I lived in Texas for two years. In my time there I was ready for racism. I was also ready to see confederate flags. The only confederate flags I saw were on the news--when Mississippi wanted to keep in their flag, and when South Caroline was waving it on top of their state house--much like when I was living in California.

I moved to Boston a few years ago and once or twice a year I see someone with a confederate flag. I would never say that Boston isn't a segregated and racist city. There are no black people here, well, there are, but they are all working at or eating in the Wendy's at Downtown Crossing. The rest of the black population is left to live in Dorchester and other places you can get to on the subway's orange line. But still, I expect a more covert, intellectual, there are seventy colleges in Boston and the woman scooping your ice cream is getting her second master's sort of racism.

On my jog I run past a man wearing a t-shirt with a confederate flag on the front "Don't be ashamed to wear this flag" the shirt says, I avert my eyes and jog past. The homeless woman across from me on the subway with the confederate flag scull cap. I gave her the benefit of the mentally ill-equipped doubt.

Yesterday I was watching the construction from my window and an old Cadillac drove by on the expressway with two flags waving from the windows--an American flag and a confederate flag and I wondered, "What's wrong with these people."