An American Obsession with "Race"

This country is mad when it comes to race. I do not know why race is such an issue in this country. To make matters worse, the government appears to be part of the problem. Many of our government related forms requires us to declare a race or ethnicity. Is this really necessary?

We are so obsessed with identifying people by their race or ethnicity that we sometimes forget the bigger picture ---we are "Americans." Why do people have to be identified as African American, Mexican American, Cuban American, etc. As citizens, we are "Americans" and that should be sufficient.

We need to learn from citizens of other countries. I have never heard a New Zealander or an Australian call themselves a Mexican New Zealander/Australian or a Fijian New Zealander/Australian. They are New Zealanders or "kiwis" and nothing else. Once in a while you might hear the people refer to themselves as Kiwi of Fijian descent but that is it. I don't think the people of African descent from Britain call themselves African Britons. They are British and that is it.

As American citizens we should be identified by our nationality and not by our race. To do so will only add to the racial divide that currently exists in America.