Miguel Reyes, Staff Writer

The first Pioneer talk of the semester, sponsored by the diversity committee, took place in the Pioneer Café on Thursday, Oct. 6.

This event consisted of interactive dialogue about current controversial issues. The Pioneer was filled with students from different cultures who shared their opinions on the reasons behind these issues and what methods can be utilized to find solutions.

Intercultural communication is often the cause for disagreement.

A prime example of this is the division of races that still takes place in today’s world. History repeats itself, which is why there is discrimination today as there has always been in the past.

Though things seem to have improved throughout time, people still seem to have a problem understanding one another because of the mentality that has been passed down through generations.

Many well known cases of police brutality were brought up in the discussion, highlighting the fact that there is inequality in the legal system.

Throughout the event, students shared how they feel about the injustices that occur in court when deciding if someone is innocent or guilty and determining the amount of jail time that the person will get.

Some of those cases included Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Oscar Grant. All of them were men of color who were unarmed and had fatal interactions with authorities.

Most who attended the event were minorities, which brought them closer to the incidents. This means that any of the victims who were brought up in the conversation could have been a student, a friend of theirs or even a family member.

“It is mind boggling to me that a black man can commit the same crime as a white man and he will still have more severe consequences,” Kevin Pelaez said. “How is anyone having justice if kids are growing up without fathers or mothers due to minor violations that cost them years of life in jail?”

The media also plays a big factor.

“How can we trust anything that we hear in the media if the favor continues to lean towards one audience?” junior Matthew Lominy said. “If we want to see change, we have to be the change. This means that we must become the next entrepreneurs, lawyers and police officers.”

Junior Mikal Saxon feels that the problem will continue until the world is able to embrace its true origin as we are all descendants of the same land.

“Originally, we all come from Africa because that is the continent where the first forms of life came into existence” Saxon said. “If everyone is able to accept this reality, it would be a lot easier for us to see each other as brothers and sisters rather than strangers.”