(The Root) — The Internet can be a pretty ugly place, with anonymity giving a lot of people courage that they wouldn't otherwise have. Behind the cover of screen names, people blog, tweet and Facebook some pretty vile stuff. Sometimes they get in big trouble for it; other times, it has to be enough to mute, unfollow or de-friend the offending parties. Being a jerkface online isn't a punishable crime unless you're a super-huge jerkface — right, guy who got sent to jail for threatening to assassinate President Obama?
But one Tumblr isn't satisfied with letting the ignorant off scot-free. The blog, titled Public Shaming, does just that: It posts downright offensive posts and comments from social media so that thousands of citizens of the Internet can wag a collective finger. Oftentimes, Twitter users that end up on the site deactivate their accounts soon afterward.
One such group of people was pulled to the front of the class for ridicule for tweeting some very ugly things about Sebastian de la Cruz, a very talented young Mexican-American mariachi singer seen on the show America's Got Talent. De la Cruz sang the national anthem at the beginning of game 3 of the NBA finals, dressed in traditional mariachi garb, and did a remarkable job. But to some online, the idea that a "Mexican" (never mind the fact that de la Cruz was born in San Antonio) would be allowed to sing the national anthem was unbelievable.
The post about the racist tweets aimed at de la Cruz garnered more than 4,000 notes in the form of likes and reblogs. Thanks to the ease of sharing on Tumblr, plenty of people saw the venomous tweets, and de la Cruz himself responded with more class than any of the folks below had to show. If you see your cousin here, call his or her mom and let her know what kind of kid she raised.
Tracy Clayton is a writer, humorist and blogger from Louisville, Ky.