We kept hearing about the race issue every time then Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s name was mentioned.

Some people thought the Bradley effect would disadvantage Obama — where voters said in polls they would vote for him out of fear of being called racist, but would get to the polls and not vote for him because of that same reason.

Then there was the whole rumor of him being Muslim. Obama, the Arab terrorist. All of it bothered me because it shouldn’t matter what religion he subscribes to or where he’s from, and it’s sad to see how many people still believe those stereotypes.

But as one of my friends said,  “We know racism still exists because people are saying we elected a black president, not just a president.”

And of course, the next day at N.C. State, racist graf f iti is drawn in the Free Expression Tunnel.

I was torn.

The journalist in me was yelling free speech. The Muslim in me was sympathetic to the cause of those who were upset.

Regardless, the University had to do something. Our image was already perceived as intolerant in a lot of people’s eyes, especially after the toilet paper noose’s appearance last year.

While the University made a big deal of addressing diversity after that incident, everything just kind of fell off the table and people began to let the dialogue cease.

That’s our problem.

We are too reactive and not proactive enough. We need to promote dialogue — but not dialogue that only addresses one viewpoint. People think the way they do for different reasons, and before we can overcome barriers, we need to have these discussions.

The four students who painted the racist messages should not be expelled because that doesn’t solve anything. They are not learning from their actions or changing their viewpoints on race if they are just kicked out of the University environment.

And while, I, in no way condone the written statements — which were hurtful and which, if the University didn’t address right away, would have incited anger and possibly riots — these students have something to say. It could be that they wrote the messages while drunk, or that they regret what they wrote. It could be that they believe in what they wrote. But we won’t know unless we listen to them.

So, I am inviting you, the accused students, to come forward and tell us what you think. Technician will publish whatever you write or will write a story based on interviews that you grant us.

We will keep your names anonymous as long as you can verify your identities to us.

But we are here to promote discussion of all viewpoints. The University wants closure to the incident, and that can’t happen until we hear the other side of the story.