Identity politics on the left and right ARE moral equivalents. Just as Communism and Nazism are flip sides of the same totalitarian coin. Saying otherwise is just shilling for your preferred political tribe.
e.g., CRT is warmed-over Marxism where the central oppressor/oppressed dynamic remains, and is updated from capitalists vs. proletariat to cis-white-whatever vs. intersectional alliance.
CRT = Critical Race Theory. CRT argues, like Marxism, that the central struggle to achieve justice/utopia is for the oppressed to overcome their oppressors. In Marxism, the oppressed are the working class, who must rise up and revolt against the oppressive capitalists. In CRT, the oppressed are the intersectional alliance of racial/gender/sexual minorities, and the oppressor is the White Man.
By connecting CRT to it's origins in Marxism, it is more clear how radical CRT is. After all, communism killed 10s of millions of people in the 20th century.
Lol explain how CRT has its origins in Marxism without just lazily posting a Wikipedia article which doesn’t say that. Also the notion that it’s anything like Stalinism or even Leninism is just ridiculous. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤣🤣🤣
In general Identity Politics helps the far right. It clearly has turned leftists into the useful idiots of Islamist terrorists, such as Hamas and the Houthis.
I once had a person tell me, “I can’t be racist, I’m black.” This, just after they’d ranted at length about their hate for white people because they’re white.
It drove home for me how racism is not just a white affectation.
It can seem strange that anyone non-white is racist but it's sadly very common, and not just recently. Reminds me of LBJ's wise comment about the effect of giving people someone to look down on. This effect spurs people who are competing for resources to join their oppressors in punishing those they see as their rivals.
I think there is some validity to the argument that without institutional power to back it, anti-white racism is toothless. It's possible to choose not to be offended and that removes all the power it possesses.
Depends - look at, say, Harvard under Claudine Gay.
Equity is ultimately about having racial quotas in institutions, e.g. the Supreme Court where Biden has said he will only appoint black women. So ironically the more equity is achieved, the more antiwhite racism matters.
"While I've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one: the person I nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity - and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court."
I get it. I never bring it up because it’s become laughable, “my black friends” claims but it’s absolutely true that most of my friends until I moved to California where everyone is in their own separate areas and most have one black person in their school so they believe they know black people. They don’t know jack. They don’t know black or what sensible black people do and want. My friends back in NC, Baltimore, DC where the percentage of black to white is very high and as in school and work and back yard cook outs they never talked or worried about the what they believe is made up by ultra left wing whites trying to get absolution of past ancestral wrongs. We’d laugh about it. They work they eat they do the same as all normal Americans in small towns where black and white are almost equal in number.
I miss them so much especially the women. My best friend back home was a black guy and we were close work mates but also socially.
I’ve also known these you refer to especially during the OJ Simpson trial true colors, metaphorically, came out and the racism spewed from them. They had fewer friends but had their moments of crowd attention but most left it alone. You knew instinctively who to discuss these touchy issues with. I knew the bigots in both sides who had a hard time of avoiding each other but they managed.
1) Most normal people don't have conversations with their neighbors about racism and colonialism on the regular. More like "how about this weather, amirite?"
2) The irony here that you dont mention at all is that the MAGA movement is 1000% about 'identity politics'. But its left-wing identity politics that's the problem ?
I'm not disputing Ben's account about his conversation, or that conversations like that never happen. But he is a professional political writer who lives and breathes this stuff. It's at the forefront of his thoughts. Same for most of us who are reading and commenting here.
But I can testify that my sister and her neighbors in a maroon/ purplish area aren't hanging out having awkward conversations about colonialism. They do have awkwardness any time the name Trump is invoked, however. To whatever extent that "identity politics makes it harder to talk to people" it's because of Trump.
