Nagy1

LaszloNagy
Mrs.McGovern
EnglishFoundationsI
th
6
May2016

PeopleAreNotProducts
Labels,throughouthistory,havebeenusedtoidentifygroupsofpeopleasbroad
racesand/orcultures.Peoplecannotsimplybeidentifiedbyacheckedbox.Theuseof
labelseliminatesapersonsidentityandtheirtruenaturethatiswithinthemtheyjust
becomealmostlikeobjects.Onceyoulabelme,younegateme,(SrenKierkegaard).
PeoplelivetheirlivesidentifyingthemselvessimplyasWhite,Black,Hispanic,and
Asian,buttheyaresomuchmorethanjustoneword.Raceisjustamadeupconcept
toidentifygroupsofpeopletomakethemdifferent.Theuseoftheselabelshave
causedpeopletoautomaticallyassociatespecificethnicgroupstospecificculturesand
viceversa.Theuseoflabelsinsocietywillalwayschangeapersonsperspectiveon
theworldfortheworse.Labelshavecausednothingbutseparation,conflict,and
negativityinthepastandtoday.Identitiescannotsurviveifpeoplefalselylabelothers
fortheirraceandculture.
Intodayssociety,peoplehavetoidentifythemselvesbycheckingoneboxona
simplepieceofpaper.Peopleareneveraskedtowriteaparagraphaboutwhotheyare,
wheretheycomefrom,orwhattheybelievein.Thesesimplificationsoflabelingpeople
makethesurvivalofapersonsuniqueidentitynearlyimpossible.Theworldhasbeen
taughtalltheselabelsofraceandculturethateveryoneuses,butmostdonotknow

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whatthelabelsmeanorwhotheyareassociatingthemwith.Peoplewillassociatea
racewithapersonsgender,class,andreligion.Mostofthetime,peoplewillconnectan
economicalclassand/orreligiontoaspecificrace.Forexample,aminorreligionwillbe
associatedwithaminorraceandamorecommonreligionwithamoredominantrace
relativetothecountry(ies)involved.TheRoleofGender,Class,andReligioninBiracial
AmericansRacialLabelingDecisionsbyLaurenD.Davenportspeaksofhowpeople
willgenerallyassociateapersonsgender,class,andreligiontoacertainrace.People,
throughouttheirlives,learnthatoneraceisalwayswithonereligionand/orclass.The
ideathatraceboundsapersontoacertainreligionandclassisfalse.Apersons
gender,socialclass,andreligionmayreinforceorweakentheirattachmentstotheir
race.Raceisnolongeralabelthatpeoplecanusetoidentifyothers.Sincehumanityis
ahomogenousspecies,everyoneis99.9%identical.Generally,peoplewillgothinkthat
anethnicgroupisalwaysrelatedtooneculture.Someeventhinkthatethnicraceand
culturearethesamething.Bothoftheseideasarewrongasethnicgroupisabiological
characteristicwhileculturereliesonthesocietythatapersongrowsupin.Ababy,
regardlessoftheirskincolorandracialfeaturesorplaceofbirth,willeasilyabsorbthe
cultureofwherehe/shegrowsup,evenwhenmovedrelocatedafterbirth.Overall,the
ethnicgroupofapersoncannotbechanged,buttheculturetheyareapartofcanbe.
Thesemisusedlabelsarethemaincontributorstoignoranceintodayssocietyasthey
givepeopleexcusestonotacknowledgeothersidentities.Thesefalseassociations
betweenraceandculturemakeindividualidentitydifficulttokeepalive.

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PeoplethinkoflabelssimplyasWhite,Asian,Black,orHispanic.Theselabels
areinfactincorrectgenerally,aspeopleofthesameskincolorcanhaveverydifferent
traitsbecauseoftheirspecificethnicgroupslikeGerman,Indian(fromIndia),and
Japanese.Peoplenowadaysandfarinthepasthavenotunderstoodthatlabelinga
groupofhomogenouspeopletogetherasWhite,Black,Asian,andHispanicisincorrect.
Race,infact,isreallyjustahumanconceptusedtoseparategroupsofpeople.Inthe
modernworld,raceisindeedarealthingthatexists,butisstillusedincorrectly
becauseoftheimmensegeneralizationofgroupsofpeopleasthesamerace,(Bhopal
&Donaldson).WhenyoulookatEuropeforexample,themajorconceptedracesofthe
populationcanbewhite,black,hispanicwhiletheactualethnicgroupsofpeopleare
verydiverse.Someoftheseethnicgroupsaresimpletorememberlike,German,Irish,
French,English,Spanishetc,yetpeoplestilljustgeneralizeothersrace(s).Most
peopletodayidentifythemselvesasverygeneralethnicgroupsratherthanastheir
specificancestralheritage.Thissituationiscausedbytheignoranceandgeneralization
ofethnicgroupsthroughouthistory.Whenpeopleareaskedtolabeltheirethnicgroup,
mostwillsaysomethingalongthelinesofWhite,Hispanic,Black,orAsian.Thisisa
problemasitshowsthatpeopledontknow,orchoosetonotshowtheirspecific
ancestralethnicity.Theotherproblemisthatpeopleonlychooseoneethnicgroup,like
WhiteorBlack,notbotheveniftheyareboth.Thisismainlycausedbythe
governmentsdecisiontogivegeneralethnicgroupsaschoicesonsurveysandsuchfor
peopletoidentify/labelthemselvesas,(Bhopal&Donaldson).Peoplegrowup,checking
thatsameboxthatidentifiesthemfortheirwholelivesbecauseofthegovernments

