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The Boston Police Department cemented the city’s racist reputation with an insulting—but not surprising—tweet on Sunday night that brought quick condemnation.

SEE ALSO: Will Closet Racism Prevent Boston From Electing First Black Mayor?

For Black History Month, Boston police officials decided to honor a White man.

“We pay tribute to @celtics legend #RedAuerbach for being the 1st @NBA coach to draft a black player in 1950, field an all African-American starting five in 1964 and hire the league’s 1st African-American head coach (Bill Russell) in 1966,” Boston 25 News reported, quoting the post that was deleted within an hour.

The response to hailing former Boston Celtics head coach Red Auerbach as a civil right hero was widely condemned, including this tweet from Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson, who unsuccessfully ran last year to be the first Black mayor of the city.

This “All Lives Matter” approach—honoring White people during Black History Month—comes after the Boston Globe published a scathing rebuke of Boston’s well-deserved reputation as a racist city.

“Here in Boston, a city known as a liberal bastion, we have deluded ourselves into believing we’ve made more progress than we have,” the report stated, pointing to evidence of persistent inequality and racist attitudes.

Among the evidence of inequality is the median net worth of just $8 for Black Boston residents compared to $247,500 for White households in the Boston area, according to The Globe. Black folks are barely breaking even, as their debts cancel out their assets. Black Bostonians are also discriminated against when apartment hunting via Craigslist because of the pervasiveness of racism throughout the city. As for the police, they continue to profile African-Americans. Black people in Boston comprised almost 70 percent of people the police stopped and search in 2016, but only 25 percent of the city’s population is Black.
After the Twitter backlash, the Boston police issued an insincere apologized, saying “our intentions were never to offend.”

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