Powerful essay and I'm with you 100 percent. I feel we must be critical of Democratic politicians while also NOT protest voting them out of office like these privileged ANTI-Israel ivy league students are on TV begging people to do. I hesitate using "pro-Palestine" for these students because most LGBT people like me would not fare well for even a day in any fundamentalist Islamic state. While I am against the suffering on both sides of that border, I can also be very critical of Bibi who was in political peril before October 7 and likely ignored very specific intelligence that an attack was coming because he was desperate to consolidate power during wartime. I don't feel being anti-Bibi is antisemitic, but many Dems don't share my view. On a micro-level, I've seen the madness of identity politics first hand. As a trans person, one would think the trans community would be a safe refuge against half the country that is hell bent on negating our existence, but it is far from it. In the 15 years I've been out, other trans people have often told me I'm "doing it wrong" and "don't belong". My therapist suggested I find my tribe, so I discovered there was a weekly Transgender Support Group meeting downtown, so I finally got the courage to go. For weeks, I listened. Never speaking beyond the introduction portion of the meeting. Week after week, other attendees gave heartbreaking accounts of the harassment, physical and emotional violence, and rejection they've faced. I have experienced many these things too, but my experiences paled in comparison to theirs, so I kept my mouth shut and just tried to support the others. One came with her mom. The mom cried saying she was raised evangelical, but was committed to learning about her child and doing whatever she could to support her. The moment the mom left for the parents workshop session, the trans daughter complained endlessly about her mom, calling her "clingy, overbearing, and a bit too much." Meanwhile, my birth family has completely rejected me, refusing to even look at pictures of me where I express feminine energy. And still, I just stayed silent. A few weeks in, the moderator, curious to my "lurking", asked if I had any group discussion topics I would like to propose. I gave a long set up to acknowledge everything I heard up til then, and then asked, "we have yet to discuss the topic of trans joy, perhaps we could go around the room and share moments of when body and soul alignment have brought us happiness." I was quickly run out of the room as if I had pulled out a MAGA hat and put it on. I was accused of being white, and privileged, and more likely a kink, fetishist, or someone cruising for trans sex. I was told I wasn't doing Trans right because I had not begun HRT and had no intention of getting bottom surgery. I was told since I've never had to enter sex work, I was privileged. I was told that I would never be able to experience the trauma of trans women of color. They iced me out of the room, so I left. I can see the same thing happening to many people politically.
That's a pretty odd assertion that "Bibi...likely ignored very specific intelligence that an attack was coming" - that's really an antisemitic conspiracy theory in the very well worn path of "the Jews got themselves attacked". Netanyahu mainly fell victim to a belief that he's a strategic genius who has managed to appease Hamas with lots of free money, so he can use them as a hedge against dealing with the Palestinian Authority. It's complete bullshit to claim that anyone in Israel sacrificed people living and serving on the border with Gaza for political gain. Everyone in Israel has family members that serve in the military - it's not the US where very few politicians or academics or journalists ever serve and have nobody in their life at risk of dying in war. Ministers in the actual war cabinets have lost sons and nephews in this war. That hasn't happened in the US in many decades.
Frankly, anyone making these claims is carrying an antisemitic lie, and trying to absolve the Palestinian Islamist terrorists of their atrocities. You shouldn't listen to that bullshit.
So we have ti like Netanyahu to not be anti-Semitic? Netanyahu is a righting troll and what he’s doing in Gaza doesn’t bode well for Israel’s future. How many civilians is he going to kill? Hamas is a terrorist group but killing civilians isn’t the way to destroy them.
Netanyahu is anti-Jewish, huh? Maybe you need to explain that statement.
I'm always baffled by people who point out that Netanyahu is right wing, but forget to mention how much farther to the religious right Hamas is. You can't get farther right than the Islamist terrorists of Hamas and people make a big deal of a moderate-right character like Netanyahu. What a weird inconsistency - is that because he's Jewish?
Any civilians killed in Gaza are on the bloody balance sheet of Hamas. If they didn't launch a cross-border massacre and abduction of 1400 people nobody would be fighting in Gaza.
A. It was 1200, not 1400. You don’t know the facts
B. Tell me why the 12,000 kids in Gaza deserved to die.
C. By international law, Israel has committed multiple war crimes.
D. The Palestinians have been living there for thousands of years, waaaaay before Judiasm existed. So calm down on your “our rightful land”
E. There is no excuse. None for what is happening. Mass slaughter of noncombatants is not self defense.
F. Again, the facts. The invasion plans WERE known by Bibi and the IDF for over a year.
G. Netanyahu is NOT the nation of Israel. He is corrupt, going to trial on even more corruption charges. Mere weeks before the horror of 10/7 Bibi told Qatar to keep giving Hamas millions. He has a personal interest in keeping this war at full speed. He wants to stay in power even longer.
