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Volume 41, Issue 5
October 28, 2003
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October
28, 2003
Letter to the Editor
Smoking is a choice.
In response to the article, “Smokers Segregated” -
at some point in your life, Daniel, you made a choice to start smoking.
As all adults know, the choices you make have consequences. Currently,
a consequence of smoking is that it is only allowed in designated areas.
It is a health concern, and it has been proven that second-hand smoke
is a health hazard to others. So why should I suffer the consequences
of your decision? Now, as I drift aimlessly around the campus, I see smokers
in non-smoking areas, smoking every day, and that includes the awning
area with the misting system. It’s a policy that isn’t enforced.
Your point is moot.
What I find sickening is your absurd comparison of designated smoking
areas to the “ignorant mid-century segregation of African-Americans.”
Not only is your comparison absurd, but I find it repulsive and offensive.
I was born in 1968, only four years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
which essentially declared segregation illegal. As a result, the adults
I grew up around, both Caucasian and African-American, formerly lived
in a segregated society and told me in great detail what it was like.
Staying in a designated smoking area is a minor inconvenience compared
to what they had to deal with. As I stated earlier, you chose to smoke.
They didn’t choose to be African-American. You can go into non-smoking
areas if you’re not smoking. They couldn’t change their appearance
and go into a white-only restroom. If you’re not smoking, I can’t
tell if you smoke or not. They didn’t have that luxury. There is
no true comparison, no parallel in your article.
Colin W. Stewart, III
MCC Student
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