Column:

Online comments enable racism

By ChaToyya Sewell

Published March 5, 2010

I read the comments.

Everyone knows the first rule of news Web sites is to never read the comments, especially on topics of race, gender, heterosexism, etc., and especially if you are prone to heartburn, high blood pressure, angry tremors or whatever.

But I read the comments.

After the vandalism that occurred at the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, which, regardless of what political rhetoric might tell you, was a racist act, a slew of news outlets picked up the stories. Those slew of news outlets had comments, and once again, I read the comments.

There is room for discussion and dissent in controversial matters of race. On my last article, commenter "The Amazing Rando" took issue with my use of the phrase, "small community of color," because though only 2 percent of the population is black at the University of California-San Diego, 44 percent of the population is Asian. A fair point, presented politely, that I concede. Unfortunately dissenting opinions presented like these seem exceedingly rare on public news Web sites.

Generally dissenting comments on these controversial issues trend toward histrionics, straw man arguments, assumptions, erasel and ad hominem attacks.

Of the local articles about the cotton littering at the BCC, the Columbia Daily Tribune seemed to have the most numerate and obnoxious commenters. This is to say nothing against the Columbia Daily Tribune, whose articles I found little fault with and who cannot control who chooses to share their vitriol and ignorance on their page.

The first six comments in themselves found more fault and outrage in a student speaking at the scene of the incident, where emotions where running high, saying white students should be embarrassed. Reverse racism was cried, shame, commenters shouted.

This is a trope in these sorts of conversations; when in doubt, accuse those speaking out against racism of being racist themselves. Sociological definitions aside, (power plus prejudice people, look it up) for future notice, I do not hate white people. I am quite neutral about them actually.

Another common theme running through these sorts of conversations is patronization.

Many commenters (who self-identified as white) think the best thing to end racism is to just shut up about it. Except if we look to our history, we see centuries in which the threat of violence was so great that these conversations were effectively disallowed to exist in the public sphere.

I do not want to take away any power from the people of color who came before by denying the existence of subvert forms of resistances or discussions of oppressions among communities of color. But slaves were not presenting masters with conversations about anti-racism. Racism did not dissipate into a cloud of hate in this environment -- it thrived. It produced years of slavery, genocide, racism and violence.

So thanks for the (patronizing) concern, but no thanks.

Silence on these topics is a privilege many people of color who live with the day-to-day fallout from oppression cannot afford.

But most irritating of all is the ability of those espousing comments of pure ignorance to still believe they are martyrs speaking to the masses that think they're mad.

Commenter LissaT on the original Tribune article begins with "Touchy subject. Im sure I will catch you know what, after I make this statement.........But oh well" before asking where the white culture center is. Within the next 20 comments, LissaT has three pledges of support and a quite a few more leaving comments just as privileged as theirs.

LissaT: You are not alone; people hear your horn of ignorance loud and clear.

It wasn't all bad. Commenters, such as identityx, pointed out to LissaT that a white culture center could just go by the title "University of Missouri."

But it's obnoxious all the same, because it's so repetitive. You want "White entertainment television?" I'm sure "Friends" got you on that. You want a white "Ebony?"

Vanity Fair is waiting on the bookstore shelves.

I get tired of reading selectively capitalized diatribes about anti-racism supposed pretension, idiocy, "race baiting" and Marxism. You want to have these conversations? Educate yourself first, please.