We have all been in a situation where we were forced to define our race by checking a tiny box labeled with words like “White/Caucasian,” “African American,” or “Latino.” Often there is even a box labeled “Other.” (What does that even mean?)

Whether we are filling out paperwork at a doctor’s office, or filling out financial aid, we have all been in this position. Maybe I am alone on this, but it makes me slightly uneasy every time I am forced to do it.

There are two main reasons why it makes me uncomfortable:

The first reason being the question of why my skin color even matters in the first place? Most of the time I feel as if I am identifying my so called “race” for no reason whatsoever. For example, why does my doctor’s office need to have my skin color recorded and documented? Does my skin color influence the treatment I will receive? Because the last time I checked—flu shots, prescriptions, and birth control are color blind. I understand that there are times where they ask this information for statistical purposes, but it still forces me to raise an eyebrow on the matter.

The second, and most important, reason may surprise you though.

It is because there is no such thing as human “races.”

In order to understand this, we must first look at the definition of the word “race” in scientific terms-- in biology, they define race as genetically distinct phenotypic populations of interbreeding individuals within the same species. Every person, of every color, are all a part of the human species and also all share a single phenotype. What does that mean? That means that according to biologists and scientific laws of nature, every human, no matter what the color of their skin is, belong to the same race. In fact, according to livescience.com, “The DNA of any two human beings is 99.9 percent identical, and we all share the same set of genes, scientifically validating the existence of a single biological human race and one origin for all human beings.”

The use of the word “race” for human categorization is simply a social construct. This means that using this term as a way to divide our species into sub-races because of skin color is nothing more than a social concept. It is completely based off of shared assumptions by our American ancestors. There is nothing scientifically different about us at all.

Even the definition for “ethnicity” is the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition. It is related with culture, religion, and social norms of a person. Skin color has nothing to do with the definition of the word at all. I may be Caucasian, but that is not a description of my ethnicity nor my race. It is simply a description of my appearance.

Now, you may be asking why we have different skin tones at all if we are part of the same race and species? The answer is actually pretty simple.

This world map (pictured above) is illustrated by natural skin colors. If you take a closer look, you will see that the closer a country or area is to the equator, the darker the natural skin of the natives will be. This was caused by a process called natural selection.

To sum up a bunch of scientific and biologic theories- this adaptation is related to Melanin, a group of natural pigments in the skin. The Melanin not only darkens or tans the skin, but also absorbs light and dissipates up to 99.99 percent of UV Radiation. The higher the Melanin levels are in a human body, the darker the skin becomes and their chances of skin cancer decrease. So over thousands of years, the people living in areas close to the equator, where there is more direct sunlight, adapted. The ones with high Melanin levels in the area survived, while the ones with low Melanin levels in the area died off.

In contrast, humans closer to the north or south pole adapted lower levels of Melanin, due to having less direct sunlight exposure. Lighter skin allowed them to absorb more sunlight at one time, which caused their bodies to be able to produce a healthy amount of Vitamin D.

In fact, did you know that there is an abundance of scientific research that has concluded that all humans originated in Africa and most likely had high levels Melanin? This would mean that every human on this planet came from darker skin toned ancestors.

The color of our skin is simply an adaptation that was made for our ancestor’s survival based on their geographical location. Nothing more.

By identifying ourselves as separate races due to the color of our skin, we are not only violating the laws of science, but also violating each other. We all belong to the same species, and to the same race. It is time we start acting like it.

Our skin may come in a variety of beautiful tones, but our souls are all the same color. Treat each person's soul with the same respect. What is the point of hating someone simply because of their ancestor's evolution of Melanin, anyway?