H. Bibi’s govt continues to break the law right out in the open. They just approved 3000 new illegal settlements in the West Bank.
I. There are better ways to hunt terrorists than “kill em all, let God sort them out.” Dropping 2000lb bunker busters near hospitals and homes shows the IDF thinks of Palestinians as disposable, subhuman irritants.
J.. Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist group that needs to be rooted out of lower. The Palestinians are human beings who’ve been under occupation for years.
A. Just under 1200 tortured and murdered, 240 abducted, many of which have been murdered in captivity by Hamas and IPH. It’s yet another Palestinian war crime that you don’t get to discount. I don’t watch the state-media of slave owning Qatar, so I know what is real.
B. That number is likely imaginary like other Hamas numbers amplified by pro Hamas legacy media. Regardless, they wouldn’t have died if not for the Hamas invasion and its abduction of civilians, so any civilian deaths are on Hamas. Attribute those deaths to Islamist terrorism.
C. Nope.
D. Fascinating assertion, considering there’s no evidence of ancient Arabic artifacts in Israel, but there are of Hebrew speaking Jewish kingdoms.
E. There is no mass slaughter - that is pure propaganda. Israel is fighting back against a Hamas, and Hamas has poured billions of aid dollars into terrorist infrastructure that it intentionally laced through the civilian infrastructure of Hamastan Gaza. By those actions and by the October 7 atrocities Hamas turned much of Gaza into legitimate targets. The alternative to fighting Hamas throughout Gaza is if they released their captives and surrendered to war crimes trial. The war would immediately stop then, but you probably would rather civilians and captives die than Hamas end.
F. Netanyahu underestimated how savage Palestinian Islamists are and thought they could be appeased with work permits and Qatari money. He’s a strategic failure - obviously Palestinian terrorism is more vicious than ISIS. Now there’s no alternative but to invade Gaza and end its Hamastan era. The Palestinians have always been lovers of terrorism and genocide, at least since 1920, but Hamas cannot be allowed to exist as an army.
G. Full agreement. I’m not a Likud voter, and Netanyahu has to go for being weak on Hamas, judicial “reform” and corruption. This is Israel’s war - Netanyahu would rather Hamas survive as a military force, but Israel cannot accept that outcome.
H. The settlements are indeed a pointless endeavor. Reminder: Hamas attacked part of Israel proper, not the West Bank. The goal of the Palestinians is to destroy all of Israel, and always has been.
I. Nobody on the ‘progressive’ side ever offered how to deal with Hamas otherwise than imagine hard that they don’t exist. Delusional thinking isn’t realistic for Israel. BTW, Israel has gone in on the ground to avoid just dropping bombs. It’s fighting with infantry and tanks above and below ground for months now, and winning those engagements. The fact that Israel has risked tens of thousands of combat soldiers is proof it isn’t trying to target civilians or ‘genocide’. It is getting up close and personal and killing Hamas soldiers.
J. Hamas are 100% made up of Palestinians- not foreign Islamists like Al Qaeda. The majority of Palestinians support to Hamas, and have chosen war and terrorism through the decades instead of peace. They definitely are people, have agency, and this is the consequence of their choices. German civilians also supported the Nazis in their majority and suffered through the allied invasion of Germany. Like with the Nazis, the destruction of Hamas may open the door for peace. Here’s hoping. At the very least this will likely end Hamastan, the totalitarian theocracy Palestinian civilians had to live under.
K. Didn’t I? I decided to not waste my Disneyland visit answering you earlier. Doing it over a cocktails now. Cheers.
Duly noted and well spoken criticism, I stand corrected and found the attached article very helpful tying both events together in my mind -- what was reported about advance intelligence regarding Hamas in 2023 and George W. Bush brushing off the "Bin Laden determined to strike the US" briefing in August 2001. In both cases, I don't feel W. or Bibi anticipated the attacks would be so massive and devastating, but it's still within plausibility they were hoping a very minor and isolated provocation would help justify military measures that could deflect political turmoil at home. https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-could-israeli-intelligence-miss-hamas-invasion-plans
Highly implausible for Israel, and in general 9/11 metaphors fail heavily. Israel is attached to Gaza, while the US is not attached to anyone but peaceful Canada and Mexico.
