For the life of me I cannot understand trolls! I know I have discussed trolls here before, but tonight I’m going to vent and rant about “racist” internet trolls. I have always been cognizant of what people say and peoples reactions to what is being said. In the analogue world I am adept at this skillset of paying attention to peoples words and then paying attention to the people who are listening. In the digital world, my skillset has taken me to the depths of the abyss of recklessness otherwise known as the comment section. The comment sections of websites, blogs or opinion pieces, or anything expressed that can be critiqued, championed, or debated has a space dedicated to do so. In most cases with me I am always perusing through Hip Hop blogs in search of the latest happenings in the rap world. Every so often I am shocked, but not really surprised by the unadulterated racism that is spewed in the comment sections. This trend has been well documented and can be easily verified by anyone willing to take the time to do so. This is how prevalent it is.

I do not understand what exactly is the purpose of one anonymous screen name calling another anonymous screen name a “nigger,” just because? There is no justifiable reason for why any non Black person would use the “nigger” epithet, but at least one can make an argument for the psycho-social ramifications of doing so IN PERSON. A white person calling me a nigger in real time in real life will have a more profound impact then had they said it to me over the internet. In real life, hurling racial slurs at someone can be a double-edged sword for the person trying to insult someone because that “nigger” might haul off and slap the taste out of the insulter! On the flip side, the “nigger” might be lynched: shot down in the street, choked out on camera, or chained to the back of a pickup truck and drug for miles.

Live in the flesh interactions are always more intense so why would a racist person come on to a website about a culture that people of color created just to demean them? Why search for a Hip Hop website, create a log in account, read an entire article, and then find some random “Black sounding” anonymous screen name, and then call them a “monkey?” Why expend that type of energy especially when the intended target of your bigotry responds to your slurs with “I’m white you bitch?” How immensely ignorant does a racist troll feel when they have called another white person “nigger” in their failed attempt at insulting a Black person? There in the depths of the white supremacist psyche lies the root of their ignorance…OBSESSION! You know how much due diligence goes into finding websites and creating accounts all just to start an argument with someone who may not even be the intended target? A LOT! Deep down inside the heart of a racist is a weird fixation and admiration for the folks they proclaim to hate. Calling a Black person “nigger” is their twisted way of being in relation with Black folks even if it is to their detriment or embarrassment.