Can't We All Just be American?

     I remember a time growing up that the idea of me being categorized as anything other than American wasn't a thing.  Now we are all in a sub-set of some kind of category as to what kind of  American we are.  There's African-American, Mexican-American, Irish-American, Straight-American, Gay-American; essentially you have to find that camp of what to be labeled as and be content.  For example, the world almost came to a screeching halt when actress Raven Symone came out and publicly declared that she wasn't "African-American", that she was simply an American.  The backlash that came about was intense and completely uncalled for.  At the end of the day, she wasn't wrong.  She is American, and the only reason why people had such an issue with her declaring she wasn't African-American was because that goes against everything we are taught to believe. 
     With everything from marketing to elections, it helps those trying to get their brand across to know who to campaign their cause or product to.  Which is fine to an extent, since you wouldn't want to appeal coffee to a toddler, but these labels are doing more to harm than help.  Think about all of the forms we have to fill out with banks, schools and work.  At the end of the day, does a bank really need to know if I am of "Non-Hispanic" origin and am just Caucasian?  Some of the questions are becoming more invasive and unnecessary, yet, there they are with no end in sight.  If we were to stop labeling ourselves, then where would the so-called "race experts" have to do with themselves?  I think that as hard as it is to part with a favorite pair of shoes, it is just as hard for many to come to the realization that race just doesn't matter as it used to. 
     There used to be a need for affirmative action, now we all would be fooling ourselves if we said we wouldn't want the person most qualified to complete the job greasing the wheels.  For all of the people who are beside themselves with excitement over the possibility of having the first female President, many more of us cannot stomach the idea of voting someone in office only because of their gender.  With the Obama years still ahead, and what has come to pass, this has to be further evidence of a nation weary of labels and firsts.  There are many more open interracial couples then ever before, and do you think that those families and any children that they have can fit nicely into the labels that are out there now? 
     Where does this need come from to have every single person labeled as anything other than American?  For me, when I hear someone label themselves as "category"-American, it does more to harm our nation by causing a division among ourselves.  We're the only nation that I know of that does this.  Germans do not label each other in such a way, they are all just Germans.  What's worse is that this need for categorization is driving such a deep rift in our society because it pits everyone against another sub-set. Even during election season it is difficult to not get upset when the media and officials debate on how Republicans and/or Democrats can win the black vote or the female vote; it's no longer a novel idea to appeal to all Americans and that's disheartening.  If we cannot break down these barriers caused by these labels, we will continue to be at odds against one-another.