The only scenario remotely similar would be the following - assume a Mexican cartel has effectively taken over Baja California north and south. It tries to legitimize its kleptocratic totalitarian rule by wrapping itself in some bullshit decolonization narrative, the kind the left loves and progressives swallow up like gullible morons. Now, as a result of a US embargo on Baja California this cartel shoots rockets from inside Tijuana at towns and cities in Southern California. Assume it does this FOR 16 FUCKING YEARS on and off. Assume US presidents under international pressure and Mexican pressure allow for some trade and work visas for citizens of this cartel-run semi-state, but at the end a cross-border invasion into San Diego results in 1400 civilians and military personal tortured, raped, murdered and abducted.
Do you want to tell me that the US wouldn't be stomping on this criminal organization regardless of how many human shields it has on its side of the border? Do you think the US would refrain from invading for 16 years? Do you think the US, EU, UN would be allowed to pour billions of aid into that city, with billions of it funneled by a cartel into underground tunnels, rocket artillery depots and launch sites and manufacturing. BULLSHIT. The academic left and similar scum are useful idiots for Islamist terrorists, and progressives are the useful idiots of the left, and none of these arguments attempting to absolve the Palestinians of their own stupidity and sadistic murderousness have any merit.
Had this comment up for a week now and just realized most of my story was cut off! It ended with me asking the room to share moments of trans joy and being run out of the room for making such a statement of white privilege, the consensus being since I did not have to do sex work to make ends meet, that I could not identify with the trans woman of color experience, something I never claimed to do.
It would seem to me that any group purporting to be a support group on any topic would not shame someone into leaving. That is the literal antithesis of what support groups are for.
Excellent, superb article, thank you very much, although it's plagiarism since you obviously somehow read my mind!
I first encountered such phenomenon in 1992, was repulsed by it, and at the time called it "reverse racism". Much later I realized that it was pure racism, just exhibited in a convoluted fashion.
Ultimately, humans are individuals, so I have always been interested in what motivates them, us, psychologically, in particular to assume a certain identity. Right and left differ in their individualism. Conservative people are drawn to authority and are less individualistic. Hence the notion of individual freedom is murky to them. Those with high individual independence are more drawn to freedom, more curious, and with aptitude, more educated. All that naturally puts them in the "left" camp just because they know that individual liberty is preserved in a liberal setting. Yet people have other psychological characteristics. Some are confident, others - not, some have a great deal of self respect, others - not. And so happens that victimizing someone else, then taking their side and cause, paternalizing, pitying that someone allows those who have little belief, confidence and respect for themselves feel better, validate and feel good about themselves. And from there, the fight for their own validity is same as on the extreme right, just more vitriolic and categorical because it's not a conviction, but self-respect is on the line. And this is also where the hidden racism comes out. It's hard to pity strong, assured and independent. But "poor" blacks/afgani/gazzans/muslims/etc. become the end all. And that's why no such passions boil over Ukraine, although they suffer no less, or Sudan, since it's unclear who to victimize.
Such people are no Left, just happen to vote for the Democratic party in the absence of an alternative. And now they are threatening to vote for someone else, or not at all. Since they are not fighters it'd be easier for them to tolerate fascism, no difference for them anyway...
Ok, sorry to spoil the message of intra-side peace.
Your article got me thinking. I've always been perplexed by identity politics. I live in close proximity to a large public university. Most of the people that I know who are into identity politics are highly educated. Identity politics is rife with detail and protocol. To me, it seems immediately obvious that those details and protocol are not consistent with the observable whole (much like the rules in many religions). I'm curious how the highly educated get sucked into views that are intellectually dishonest. The only answer I can think of is that the desire to belong is a very powerful drug. I believe that the original goal of identity politics was inclusivity, but it now feels like the opposite.
Every generation looks for their Vietnam war and in its absence they must find their own in their eyes war to fight and in this gen it’s identity politics.
Recently I say Michael Moore speak on MNBC regarding the Palestinian's.. He spoke of how the Israelis (who he implied were white (many are of all races and nationalities; including Black;) should not be angry at the Palestines. He said that the Palestinians were attacked by Israel due to the Palestinians not being white. The Palestinians are more white in skin tone than most Israelis. It proves that this "racism" is quite closed minded.
