This was written in the long ago and far away.
Words are labels. Without labels we have no means of verbal communication at all. The question is not whether there *should be* labels, but rather how we deal with the multitude of labels that exist and our conception (and the conceptions of those around us) of whether or not some labels are appropriate descriptors of us.
When a label is used as a description, there is a division made as to which things are or are not covered by the description. Being different human beings, our perceptions of where the dividing line (hyperplane, if you prefer) is will most likely differ. I think we tend, as humans, to be drawn to be with people who we find to have similar dividing lines on what we deem to be important labels.
When labels are used as descriptors of people, the divisions usually result in an us/them sort of thinking. It becomes really easy really fast to become very defensive about the labels because if our *us* becomes too small, we begin to feel afraid, lonely, unloved, put down, or whatever. Some people react to that by pointing out some other label with an attitude that more or less states "at least I'm not *them.*" Being *not them* helps such people feel once again like part of a larger *us*. Such thinking is what ultimately leads to bigotry, hatred, violence, etc.
The reality of the situation is that when carried to the extreme, the us/thems divide us all in to our own separate little boxes. This can seem overwhelmingly isolating and lead to depression and/or thoughts of suicide or it can be empowering and give us a better state of mind from which to conduct our interactions with others since we can see that no one of us has any right to think that we are any better than anyone else.
Essentially the thing to remember that the us/them is in actuality me/everyone else, but that is the same for all of us...just individual little "us"nesses all around.