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ignoranceformillionsofdifferentethnicgroups.Thefactthatpeoplearegivenchoices
fortheirraceinsteadofablanklinetoputtheircorrectethnicgroup(s)oniswrong.
Thereisalsolittlepointinevenhavingasectionintests,surveys,etc.,wherepeople
labeltheirraceasitmakesnodifferencewhethersomeoneisBlack,White,Asian,or
Hispanic.Thecreationoffakeracesinplaceofspecificandcorrectethnicitieshas
destroyeduniqueidentityinthemodernworldalmostcompletely.
Aspecificgroupofpeoplethathavesufferedforcenturiesbecauseoflabeling
aretheNativeAmericans.NativeAmericanstoday,andespeciallyinthepast,have/are
experiencingsegregationastheirculturesarebeingignoredNorthAmerica.The
diverseculturesofthesepeoplehavebeendulledandgroupedtogetherasthesame
foreverysingleNativeAmericanandtotallyignoredbypeopleinNorthAmericaand
evenSouthAmerica.Theysufferthroughsegregationbecauseoftheirdifferent
cultures.Sincecolonialtimes,thesepeopleshavebeenkilledandexiledfromtheirown
landsbecausetheyhaddifferentviewsoftheworld(culture).Theyreevengeneralized
asjustNativeAmerican,whichistechnicallycorrect,butshouldappropriatelybe
labeled,ifatall,aftertheirnativetribe(s).Evenworse,theseNativeAmericansarestill
calledIndiansratherthanatleastNativeAmericansbymillionsofpeopleeventhough
theyaretwocompletelydifferentculturesandpeoplesthousandsofmilesapart.Native
Americanshavebeendeniedtospeaktheirancientlanguages,practicetheirbeliefs,
andtobeabletovisittheirancientsacredsites,(Hartle).Thesepeopleareadiverse
groupanduniquetotheirowntribesfromthewaytheydresstothewaytheirlivetheir
lives.Peopleintheworldtodayworryaboutwomennothavingthesameexactrightsor

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amountofrecognitionfortheirworks,orhomosexualitystillnotbeingallowedand
permittedeverywhere.Meanwhile,thousandsofNativeAmericansandpeopleofother
culturesandreligionsarestilloppressedanddeniedtobethemselvesandtobeunique
intheworld.Thesecenturiesoldlabelsarestillaroundandstilleffectingthepeoplethey
havebeenplacedon.Thisiswrongandshouldnotbethecaseatall,yetitstillis.
NativeAmericansshouldbeabletolivehowtheywantandbelieveinwhattheywant
withoutbeinglabeledandoppressedbecauseofwhattheylooklikeorwhotheyare
relatedto.Uniquenessisagiftanditshouldbepreserved,notdestroyed.
Labelshavealwayscausedproblemsintheworldandhavebeenincorrectly
usedbythemajorityofpeople.IfapersonisfromIndia,someoneelsesknowledgeof
Indianpeopleshouldntofficiallydescribethembecause99.99%ofthetime,that
knowledgewillbewrong.Assoonassomeonedifferentfromthemajorityappears,
peoplewilllabelthatpersontodeathbecausetheydontwanttogettoknowthem.
Theonlythingpeopleseeatfirstsightissomeoneelsesbody,whichisapparently
morethanenoughtofigureoutwhatthatpersonbelievesin,whattheirlifeislike,and
wheretheyarefrom.Peoplearemorethanjusttheirstereotypicallabelsandtheir
bodies.Insideeverybody,everybody,isauniquepersonthatsneverexistedbefore,
andneverwillagain.Destroyingthatuniquebeingissomethingthatshouldntbenormal
orallowed,letaloneencouraged.Thefactthatpeoplerefusetoacceptandlearnabout
otherpeoplethatarejustslightlydifferentfromthemiswhatdestroysuniquenessand
individualityamongbillionsofpeopleacrosstheworld.

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WorksCited
Bhopal,Raj,MD,andLiamDonaldson,MD."White,European,Western,
Caucasian,or:What?InappropriateLabelinginResearchonRace,Ethnicity,and
Health."
Ncbi.nlm.nih
88.9(1998):12.AmericanJournalofPublicHealth.Web.5May
2016.
Davenport,LaurenD."TheRoleofGender,Class,andReligioninBiracial
AmericansRacialLabelingDecisions."
AmericanSociologicalReview
81(2015):13.
Asanet.org
.AmericanSociologicalAssociation.Web.4May2016.
"EthnicityandRace:Overview."
EthnicityandRace:Overview
.N.p.,n.d.Web.
04May2016.
Hildner,Vicki."DecodingEthnicLabels."
DecodingEthnicLabels
.Phys.org,
n.d.Web.05May2016.
WhenYourHandsAreTied
.Dir.MiaBoccellaHartle.2006.
WhenYourHands
AreTied
.Web.5May2016.

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