I suspect the popularity of identitarian explanations for the lack of racial economic progress (like critical race theory) arises from how it exempts affluent and wealthy liberals from acknowledging the role played by economic policy that has benefited them over the past half century.
Could you give me concrete examples of Black racism in the United States or United Kingdom? Not just someone talking to you about British colonialism but actual racism.
Identity politics is necessary for people of color as a way to survive racism and oppression we face as minorities. I don’t see it as harmful at all. It’s empowering. We have Black colleges because African Americans created them in the face of discrimination and they are still educating thousands of students who can’t get into majority White universities. If you want to call that identity politics, 🤷🏽♀️.
I've personally experienced overt anti-white racism from African Americans countless times in DC, and witnessed it against other minorities too. Does that count? I also have black friends who have told me about the horrible racism they've experienced from white/Asian/Indian people, and I believe them 100%. I'm not singling out any minority for being "the most racist". I'm just saying it exists across the spectrum and many on the left don't want to acknowledge this. As for the emergence of black colleges in response to systemic racism, I'm all for it. There is a power imbalance when it comes to racism in the US, and black Americans are far more vulnerable as a group than white Americans.
Growing up, living and working in small town NC where the ratio of black to white, I can tell you what real black racism is. I’m a liberal Democrat now living in CA and I can go a month and not see one black person so when people here talk to me they know what “black Americans are like and what they need or want” and maybe there was a couple of blacks on their HS football team, then they go on to explain this happened because of that etc etc…I don’t even try to correct them.
It’s mostly ultra progressive guilt ridden whites that come up with all these different new terminology’s and identities and I’m here to tell you I’m not changing a thing if it’s already appropriate.
I asked a black girlfriend from Baltimore if she preferred me to say African American and she said hell no that she’s a black woman as always.
Our generation said “black” and we’re sticking with it.
All this ID stuff if too much. I respect everyone and their identities but I can’t remember all this new stuff.
As far as black racist believe me you would know it when you hear it-it wouldn’t be passive aggressive, it would be simple and to the point so there’d be know misunderstanding.
The black people I know didn’t mince words, didn’t pretend.
At Nestles Ice Cream outside Baltimore, Annapolis and DC employed people from all three places and it was like the United Nations but my best friend their and other black women didn’t get along with Africans who were there from several different countries for political reasons and they didn’t hide it, they let them know, so it wasn’t a color thing it was “I just don’t like you thing,” and that’s not racist.
The comment about by a Brit about black university’s being used because they can’t get into white schools. That might be true in some cases but these are prominent Black universities that maybe they’d rather go to. How do you know did you read it somewhere or you have plenty of black friends who experienced this kind of racism?
When you’re on the outside looking in it’s easy to point fingers as we all could do by bringing up the old British empires colonies all over the globe. So don’t pretend you know what black people want when you don’t know any well enough to be at the same backyard cookout or work with every day, plan baby showers, birthdays together etc etc…settle down and they will let you know when you’re stepping on their toes, otherwise don’t guess at it.
A half baked theory I’m coming up with on why identity politics is failing
Identity politics is forever telling POC/Immigrants/Indigenous ppl they’re victims and the only people they’re prepared to outright say ‘you aren’t a victim’ are WCW, but look at a Trump rally, it’s full of ppl who see themselves as victims, but if you look at the average blank person or immigrant they don’t whine and carry on and call themselves victims every few minutes, they have too much self respect and pride so there is this massive disconnect
Like I say, half baked theory but I think there’s something there
Further to my half baked theory, the main chant of the civil rights movement was ‘we will overcome’ not ‘we are powerless we need you to hand it to us’
Both movements , meaning MAGA and The Theocratic Christian Right, Liberal Extreme Left, which includes CRT BLM Some Democrats are actually no more than gateways or pathways to Fascisim, or autocracy and dictatorships.
Both follow ideologies or dogma that lead me to this conclusion.
Identity politics on the left and right ARE moral equivalents. Just as Communism and Nazism are flip sides of the same totalitarian coin. Saying otherwise is just shilling for your preferred political tribe.
e.g., CRT is warmed-over Marxism where the central oppressor/oppressed dynamic remains, and is updated from capitalists vs. proletariat to cis-white-whatever vs. intersectional alliance.
