Much as TBD pokes fun at the Post now and then, we must admit that the paper sets the standard for D.C. journalism. Its local and national coverage is sound, its bloggers are superb, and its columnists — especially Courtland Milloy — are nothing if not provocative. But the commenters? Not so much.

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A Tuesday column by Milloy, "Gallery Place youths say crackdown on rowdy teens affecting all," wasn't his most inflammatory, but it touched on a sensitive subject nonetheless: groups of "black youths" causing trouble, sometimes violently so, in Chinatown — and how law-abiding black teenagers are, as a result, targeted by police and discriminated against by neighborhood businesses.

As you might expect, the scores of commenters used taste and discretion — and proper grammar — in discussing this delicate, racially charged topic. Let's take a look, yes?

caseythekid is tired of Milloy — and those annoying, lying, thieving kids:

Courtland..!!!! when are you going to RETIRE?
All you ever do is complain about race... Its getting a little OLD. in case you haven't heard, we have a black President now.

And if I were a business owner in Gallery Place, I'd move my business because of those annoying kids. Yes... those kids are awful... and they're liars and thief's.

rparker614 says these "black teens" are keeping her from attending the thee-ay-tur:

I am a DC resident and did frequent the theater and resturants there but between the foul language and the behavior of the black teens, I no longer spend money there. Instead of using the metro I now drive to the nearby suburbs to enjoy a meal and movie. What a shame that the nation's capital can't project a better image than it does. If I was a business owner I would push to get something done.

ActualDCNative suggests white people "get a gun and Rottweiler":

All i smell is discrimination and prejudice. The stuff white people of the area have been showing the black DC natives for decades. If these teens were white skateboarding anarchist punks, these comments would be full of support and excuses. Cowardice is the main issue. Grown people are on here complaining about safety. They're children. If you're threatened by children, then maybe you need to go to the gym and take a few tae bo classes. Or get a gun and Rottweiler.

john_bruckner won't even enter the District because of these "black teens":

What else would one expect from Courtland Milloy but another piece rationalizing why black teen thugs aren't black teen thugs.

And yet Milloy constantly leads the stop the violence pity party after black teens are murdered by other black teens. Despicable hypocrite.

Black teens are the reason I won't even go into DC.

MandyL202 has identified the problem: White people can't tell black people apart:

I do admit during my lunch break it is annoying to go downtown and a bunch of kids are blocking my entrance to Chipotle. However I was once a teenager and fell victim to the same thing, people automatically assume if you're young and black trouble will arise. Teenagers in a busy city are going to act like like teenagers in EVERY busy city. What do you expect aggressive and young, with no regard. It's no reason to persecute them. The problem is white people can't distinguish the "thugs" from the "non-thugs," they just see trendy black kid and assume trouble.

tsqnova thinks its time "black youth" started dressing like whites, Asians, and Latinos:

If you are a law-abiding black youth and want to distance yourself from the rabble, start dressing like white, asian and latino youths your own age. Pull your pants up, cut off the dreads and braids and all the "cultural" things that automatically set you APART from law-abiding culture. I'm sorry if it's "black culture" you're representing. The rest of us (not just whites) see it as "ghetto culture." And ghetto culture is what the police are cracking down on: bum-rushing stores, shoplifting, muggings, and lewd, loud, boorish behavior.

Stand up straight, show some pride in your posture, walk with dignity, stop yelling obscenities, stop having pre-marital sex and popping out babies that no one can afford. As soon as this ghetto culture disappears, the better all of us will be for it.

We're all int this messed up world together: white, black, asian, latino, etc. We all need to participate by the same rules

And this comment from the_lever — well, we have no comment:

DC needs quasi-police hit squads like in the slums of Rio.

Problem solved.

I'm sure that, as D.C. becomes increasingly white, this racial friction won't become more pronounced. No, not at all.