CheckAmerican.org is a national campaign to encourage citizens to write in “American” as their race on the 2010 U.S. Census. The idea for this campaign spawned from comments Rush Limbaugh made during his March 11th show, when he told his listeners, “I want you to check the box that says ”Other”, and write in “American”.

The Census Form states that, “Race is key to implementing many federal laws and is needed to monitor compliance with the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. State governments use the data to determine congressional, state and local voting districts.” Why does race have anything at all to do with how voting districts are determined? It’s time we stop thinking of people in terms of ethnic and racial groups and starting thinking of people as individuals. This is a great way to send the message that we are tired of being classified as hyphenated Americans.