Dear Editor,
I feel the controversy of the blackface incident could be seen as “offensive,” but we also could say there is a controversy over just about anything that goes on here at ETSU.
I feel it is controversial that people who smoke have to smoke in their cars and are not allowed by the new smoking rules to smoke near their motorcycles. When the SGA voted against the smoke shack at ETSU for those students who smoke they did not vote in the interest of those who smoke. I also heard there will not be a concert in the spring either. What are we to do when the seniors of this year graduate, yet we have already paid for the student activities? This is more controversial in my eyes than some students making a bad decision by having their faces painted black.
Some people just want to make something big out of something maybe a hundred people saw. You don’t see me out there complaining because the smokers may be the minority of the school population yet it is OK to tell us what we have to do and what we can’t do.
There are bigger issues here at ETSU than just some Halloween party that 100 people may have attended. If they did wrong as far as not having the permits or permission by ETSU, then they should get punished. Just because people wear black face paint does not make them any different than a person wearing some hillbilly outfit to make fun of white farmers. So, don’t make a big deal out of something that is so small, and if the people who commented on this issue were not there then they should not say anything because they did not attend the party and only heard this by word of mouth.
– Jackie Everhardt III

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