Diversity -- or Divisiveness? US Focus on Race, Gender, Ethnicity Overlooks the Individual

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NOT long ago, my daughter came home from school and asked for our national flag. Remembering a small Stars and Stripes that once marked my place at an international dinner, I fetched it and gave it to her.

"No!" she said, "that is the American flag. I need our national flag." She explained that the school's "diversity lunch" required each student to bring in a flag or symbol of his or her national, racial, or ethnic heritage, as well as a traditional food.

I told her that, like many Americans, our background was mixed and I was not even sure of all its elements. I could not choose a single flag. Besides, we did not feel a particular link to any of our background …