Last week, The Tech Talk reported on the perceptions some students have with race on campus.

The Tech Talk strives to represent the voice of the student body, and we felt the voice of minority students should be heard.

Now it is in the hands of you, the student.

As Reggie Owens said in last week’s story, “What happened 400 years ago we aren’t responsible for, but we are responsible for how we act today. Whether we like it or not, we’re all here together,” Owens said. “It’s our challenge as a nation, as a society to figure out what the problem is and to talk about it.”

Legislation created the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which eliminated segregation and discrimination, yet both are alive and well. The difference today is we do it to ourselves.

The Student Center gap is the way it is because students of all races have made it that way.

The story “Bridging the Great Divide” was meant to address the perceptions of students on campus and lay them to rest. The story might not have served its purpose as students wrote in to The Tech Talk, pointed fingers and passed the blame.

To say that Union Board throws away minority applications is unreasonable even after Union Board President Paul King laid the perception to rest.

It’s time for students to open their eyes and open discussion on the issue and be willing to hear both sides of the story.

And, it is not only is it a black and white issue; other minority students feel the same opposition and it’s time for a change.

If we, as a nation, want to bring peace it has to start at home. If we can’t understand each other in our own country, how will we ever understand those outside of our borders?

By now, in our college years, we should have begun to understand that we are all different and embrace it. It seems like many of us skipped that day in kindergarten, but there is no longer an excuse for our collective ignorance.

We need to begin changing our hearts and minds in order to heal the wounds created my racism, wounds that have never truly been acknowledged, and come together.

The Tech Talk encourages you, the student, to speak up and out with each other. We’ve attempted to scratch the service and open up dialogue on campus. Now it’s your turn. Step up to the challenge and talk about it. It is time to understand each other and work toward something much, much bigger.

We’re all in this together. The Tech Talk invites you to voice your feelings on this important issue by contacting us at techtalk@latech.edu.