For over 20 years, my family and I have lived in a quiet suburb just 25 miles north of Boston.

It's easy to fall in love with the natural beauty of this area, and it's tempting to become lulled into complacency by the seemingly liberal bent of its population.

But you don't need to dig too deeply to find evidence of the region's often ugly racial past.

My town is only a suburb of Boston because after World War II, the government made extensive investments in highway infrastructure,

to connect the city's central arteries to outlying areas in every direction. But not everyone

reaped the benefits of these investments. In a 1975 report titled Route 128, Road to Segregation,

the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination

detailed the extent of racial exclusion in Boston suburbs.

The report examined the policies and practices of federal, state, and local government,

as well as those of private employers, the housing industry, and private citizens.

They concluded that, quote,

federal and state fair housing laws have failed to open the suburbs to minority group citizens.

As a result, Boston's black and Puerto Rican populations remain in those sections of the city with the greatest proportion of deteriorating and dilapidated housing.

The report went on to direct a majority of the

blame for this inequity on, quote, suburban public officials and the local residents of suburban

towns, who for the most part have sought to maintain the status quo and to preserve the

character of their communities.

Racial discrimination is baked into the neighborhoods and landscapes of Metro Boston.

But it generally goes unacknowledged.

Until that is, something pops up in the news and puts a spotlight on the region's legacy of racism.

And often, that something has to do with sports.

In overtime of Game 7 of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs,

...