Why are internet comments sections so right wing?

[AverageJoe90]

8. I doubt that. Otherwise, we'd be looking at President Romney right now.....

There is no way that this phenomenon can be so wide-spread and consistent without it being representative.

Not necessarily. I do hate to seem confrontational, but you forget that all too often, many decent people sit around and just stay silent while the racists spout away; and more than a few of them will spend hours and hours spewing their crap all over the place, making multiple comments. Numbers themselves may not lie, but they can certainly be massaged down or exaggerated to such a point that they become part of the fiction. This is definitely a case of the latter here. Regardless of your faith in humanity, it can be safely said that at least these days, the majority of Americans of any race are not hardcore racists, yes, even white folks.

With that said, though, I don't think anyone will deny that racism does remain a substantial problem in this country, and not just societal racism & other bigotries, but the remnants of *structural* prejudice as well.