Everyone covers to hide a disfavored identity in order to better fit the mainstream culture. The biggest problem is that, despite Americans’ fervent efforts towards multiculturalism, people in society still feel the need to hide who they truly are to be accepted fully. For example, in Kenji Yoshino’s article he presents many famous people, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who covered. Yoshino states that “I doubt any of these people covered willingly. I suspect they were all bowing to an unjust reality that required them to tone down their stigmatized identities to get along in life.” In other words, Yoshino is saying that people are not born wanting to cover. Most people are happiest when they are their true authentic selves, but the catch is that many people do not feel safe expressing who they truly are, therefore many are forced to cover in order to succeed. While it may seem necessary for people to assimilate into a uniform culture in order to be equal, it is important to acknowledge that equality does not mean all people are the same. 

Covering is an assault on our civil rights. Everybody has the right to be who they are without being discriminated against, and by covering people are not taking advantage of their rights. As Yoshino puts it, “The real reason racial minorities are pressured to ‘act white’ is because of white supremacy. The reason women are told to downplay their child-care responsibilities in the workplace is because of patriarchy. And the reason gays are asked not to ‘flaunt’ is because of homophobia. So long as such covering demands persist, American civil rights will not have completed its work.” This means that there is still work to be done in order to create a safe enough society for people to feel comfortable enough to be who they are. Covering threatens equality because if people still feel pressured to cover, equality has not been reached yet. While it may take time and effort, it is a problem that all people in society must take head on for the sake of our civil rights. 

Shame is not just a feeling of pain, but it is a public health threat. The biggest concern about shame is how taxing it is mentally. As a psychiatrist Hallward sees this first hand and she states that “Shame is at the heart of depression, this feeling of unworthiness. It’s at the heart of addiction, a feeling that is so painful, this feeling of something being so bad about me I have to anesthetize it with a substance. It’s also at the heart of suicide. This feeling of it’s hopeless for me.” This means that shame is lethal. Shame is a threat to society because of how painful it is and how lonely people feel because of it. While it may not seem like there is anything that can be done, if people begin to talk about their scary, shameful stories, this silent killer can be removed from society.

The things we feel most ashamed of can be the things that bring us together the most. Shame is something that most people feel towards something that makes us different from everyone around us, but in reality shame is one of the most relatable feelings. People stay quiet about things they are ashamed of, and this silence is what drives stigmas. As Anne Hallward puts it, “Shame leads to hiding and hiding leads to shame and it makes us want to go into the closet.” In other words, people will continue to hide, or even cover, their true selves in a “closet” until they feel safe to come out and be authentic. When people begin to talk about things and have conversations, they become more normalized. While it may seem scary to start these conversations, it is vital to society because discussion drives acceptance.