Letters: Responses to blackface incident

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Posted: 11/6/03

SUNY-ESF president reacts to blackface incident

To Members of the SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University Community:

It is with great concern that I write to the college community regarding recent incidents involving our students. These incidents have shown disrespect not only for members of our community but also for the values of this institution.

As stated in our strategic plan, "ESF is committed to the highest standards of personal and professional behavior. We celebrate the diverse backgrounds, cultures and perspectives represented in our community. We believe that respect for one's self and others leads to a community characterized by integrity and honor ...Through this concern and compassion for others we continually improve and truly make a difference."

Our commitment to sustain this value must be unwavering. And when it is disregarded, we must respond swiftly and earnestly.

Last week, an ESF student chose to wear a Halloween costume that expressed a negative racial stereotype. The behavior was offensive to many in the ESF as well as the Syracuse University community - students, faculty and staff. This disregard for college values and obvious insensitivity related to diversity cannot be excused or minimized. Currently, this matter is being handled through the ESF judicial process. Dialogues and educational programming about racial and other forms of stereotyping will be presented in ensuing weeks.

Upholding our value of "personal and professional behavior" extends, of course, beyond matters of racially insensitive incidents. We have seen on ESF bulletin boards postings of anti-gay articles, and we have been made aware of homophobic actions against members of our community. We are concerned about underage drinking and binge drinking. We are increasingly aware of issues related to academic integrity. All of these behaviors - and the attitudes which fuel them - do not represent the best traditions of this college. Nor do they prepare students for success in their later careers.

ESF expects a great deal of its students. For the majority, meeting high personal and academic standards is a matter of daily routine. When there are lapses, however, they must be recognized and remedied. I hope you will join me in reinforcing college values of community, respect and celebrating diversity, and that you will examine your own behaviors and attitudes as reflections of that high standard.

Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr.

President, SUNY-ESF

SUNY-ESF student body issues proclamation

We, the Undergraduate Student Association, as representatives of the undergraduate student body, feel that the actions taken by an ESF undergraduate student on Oct. 31, 2003, were inappropriate. The Undergraduate Student Association does not condone this, or any, type of behavior that would be discriminatory in nature toward any culture, race, gender or sexual orientation. The Undergraduate Student Association will be a supportive partner in taking the necessary steps to educate and inform the campus community about these issues in order to strive for a community of awareness and understanding.

Jason Goodman

President, SUNY-ESF Undergraduate Student Association

Liz Reif

Vice President

Blackface reaction idiotic

In response to the recent events involving a SUNY-ESF student wearing blackface on Halloween, I must say I am appalled at the idiocy of the response to this student's actions.

There is no racial issue to contest here. His costume was obviously meant as a joke and not as a derogatory statement about minorities. Why has there been no furor about all the people who dressed up as 1970s era New York City pimps for Halloween? I see that as a more stereotypical and unfavorable characterization of minorities. It is ridiculous that we all feel we need to be politically correct at all times. Grow up!

I'm not supporting racism, but one of our country's founding principles is freedom of speech. If this kid wants to make an idiot of himself then let him. Why is there a need to push the values of certain groups on all of society? Perhaps an incident like this would be racist if it occurred in 1962 Mississippi, but this is 2003 Syracuse and, if you haven't noticed, we get along pretty well around here. Punishing this kid will accomplish nothing.

This outrage would have been better directed at the student who beat a gay man earlier in the year. Now there's a hate crime. All you PC thugs out there need to learn how to take a joke and realize that the world isn't all sunshine and bunny rabbits, no matter how much you wish it were.

Manuel Ronquillo

Senior, Environmental Studies major

Man had right to put on blackface

The blackface incident that occurred on campus Friday night has created upset and turmoil among the SU community. Many students have responded in protest to such an act, claiming that racism is rampant and out of control. These are the same students that have forgotten that Halloween is a holiday in which anyone has the right to play someone else - even if they choose to portray a different race.

The student who chose to dress in blackface was simply playing the part of what he thought was a "Pacific islander." I'm sure that his grass skirt and wooden staff were not intended to offend anyone. Some have complained that his generalization about what a Pacific islander should look like was offensive and stereotypical.

Yet aren't people forgetting that Halloween is nothing but a holiday of generalizations? A student could easily argue that something as simple as a "sexy nurse," a French maid, a "perverted gynecologist" or a male cross-dresser is just as stereotypical. But I was under the impression that Halloween was supposed to be about having fun as someone else.

While some people find blackface offensive, others do not, especially on a special occasion where political correctness may be sacrificed for the sake of having fun. One student's editorial argued that the blackface student was exemplifying "racial ignorance" by not considering that others may be offended by his actions. This statement is drawing on a conclusion that fails to consider the circumstances of the situation.

I challenge the exasperated students to consider the motive behind this student's actions. I highly doubt that it was racially motivated, or that the student was attempting to make a statement or protest against the university's policies.

The only mistake the student made was to assume that our "politically correct" society would somehow find a way to accept his creativity.

Dana Lucas

Sophomore, public Relations major

Reaction to incident overblown

Come on, people. This is taking it just a little too far.

