Being an American and Ethnic Writing

There are a lot of things I can't stand about America. I am proud of its diversity and how far the nation has come in equality in such a short time, but I am also disappointed with how redundant its social taboos are. I am noting the distinctive American trend of adding prefixes to the term American, as in Asian-American, African-American, etc. No other nations do this, and in many cases, the people who these terms seemingly apply to are no more connected to their heritage than I to my Italian and Polish heritage.

I feel that suffixes act as a divisor in the nation. Instead of every citizen being American, they are put into groups of different types of American. I think that the cultural distinctions of people should be noted in their individualities and not by autogrouping them. Also, just because someone is black it does not mean they are African or African American. They could be Haitian. They could have been born and raised in England.

I am writing this in reply to my school's newspaper, who ran a student quote that said, "One black or brown face in a sea of white faces isn't diversity. It's a joke."

Oh, really? It's a joke? How so? Since when did diversity mean collecting people who look different? Diversity, at least at its root, should mean getting people together who think different or who come from different cultural backgrounds that can add insight and knowledge to the collective. Just because someone is Asian does not mean that they grew up any differently, in fundamental terms here, than a white person. Now I understand that everyone grows up in different environments with different experiences and different outlooks on life, and it is that that should be considered in diversity, not the incorrect assumption of someone's novel outlook because of their racial background.

If UMD is concerned with racial diversity, then yes, it is a joke to see only one black or brown face in a sea of white (um, doesn't that statement also imply that Asians and Native Americans aren't a neglected racial minority?!).

But from what I understand about Mote and his diversity mission, he wants the intellectual type - and that's the kind that doesn't just come from racial minorities. Read applicants' essays, review their transcripts, measure their academic and intrinsic worth (gauged through the essay) and how they relate to the ideal of the university. They are Americans (okay, aside from foreign applicants ;) ) and should be considered equally. Screw the affix, and take the PERSON into consideration, and if you're just looking for racial numbers (despite how unfair the practice is) then say so upfront!

The end... kinda!