America is an outstanding country, yet it has one glaring problem: Our nation is still separated by simple racial and gender issues.

While filling out job applications, I noticed that 90 percent of the applications required me to select “African-American” when I was prompted to select a race.

At this point, most people are probably shaking their heads and thinking, “So what? Judging from the photo that appears next to this article, you are in fact African-American.” Yeah, sure. But the problem with continuously selecting African-American is that I do not classify myself as such.

My birth certificate lists New Iberia, Louisiana as my birth location. Since I was not born in Africa I don’t feel that it is appropriate to select that particular classification as if I were an African who gained American citizenship or rather had African parents who gave birth to me in America. Neither of these options apply to me.

I’m simply an American whose melanocytes produce a little more melanin than some of the other Americans. Nothing is wrong with that.

People who look like me should not feel as if they are second-class citizens and the placing of African before American does just that.

America is a melting pot of many different ethnicities and it’s high time we lay off the classifications. All it is doing is tearing this country apart. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands who are constantly mislabeled.

A classmate of mine spoke about an experience at her job where they asked a person who has a height deficiency what she would like to be called. Several of us in the class had a look of wonder on our faces because we had never thought to ask people who are different from us what they would like to be called.

History classifies America as a melting pot of many different ethnicities, cultures and religions, all blending into one.

So why the need to separate us into our own little blocks on a piece of paper?

American Indian or Alaska native, Asian, African-American or white does not identify all of the amazing people who inhabit this country.

Some Americans are not even represented in the classifications offered. Do we really expect people to check “other” and then write in bi-racial or whatever ethnic group they belong to?

It is 2016, why is this even necessary any longer? Why do you need to know the race of the person you are hiring or allowing to move into your apartment complex? The color of someone’s skin does not define who they are as a person.

Just because someone’s skin may be darker or lighter doesn’t make them a good or bad person. Furthermore, why is it that only African-Americans are singled out? I have never, and I do mean never, seen a job, apartment or college application refer to white or Caucasian Americans as European-Americans.

Why is that?

The answer is simple: white people, or Caucasian if you want to be proper, classifies all the people who migrated here from different parts of the world. All of these Americans did not come from Europe so why would they call themselves “European-American?”  The same applies to us. Just because my skin is dark doesn’t make me an African.

Earlier I stated that these labels are tearing our country apart.

Our nation has a long history of racism and prejudice and the media loves to fan that flame. Our constant labeling of people also fans that flame.

Needing to classify someone by where they came from stops their progression on where they are going or rather where they are in the present.

Continuing to point out where their ancestors originated seems pointless. They are not their ancestors; they were born here.

They speak our botched version of English. They are American.

Abolishing this ancient practice of classification will only unite our country further.

Racism and prejudice isn’t something that is taught. It is something that is learned. If we stop teaching separation, our youth will stop seeing it everywhere they turn.