The most worrying part of an online news article on Yahoo.com is sometimes not the actual news story at all. With a quick scroll to the bottom, one will come across the comments section-a disturbing collection of racial remarks and eighteenth and nineteenth century views on humanity.

A snapshot example of such crude expressions of opinion are the responses of a commenter called “Click Click Boom” to the article “Man arrested at Atlanta airport in stabbings spree” posted on Yahoo on August 11, 2010.

The xenophobic cries of “Click Click Boom” call on the United States to “[g]et rid of the blacks and [M]exicans and let the Jews in.” He or she also states that “WHITE IS RIGHT!”, and posts later in response to another comment “Go back to Africa DAWG! This is WHITE MAN[‘]S country, [n]ot yours.” 

One could argue that these comments should not be regarded seriously, especially given the grammatical errors and incorrect spelling in many of the posts. The commenter’s opinions could also be written off as uneducated.

However, when a seemingly exponential increase in similar comments surface and Arizona’s SB 1070, Lino Lake’s English only law, and the more recent questioning of the fourteenth Amendment become real discussions, there is evidence of trouble.

It is questionable whether this is just a “wave” of extremism and hatred due to the economic downturn, or if our country is turning in a new and scary direction. Before these radical views materialize and further penetrate our society, they must be stopped.

Unless if one considers most of the remarks on Yahoo news as favorable, all people should be encouraged to fight back through comments filled with a strong understanding humanity. At minimum give a simple click of “dislike” or a “thumbs down” to these shameful comments.