Preview
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
In American society, identity is something that many people struggle with throughout their daily lives. The US has a unique sense of culture like no other country that is created through the social construct of the race and the belief of the “melting pot”. The US census, that is repeated every ten years, requires that every person identify their race, which is more difficult for some than for others. When someone marks the race box, it is assumed that their race is simply their identity, without taking into account the struggle that the individual could be facing. Some people have trouble with placing themselves within these boxes because these categories don’t always fit their identity. Under the racial categories of the census, many races hold particular categories and ethnicities, that doesn't particularly fit with each individual person's identity. We need to have a greater understanding of what it is to have an identity that can’t be placed within society as a race that could be found within a box.