The first anything

I'm rather tired of hearing about a person being the first black, female, Spanish, Asian, homosexual,
or whatever they happen to be, to do a particular thing.  We wonder why we cannot heal the racial divide in this country yet in everything we say and do we want to divide, even in the groundbreaking things and good things.  "He/she is a role model for people" or "He/she is an inspiration" or He/she is the "first of their kind" to do or win such and such. 
  If the fact that we are different is constantly shoved in our face then how can I ever accept the fact that we are all equal?  The fact that a cop shot an unarmed man should bring concern from all citizens and not just along racial lines.  One would think that only white cops shoot people and they shoot all black people unjustly.  The only way to insure that all are treated fairly is to insure that none are treated differently. 
   It is a fact that people are drawn towards others that are more like them. If I were to go into a building where I knew no one and I saw a group of men on the left and a group of women on the right I would more than likely mingle with the men.  If I saw a group of white men and a group of black men I would more than likely mingle with the white folks.  If I saw a group of white men dressed in biker garb and a group of black men dressed in business suits I would mingle with the men in suits. 
  What I am saying is we tend to mingle with those people we most closely identify with.  Go to a foreign country and one will discover that Americans who have retired there live in close proximity to each other.  That is why we have Spanish Harlem, China Town, little Haiti, etc. That is why Pennsylvania was settled by the Dutch, we have places called Germantown, and there is such a thing as a Russian community.   
  As long as we keep thinking of ourselves as different we will continue to treat each other as different.