This is in reference to the so-called racial discrimination event that took place at the Junior ROTC summer camp in Gilead (Oct. 14). Should that story have been news or an editorial? A news story reports the facts from both sides and without bias so that the reader has a fair sense of what happened. Not that one.

I know one of the participants in this “hazing” and heard his story. Racially motivated? It was a bunch of kids having fun and making a really poor choice. Taken out of context and reported with a slant, it’s a movie of the week.

The accuser and one of the accused are friends of many years, so it saddens me so see it come to this. They never cared about being black or white, they were just friends. Why his story has evolved into that article, one can only guess. Sensationalism lays the groundwork for a great lawsuit though, and that’s an adult’s choice.

So is my version biased as well because I know one of the accused? Maybe, but mine will be in the editorial section, not on the front page. Hopefully, readers of the “news” story will entertain the thought that there’s more to the story.

The young man was not a victim of racism, but of a practical joke. Draw enough attention to the racism charge, though, and it will start to ring true. There’s the crime.

Jack Jalbert, Auburn