Patch TOS policy is currently allowing an individual to comment, using the true and correct legal name of another unsuspecting individual, in order to comment while at the same time claiming the right to not publish their own true and correct legal name citing their privacy Patch's Nicholas Loffredo Regional Editor, Northern New Jersey gives tacit approval for ths.

What am I missing?

It is my view that using the name of some one else in lieu of their own name in order to protect their own privacy, is ahighly unethical thing for Patch to facilitate.

Part 4 re: San Ramon Patch Article

If you leave this article intact and/or take no action against the person who wrote it, you will be contributing to and endorsing this type of hateful, destructive behavior that harms every one of us as long as it is tolerated.

As you can see, I’ve copied Patch.com’s CEO on this and the NAACP to ensure that this issue is brought to their attention. I believe that you will be as incensed as I am and will choose to address this swiftly and appropriately on your own as editor of the San Ramon Patch, but I also believe that this is serious enough to make them aware that this not only happened, but that the article sat on Patch for over a year.

You have a wonderful platform with Patch. I hope you will work to ensure that it is used to bring communities together and not to tear them apart.

Sincerely,
Kimberly White

Part 3 re: San Ramon Patch Article

And lest you think this is coming from someone whose skin might be considered “colored” by ignorant people like the aforementioned author, and who is out trolling for cases of prejudice to pounce on, I can assure you that I am so freaking Caucasian that even my last name is White. And my blood is boiling. Imagine, if my blood pressure has gone sky high just sitting here writing this, how much more pain and anger would someone who experiences racism on a daily basis feel? Or someone whose ancestors or family members have suffered from such hate? My own ancestors lost their homes in Missouri in the 1800s for opposing slavery, and my grandfather was fired from two jobs for refusing to turn away African American customers. I carry that heritage proudly, and I will not tolerate this.

None of us should tolerate prejudice. My son has a dear friend who lives in San Ramon who is 16-years-old (we live in Pleasanton). My son came home sobbing, with tears running down his face about two years ago after he learned that his friend feared riding his bike to the park at Bollinger Canyon and SRVB, because he has been chased away by adults screaming the “N” word at him and has been taunted by other kids there using racial slurs. My son’s friend is a wonderful young man, but no matter what his character, he should never have had to face that abuse in his lifetime, much less in an affluent and educated city like San Ramon.

Part 2 re: San Ramon Patch Article

All I can say is, shame on Patch. “Colored” may seem like an innocuous word, but in this context, it has been used as a weapon to segregate, discriminate, and humiliate, and it’s deplorable for the author to have used it in this manner. As she claims to have an extensive journalism background, including writing for a national magazine, I find it difficult to believe that she is unaware of the implications of using the word “colored” to describe someone with darker skin than hers.

I trust that you will either remove the article immediately or have a REAL editor/writer repair this, review all of the original writer’s posts, and block her from posting on Patch again.

Mr. Brod, following is part 1 of a copy of an email I sent to the San Ramon (CA) Patch editor and wanted you to be aware of this: (limited to 1K characters here)
Patrick, I was shocked and upset to find a San Ramon Patch article using the word, “colored,” in reference to African Americans or other minority groups (it’s unclear, since people who say “colored” tend to use it to describe anyone who isn’t lily white) today, and more shocked and disturbed to see that it has been sitting on San Ramon Patch since May of 2011. Someone even commented on it a month after it was posted, but there it sits. And it’s not just a slip of the pen, as the word is used a total of four times in the same manner throughout the article. I opened the .PDF of the report on which the author based the article and searched for the word, “colored,” and it did not appear once in the document.

The article is posted here: http://sanramon.patch.com/articles/school-district-given-high-rankings-by-state-educational-organization