Governor says, "It's time for the end of race in America. Now that would be progress."

The coming presidential election has governors and other elected officials jockeying to set forth on the quest to make a name for themselves.  So much so that I often detest even repeating the names themselves.  And perhaps that is fitting for the topic of an article written for Politico.com by the governor of Louisiana.  This governor of East Indian descent puts forth the idea that citizens of the United States ought to drop the hyphenation of their cultural identities, and simply refer to themselves as ‘Americans’ no matter their ethnic divisions.

Personally, I see some value in this endeavor though I do not agree with the context of the statement (within a political campaign) nor do I agree with the more denigrating comments that this kind of public message stirs.  Of course the question of whether we should continue to delineate between the various ethnic diversities of minority identities has important implications within our government and our society.  First of all, removing the identifier that someone uses to describe themselves is as good as eliminating their identity altogether.  Secondly, it is important for people, especially from the privileged and dominant portion of society, to understand the differences in people in order to understand their differences in opinion, wants, needs, desires, and in this case, perhaps even differences in the definition of the so-called ‘American Dream’.

However, creating certain differentiations can also have the opposite effect of creating round holes and square pegs by which many people do not fit into.  We’ve discussed the identity gaps that certain individuals experience because of this feeling of in-between-ness.  What do you think about the necessity or harm of delineating cultural identities along strict borderlines?