For one thing, half of the idea of Halloween itself is to have a good time and pretend to be someone you're not. You see devil costumes and the like all over the place.

The recent blackface incident is no exception. Sure, his costume might be a little offensive, but so are many people's costumes. If a student dressed up as "white trash" and someone here was from a rural area on scholarship, they may take offense to that individual. Would anyone care? Probably not.

Race and political "correctness" is absolutely wrong. Everything that any person says will or can be taken as offensive to someone else. Halloween is a time to dress up as people, and is not a politically correct holiday. If you were to make Halloween truly politically correct, there wouldn't be a Halloween.

Syracuse University takes diversity to an extreme. We're here in college to celebrate what we have in common, in theory, a desire to gain more of an understanding about the world around us. In order to work together, we have to forget our differences, not celebrate them and protect them - or else nothing will get done.

Profiling "crimes" against a group as in this example serves to counter this notion. Someone was having a good time, as many do on Halloween. I'm not saying that his costume was appropriate, but it is his choice. As in the earlier "white trash" example, these "hate crime" cases are primarily serving to selectively protect those students on this campus and in the world.

Freedom of speech is an important liberty, and the fact that the incident happened on Halloween plays a specific role here. Someone will take offense to anything you do - regardless of whether that was your intention.

Aaron Knight

Freshman Computer Science and History major

Speaker advocates racial division

I was recently encouraged to attend a lecture sponsored by the Student African American Society's Black Solidarity Week. The guest lecturer was Dhoruba Bin Wahad, a former Black Panthers leader and an activist for refugee-relief in West Africa.

I brought with me hopes that racial tensions on campus would be somewhat relieved and that all sides of the issues would be able to finally understand one another and reach a common ground. However, I found that Bin Wahad was so anti-white as to promote the ideas that all white people are inferior to people of color, and that they are at the root of all problems both in history and those of today.

His many deliberate slurs of "cracker" to refer to white people, and generalizations against all people who are lighter-skinned, even Latinos, caused tensions to escalate in the lecture hall and insulted more than a few people. He was not here to solve issues of racism on campus, but to promote the beliefs that all white people are ignorant, greedy and self-absorbed.

He refused to recognize that there were white people present at the lecture who felt that there were racial issues on campus that needed to be resolved, and that wanted to help resolve them. Instead, he accused these people of causing all the problems in the world from the moment that the original human beings first migrated out of Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago.

What SU needs right now is unity and understanding, not ideas of separation and hatred. Yes, there have been severe wrongdoings in history, but no one will ever be able to overcome them without communication between different ethnicities and belief systems on campus. Bin Wahad accomplished nothing in his lecture but to drive a wedge between all of the students at SU.

Jessi MacDonald

sophomore Anthropology and Photojournalism major

Rude students impede education

I have absolutely had it with the rude, inconsiderate students in my classes.

It seems the same students are chronically late, and when they enter the class, they make a big production.

Also, they eat in class. I'm not talking nibble on a power bar; one of them had a full out meal, complete with courses, spread out before her as she grazed loudly while a guest speaker was presenting! I suppose if she sat in the back of the room it wouldn't be so bad, but she was in the front of the room.

Then, after she finished grazing, she cracked her gum and talked loudly with her two friends for the remainder of the presenter's lecture.

Now, maybe I look at things a little differently because I am paying for my education out of my pocket, but the rudeness and self-centeredness of students is driving me up a wall.

People who snap gum, rattle bracelets and are generally noisy and distracting ought to leave class if they can't concentrate. Their actions are distracting and make me want to scream "Shut up!" at them as loudly as possible.

And to think - these people are going to be "professionals" in a few months.

Lisa MacDonald

Senior IST MAJOR

'Pub Crawl' story too negative

I want to thank Amanda Busch for bringing attention to the first "Pub Crawl" brought to Syracuse. As the main purpose of the Armory Square Fall Pub Tour is a charity event to collect canned food for the Food Bank of Central New York and to bring something new to Syracuse, we considered this event a success.

With more than 100 people in attendance, we were able to introduce a new activity to our community while helping to feed others. As more and more students and residents begin to hear about this event, we feel confident it will continue to grow as it has in other cities.

I need to clarify some problems in the reporting, though. The highly successful New York City events have been running for many years and have a much larger population to draw from. Comparing this to the Armory Square Pub Tour and to Syracuse's population is unrealistic.

I wish to thank all of you who turned out for this worthwhile and new event and look forward to an even more successful event in the spring. I know Busch had a great time as she munched and sipped her way around to Kitty Hoyne's Irish Pub, The Blue Tusk, Tailgator's Sports Bar, Mulrooney's, P.J. Dorsey's and The Limerick Pub.

Thanks again to our participating bars and patrons.

Blake Mausner

Senior Public Relations Major

Disability problems seldom addressed

I read with interest your article regarding the challenges of SU students with physical disabilities. Back in my D.O. days, circa 1977, the then-current version of the Office of Disability Services was located in Steele Hall. On an upper floor. In a building with no elevators.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Richard Lurie

Class of 1978