You may well be right.
With you on the first paragraph, but couldn't understand the second.
CRT = Critical Race Theory. CRT argues, like Marxism, that the central struggle to achieve justice/utopia is for the oppressed to overcome their oppressors. In Marxism, the oppressed are the working class, who must rise up and revolt against the oppressive capitalists. In CRT, the oppressed are the intersectional alliance of racial/gender/sexual minorities, and the oppressor is the White Man.
By connecting CRT to it's origins in Marxism, it is more clear how radical CRT is. After all, communism killed 10s of millions of people in the 20th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_race_theory
lol you are really pushing a cartoonish theory of CRT. Connecting it to Stalinism made me giggle.
Giggle. Of course you are free to refute anything I said. Otherwise we can just giggle at one another 🤡
Lol explain how CRT has its origins in Marxism without just lazily posting a Wikipedia article which doesn’t say that. Also the notion that it’s anything like Stalinism or even Leninism is just ridiculous. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤣🤣🤣
In general Identity Politics helps the far right. It clearly has turned leftists into the useful idiots of Islamist terrorists, such as Hamas and the Houthis.
I once had a person tell me, “I can’t be racist, I’m black.” This, just after they’d ranted at length about their hate for white people because they’re white.
It drove home for me how racism is not just a white affectation.
It can seem strange that anyone non-white is racist but it's sadly very common, and not just recently. Reminds me of LBJ's wise comment about the effect of giving people someone to look down on. This effect spurs people who are competing for resources to join their oppressors in punishing those they see as their rivals.
I think there is some validity to the argument that without institutional power to back it, anti-white racism is toothless. It's possible to choose not to be offended and that removes all the power it possesses.
Individual persons of color can have and do have all kinds of power over individual white people in numerous social spaces.
True, but an institution specifically refers to organized power structures that supersedes individuals.
Until some nonwhite people gain some institutional power.
"some" doesn't really qualify as an institution though.
Depends - look at, say, Harvard under Claudine Gay.
Equity is ultimately about having racial quotas in institutions, e.g. the Supreme Court where Biden has said he will only appoint black women. So ironically the more equity is achieved, the more antiwhite racism matters.
Woman. That "s" is on you.
"While I've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one: the person I nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity - and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court."
Good example, because as soon the school's wealthy white donors wanted her gone, she was out of a job.
She had a good run though for a serial plagiarist with a blackbelt in cancel culture.
I get it. I never bring it up because it’s become laughable, “my black friends” claims but it’s absolutely true that most of my friends until I moved to California where everyone is in their own separate areas and most have one black person in their school so they believe they know black people. They don’t know jack. They don’t know black or what sensible black people do and want. My friends back in NC, Baltimore, DC where the percentage of black to white is very high and as in school and work and back yard cook outs they never talked or worried about the what they believe is made up by ultra left wing whites trying to get absolution of past ancestral wrongs. We’d laugh about it. They work they eat they do the same as all normal Americans in small towns where black and white are almost equal in number.
I miss them so much especially the women. My best friend back home was a black guy and we were close work mates but also socially.
I’ve also known these you refer to especially during the OJ Simpson trial true colors, metaphorically, came out and the racism spewed from them. They had fewer friends but had their moments of crowd attention but most left it alone. You knew instinctively who to discuss these touchy issues with. I knew the bigots in both sides who had a hard time of avoiding each other but they managed.
“Racism” implies a power differential. They are prejudiced against you.
1) Most normal people don't have conversations with their neighbors about racism and colonialism on the regular. More like "how about this weather, amirite?"
2) The irony here that you dont mention at all is that the MAGA movement is 1000% about 'identity politics'. But its left-wing identity politics that's the problem ?
And what is the definition of normal? I’ve been to other neighborhoods where things were out of the “norm” for me but normal for them.
Unless you’re there I don’t see how you can judge that. It’s just not “normal.”
Should he have too? And why is it hard to believe in that kind of conversation with a neighbor?
I'm not disputing Ben's account about his conversation, or that conversations like that never happen. But he is a professional political writer who lives and breathes this stuff. It's at the forefront of his thoughts. Same for most of us who are reading and commenting here.
