The 2016 election has brought about numerous conversations regarding race, diversity and inclusion.

Shocking, right? Who would’ve thought in 2016 we would still be discussing equality for every human being? Carrying on …

A few weeks ago, the hashtag #BernieMadeMeWhite surfaced on Twitter. It was created by Leslie Lee III, a supporter of Sanders, who also happens to be black. Lee’s intent was to bring about a conversation about race after Sanders received backlash from the media in regards to his inability to connect with non-white voters. Sanders won in Washington-state, Hawaii and Alaska, all states with very small black populations. This sparked the conversation amongst media outlets of the supposed disconnect between Sanders and black voters.

But let’s not forget the support Sanders does have from Latinas, Muslim-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, just to name a few groups. According to Refinery29 and Zaira Livier, founder of Latinas for Bernie, the idea that Sanders doesn’t have the ability to connect with minority voters is a “myth created purposely to not only discredit his campaign, but to be used as a tool to deter voters.” In a country where we have a former reality TV star leading in the polls, candidates bickering onstage like middle schoolers during debates and some voters who are angry, and quite frankly, misinformed, we have no room for complacency in this election.

Lee also told Refinery29 that the narrative the media has created regarding Sanders inability to connect with minorities in general is frustrating, mainly because it “erases” minority voters who support Sanders and the “reasons why” they support him, which in turn can reduce them “to a few exit poll numbers.”

There has also been talk that Sanders hasn’t received near the amount of media attention that Trump, Clinton, or even Cruz has received in this election, which brings about a whole other issue that can be a deciding factor in our electoral process in modern times — the media. Ironic since I’m writing this for a media outlet, but hey, I sleep fine at night. The media has the ability to control our election even more than we realize — in both positive and negative ways.

I could sit here and write about my own personal views on the other candidates, but that’s probably a different story for a different day. And hey, maybe by doing so I’d swing a few people to vote differently. Who knows? But we need to create dialogue amongst ourselves and stop giving so much attention to what the media thinks is important. Start researching candidates and what they stand for. Make informed decisions this election year. It will be crucial to our country’s future.

It doesn’t matter what your opinion is, it’s just important that you have one.