"Racism ...may be defined as the hatred of one person by another -- or the belief that another person is less than human -- because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor. From the Anti Defamation League

According to the US census, Vermont and Maine are tied as the "Whitest State" in the nation with about 96% in each state self identifying themselves as white.

Perhaps as a result, some of us have developed a not so subtle form of racism that finds an outlet in the online comment columns of the Portland Press Herald, The Waterville Morning Sentinel, The Augusta Kennebec Journal, and The Bangor Daily News.

When a person of color or an immigrant is in the news, the columns are often full of the most vile, bigoted comments. In some cases, readers report these comments are "inappropriate," in some cases the newspapers themselves monitor these columns, in other cases the comments remain for hours or even days and months in the archives.

Good-hearted, principled readers often attempt to counter these vile online comments, but they often find themselves on the end of the same attacks.

The great irony is that these newspapers would never allow these vile comments to appear in their paper editions as comments (Letters to the Editor), but allow the filth to appear under their logos.

For today's example of which I write

Portland Press Herald, 11/20

Bangor Daily News, 11/20

Portland Press Herald, 8/5, for an example of 95 comments that had to be heavily edited

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