But I can testify that my sister and her neighbors in a maroon/ purplish area aren't hanging out having awkward conversations about colonialism. They do have awkwardness any time the name Trump is invoked, however. To whatever extent that "identity politics makes it harder to talk to people" it's because of Trump.
Powerful essay and I'm with you 100 percent. I feel we must be critical of Democratic politicians while also NOT protest voting them out of office like these privileged ANTI-Israel ivy league students are on TV begging people to do. I hesitate using "pro-Palestine" for these students because most LGBT people like me would not fare well for even a day in any fundamentalist Islamic state. While I am against the suffering on both sides of that border, I can also be very critical of Bibi who was in political peril before October 7 and likely ignored very specific intelligence that an attack was coming because he was desperate to consolidate power during wartime. I don't feel being anti-Bibi is antisemitic, but many Dems don't share my view. On a micro-level, I've seen the madness of identity politics first hand. As a trans person, one would think the trans community would be a safe refuge against half the country that is hell bent on negating our existence, but it is far from it. In the 15 years I've been out, other trans people have often told me I'm "doing it wrong" and "don't belong". My therapist suggested I find my tribe, so I discovered there was a weekly Transgender Support Group meeting downtown, so I finally got the courage to go. For weeks, I listened. Never speaking beyond the introduction portion of the meeting. Week after week, other attendees gave heartbreaking accounts of the harassment, physical and emotional violence, and rejection they've faced. I have experienced many these things too, but my experiences paled in comparison to theirs, so I kept my mouth shut and just tried to support the others. One came with her mom. The mom cried saying she was raised evangelical, but was committed to learning about her child and doing whatever she could to support her. The moment the mom left for the parents workshop session, the trans daughter complained endlessly about her mom, calling her "clingy, overbearing, and a bit too much." Meanwhile, my birth family has completely rejected me, refusing to even look at pictures of me where I express feminine energy. And still, I just stayed silent. A few weeks in, the moderator, curious to my "lurking", asked if I had any group discussion topics I would like to propose. I gave a long set up to acknowledge everything I heard up til then, and then asked, "we have yet to discuss the topic of trans joy, perhaps we could go around the room and share moments of when body and soul alignment have brought us happiness." I was quickly run out of the room as if I had pulled out a MAGA hat and put it on. I was accused of being white, and privileged, and more likely a kink, fetishist, or someone cruising for trans sex. I was told I wasn't doing Trans right because I had not begun HRT and had no intention of getting bottom surgery. I was told since I've never had to enter sex work, I was privileged. I was told that I would never be able to experience the trauma of trans women of color. They iced me out of the room, so I left. I can see the same thing happening to many people politically.
That's a pretty odd assertion that "Bibi...likely ignored very specific intelligence that an attack was coming" - that's really an antisemitic conspiracy theory in the very well worn path of "the Jews got themselves attacked". Netanyahu mainly fell victim to a belief that he's a strategic genius who has managed to appease Hamas with lots of free money, so he can use them as a hedge against dealing with the Palestinian Authority. It's complete bullshit to claim that anyone in Israel sacrificed people living and serving on the border with Gaza for political gain. Everyone in Israel has family members that serve in the military - it's not the US where very few politicians or academics or journalists ever serve and have nobody in their life at risk of dying in war. Ministers in the actual war cabinets have lost sons and nephews in this war. That hasn't happened in the US in many decades.
Frankly, anyone making these claims is carrying an antisemitic lie, and trying to absolve the Palestinian Islamist terrorists of their atrocities. You shouldn't listen to that bullshit.
So we have ti like Netanyahu to not be anti-Semitic? Netanyahu is a righting troll and what he’s doing in Gaza doesn’t bode well for Israel’s future. How many civilians is he going to kill? Hamas is a terrorist group but killing civilians isn’t the way to destroy them.
Netanyahu is anti-Jewish, huh? Maybe you need to explain that statement.
I'm always baffled by people who point out that Netanyahu is right wing, but forget to mention how much farther to the religious right Hamas is. You can't get farther right than the Islamist terrorists of Hamas and people make a big deal of a moderate-right character like Netanyahu. What a weird inconsistency - is that because he's Jewish?
Any civilians killed in Gaza are on the bloody balance sheet of Hamas. If they didn't launch a cross-border massacre and abduction of 1400 people nobody would be fighting in Gaza.
