Race Labels Essay, Research Paper

Will the United States ever be a place where the citizens are referred to as Americans, like the citizens of Cuba are referred to primarily as Cubans? Can the people of America ever erase race? I think the United States would be a better place if racial labels were not placed on individuals. Race is contemplated in our everyday lives. Many things we do on a day-to-day basis involve us revealing our race or ethnic background. One way we can possibly put an end to this labeling is by removing the question of race from all documents and forms. An even greater way to remove race would be to instill in our children that we are all Americans no matter what shade of skin we encompass.

On any given day we are involved in something that requires us to disclose our race. In the morning, we check our mailbox only to see a survey from a well-known dishwashing detergent company. One of the top ten questions is race. That afternoon you go to apply for a loan at your local bank, most of the time race is required on the initial application. Other things you may do on a typical day that will request you state your race are: apply for apartment rental, register for a local softball team, register a student for school or college, apply for federal or government benefits, such as grants or food stamps, and apply for a job. These are just a few situations where you may be asked to avow your race. Although race may not be a determining factor on whether you get a job, loan or selected for a sports team, it is always a question that is posed.

One way that the United States could do away with race labels is by deleting the question on many of the federal forms and documents. Voter registration, Selective Service, federal assistance and all employment forms are just a few that would get the ball rolling. Removing race from the birth certificate would indeed be a huge step to removing racial labels from our society.

The most useful approach to erasing race would be to teach our children that even though we all have different skin tones we are all Americans. Not using racial labels in the home or school would also help children adjust to this newfound thing. We all are born with nothing instilled in our brains. All that we know as adults was learned from the people in and around our lives. There is a strong possibility that one day we will look around us and see the next person as being no different than ourselves.

In conclusion, I think that we are very far from consolidating all races in America into one, but it is still not impossible. The only foreseeable problem to consolidation is the loss of individual heritages. Although born and raised in America we all are from different places and have diverse backgrounds that cannot be forgotten. Since our appearances are uncommon this will always bring us back to the fact that we are all different. This scenario is like making all spiders in America just spiders , which is simple but deep down inside you can always tell a tree spider from a black widow.