With all that is going on amidst the raging political climate regarding racial, sexual orientation, and religious tensions, I wonder about the means being employed in which to rectify our human instinct of biasness. Broadening the scope of the issue of racial profiling amongst white police officers which had been discussed in our reading, the controversy goes beyond African-Americans and Latino’s as well as those of other races and ethnicities being stigmatized and bigoted.

My confusion thereby lies within what is the goal of the “racial” discussions… taking into historical context and the progressions there forth, while encompassing the wide range of psychological implications that shape the modern day social construct. What is the purpose of the riots, protest, individual organizations for each individual minority group? With these questions, I am referring to a deeper rooted implication that is implied, at least to my own perception of the matter, by the very organization of these associations.

Let me explain, by making a group or classification of people, it by definition connotes that there are only a select people that are either allowed or belong to it, while others are left out. It is not a good or bad thing. It just is a thing.

With this in mind, as these organizations and associations get formed to advocate and protect rights, albeit with noble causes (which to clarify I am in no way trying to detract from the importance of their existence or work in which they conduct), they are by means of their actions isolation themselves from the rest of society.

My question then arises; on the surface it seems that everyone is striving for equality or to be accepted or involved with each other classifying group of people that our society creates, yet by creating their own organization, advocating for themselves as an individualized and unique entity it seems to me that the altruistic goal of all coming together as one cohesive unit is dismantled. I, therefore, ask again, what are the goals of these racial discussions that are further defining our differences as opposed to focusing on what we as a people all share in common? Is America truly a melting pot or are we a conglomerate of different groups coming together to live in tolerance of one another?

If as a society we want to establish equality while maintaining our cultural and personal identities perhaps we need to reevaluate whether a “melting pot” is the model which we as a society should strive for.