According to Louisana Gov. Bobby Jindal, being "[insert your ethnic background here] and proud" is a significant contributor to the racial inequities that exist in the United States.
Instead of focusing on "separateness," he wrote in a opinion piece titled "The End of Race," published by Politico the day after the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, minorities must make a greater effort to assimilate into American culture.

Jindal acknowledged that "racism still rears its head from time to time," but minorities have made many strides in the past 50 years. However, emphasizing distinctions in ethnicity, he said, slows down progress toward a more perfect union.

"We live in the age of hyphenated Americans: Asian-Americans, Italian-Americans, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Indian-Americans and Native Americans, to name just a few," Jindal said. "Here’s an idea: How about just 'Americans?' That has a nice ring to it, if you ask me. Placing undue emphasis on our 'separateness' is a step backward."

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(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)