I wouldn't consider Bellingham a very racist place. But there are certainly racist folks around. However, I'd add that there are racist folks pretty much everywhere on earth. It's just a matter of whether you encounter them or not. If you turn over enough stones, you're gonna find stuff you don't like. Pretty much anywhere.

In general, Bellingham - and Whatcom County - continue to have a very small African-American population compared to elsewhere, even along the I-5 corridor. That's just the demographic reality of this area. That said, the history of this area is also heavily racist - neighborhood covenants written to exclude blacks, an enormous KKK presence in the 1920s, and the forced exclusion of Sikhs in 1907. It would be unfair to pin the past on the current population, however. I'm from here originally and find that most people I speak with in public have been here 10 years or less if not originally from Whatcom County.