With the 2000 Census letters arriving around the country, many people in the United States are having a dilemma about what to put down as far as race is concerned. For many people who fit the category “minority,” they often have to choose a label that can accurately be described as an imposition of race.

With the evolution and mixing of the races becoming common in our society, children struggle daily with who they are and what their place is. What’s worse is that many are often forced to choose one race over the other. What special challenges face those who come from families with more than one ethnicity?

From an educational standpoint, many basically fill in a bubble based on the color of their skin. With the emphasis this year on accurately reflecting the social differences in race in our society, the census has in the past categorized people into nicely ambiguous groups.

This year is different. Many have a choice as to what they fill out, but this isn’t nearly enough.

People shouldn’t have to pick what is given to them. This may hurt the overall money given to certain groups because of a lack of identification associated with many racial groups, but who cares? We have a more pressing problem.

One of the prevalent struggles faced by many are the multiple levels of oppression people often encounter. For example, what type of cultural problems does a mixed White/Filipino girl face? From cultural standpoints alone, she can’t be white because she’s not truly Caucasian and she’s definitely not Asian because her complexion is probably lighter than most Filipinos. So she’s stuck in the quagmire of having to find social groups accepting enough to not single her out.

How do people manage a sense of belonging to both parents when they are forced by society to say they are white or black or Latino or Asian? We are seeing a pattern of what many would characterize as the destruction of the white race. But in all reality, we are witnessing the evolution of the human species and not its destruction.

By forcing people to label what they are, we are also isolating their status as an Us versus Them stigma. When we do this we create social conflict that destroys the individual identities of those people, thus fostering animosity and resentment towards one parent.

What impact does this have on the psyche of a child? What are we teaching our kids about social acceptance? We’re teaching them that being around people of a different race is bad.

How many people feel upset when they see a black woman dating a Caucasian male? What types of feelings does this illicit from you? Do you feel a sense of disgust? Do you have to hold back the nauseated feelings? Many would say, “no.” But how many of you really feel uneasy when you see a black guy with your white daughter?

These uneasy feelings stem from the stereotypes ingrained in us since childbirth. For example, growing up I was always cautioned to stay away from certain black people because they were troublemakers. Eventually, through interaction, I learned that not all black people are troublemakers and not all white people were rich egocentrics out to crush all minorities.

It’s these stereotypes that we have to eliminate. By allowing people to freely choose what they want to be called, we don’t alienate them into smaller categories. We allow them to feel free to interact with groups by bridging the gap between the races.

In the larger context of the census, what the government is trying to do, although not perfectly, is trying to bridge the gap in their own small way.

By not allowing people to choose what they want to be called we create a sense of hate and fear towards groups in higher social positions. A recent example in the news was the strangling in Des Moines of a black man for choosing to wear black designer clothing. The stereotypes we have associated with these clothes are that anyone wearing these clothes must be problems waiting to happen. What happened to wearing whatever made you feel comfortable?

We judged this guy based on the color of his skin and the clothes he was wearing rather than by his actions and the content of his character. It is the same with mixed people. We judge them based on their skin color. The dynamics of their personality make no difference to us until we actually get to know them. Based on looks we could all assume something inherently wrong with everybody.

How people choose to name themselves and identify with certain cultural groups should have nothing to do with their character, but until we digress from our own ignorant perceptions, we are all guilty of oppression in some form whether we believe it or not. In the end, it’s not parents who pay the price but children who feel they are worthless.

Andy Gonzales is a junior in political science from El Paso, Texas.