The Checkbox By Pamela Swanigan Analysis

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America the melting pot of the world. Where all sorts of cultures and races coexist together, sometimes getting along and other times not so much. Now a days, when applying for a job or school, for some reason it must be known what race you belong to, or what color you are. Does it really matter? In today’s society it appears to be pretty important to know such a thing about someone. These issues can sometimes psychologically and emotionally hurt someone knowing that they are either both or other. People like Pamela Swanigan and millions of others like her have experienced that same question, which are you? You can’t be both, or the ‘checkbox’ that’s asks; Latino, white, or other. It just makes you want to check the ‘Race irrelevant’ box, but there is none. Pamela in her short essay writes about how she considers herself both white and black, or both. Pamela Having a black father and white mother, genetics wise, she can say she is both because her DNA says so. But the real issue here was not that she wasn’t both but the fact that society sees her in a different way. On the ‘checkbox’ of ‘race’, she is considered other. “you can’t put half a check mark in ‘black’ and a half a check mark in ‘white” (562-5). I don’t think this solved her problem, she calls herself ‘other’ in the end because society forces …show more content…
What if we no longer had to check a box stating your color or race? What would happen? Would things be different? Would people look at others in a better light? I think eliminating that alone would make things a lot better for everyone. I feel that a checkbox has a huge psychological effect on the way people view others, and plays a role in the treatment of people. In conclusion, we are all mixed, and our DNA can be traced all over the world whether your White, black, Latino, or Asian. I’m sure I could find a little bit of you or me in everyone, if that makes any

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