words more than once every month or so.