The Coles County Courthouse was the site of a Back the Blue rally and a Black Lives Matter counterprotest on Saturday morning.

We at The Daily Eastern News were on the scene while the rallies began, and when they converged later on. The sides were separated by a line of police officers and heated words were exchanged.

We live streamed on Facebook throughout the morning, and the heated words exchanged outside the courthouse were nothing in comparison to some of the hateful and shockingly racist comments that appeared on our stream.

We are aware that racism exists both in the Charleston community and all over the country, but some of the comments shared on Saturday seemed to come straight out of the Jim Crow era.

At one point of the stream, a Black woman was seen yelling across the street, and a commenter responded by saying, “someone shove a banana in her big mouth.”

This comment exhibits the worst of what was seen on our stream and also represents the very worst of our society.

The fact that someone felt comfortable enough to make that comment on a public forum is almost as upsetting as the comment itself. People seem to feel too emboldened to make racist remarks, especially when online.

There were other comments that were not as blatantly racist, but showed a deep misunderstanding for racial issues in America. Other comments included words like “punks” and “thugs,” words that often take on racial undertones when used.

The existence of racism in this community, and any community, is unavoidable. If anyone doubted that, the comments shared Saturday should serve as proof.

To those who deny the existence of racism, we ask that they open their eyes. To those who make these racist remarks, we hope they are ashamed of themselves.

Unfortunately, they most likely are not.