A. It was 1200, not 1400. You don’t know the facts
B. Tell me why the 12,000 kids in Gaza deserved to die.
C. By international law, Israel has committed multiple war crimes.
D. The Palestinians have been living there for thousands of years, waaaaay before Judiasm existed. So calm down on your “our rightful land”
E. There is no excuse. None for what is happening. Mass slaughter of noncombatants is not self defense.
F. Again, the facts. The invasion plans WERE known by Bibi and the IDF for over a year.
G. Netanyahu is NOT the nation of Israel. He is corrupt, going to trial on even more corruption charges. Mere weeks before the horror of 10/7 Bibi told Qatar to keep giving Hamas millions. He has a personal interest in keeping this war at full speed. He wants to stay in power even longer.
H. Bibi’s govt continues to break the law right out in the open. They just approved 3000 new illegal settlements in the West Bank.
I. There are better ways to hunt terrorists than “kill em all, let God sort them out.” Dropping 2000lb bunker busters near hospitals and homes shows the IDF thinks of Palestinians as disposable, subhuman irritants.
J.. Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist group that needs to be rooted out of lower. The Palestinians are human beings who’ve been under occupation for years.
K. Get over yourself.
A. Just under 1200 tortured and murdered, 240 abducted, many of which have been murdered in captivity by Hamas and IPH. It’s yet another Palestinian war crime that you don’t get to discount. I don’t watch the state-media of slave owning Qatar, so I know what is real.
B. That number is likely imaginary like other Hamas numbers amplified by pro Hamas legacy media. Regardless, they wouldn’t have died if not for the Hamas invasion and its abduction of civilians, so any civilian deaths are on Hamas. Attribute those deaths to Islamist terrorism.
C. Nope.
D. Fascinating assertion, considering there’s no evidence of ancient Arabic artifacts in Israel, but there are of Hebrew speaking Jewish kingdoms.
E. There is no mass slaughter - that is pure propaganda. Israel is fighting back against a Hamas, and Hamas has poured billions of aid dollars into terrorist infrastructure that it intentionally laced through the civilian infrastructure of Hamastan Gaza. By those actions and by the October 7 atrocities Hamas turned much of Gaza into legitimate targets. The alternative to fighting Hamas throughout Gaza is if they released their captives and surrendered to war crimes trial. The war would immediately stop then, but you probably would rather civilians and captives die than Hamas end.
F. Netanyahu underestimated how savage Palestinian Islamists are and thought they could be appeased with work permits and Qatari money. He’s a strategic failure - obviously Palestinian terrorism is more vicious than ISIS. Now there’s no alternative but to invade Gaza and end its Hamastan era. The Palestinians have always been lovers of terrorism and genocide, at least since 1920, but Hamas cannot be allowed to exist as an army.
G. Full agreement. I’m not a Likud voter, and Netanyahu has to go for being weak on Hamas, judicial “reform” and corruption. This is Israel’s war - Netanyahu would rather Hamas survive as a military force, but Israel cannot accept that outcome.
H. The settlements are indeed a pointless endeavor. Reminder: Hamas attacked part of Israel proper, not the West Bank. The goal of the Palestinians is to destroy all of Israel, and always has been.
I. Nobody on the ‘progressive’ side ever offered how to deal with Hamas otherwise than imagine hard that they don’t exist. Delusional thinking isn’t realistic for Israel. BTW, Israel has gone in on the ground to avoid just dropping bombs. It’s fighting with infantry and tanks above and below ground for months now, and winning those engagements. The fact that Israel has risked tens of thousands of combat soldiers is proof it isn’t trying to target civilians or ‘genocide’. It is getting up close and personal and killing Hamas soldiers.
J. Hamas are 100% made up of Palestinians- not foreign Islamists like Al Qaeda. The majority of Palestinians support to Hamas, and have chosen war and terrorism through the decades instead of peace. They definitely are people, have agency, and this is the consequence of their choices. German civilians also supported the Nazis in their majority and suffered through the allied invasion of Germany. Like with the Nazis, the destruction of Hamas may open the door for peace. Here’s hoping. At the very least this will likely end Hamastan, the totalitarian theocracy Palestinian civilians had to live under.
K. Didn’t I? I decided to not waste my Disneyland visit answering you earlier. Doing it over a cocktails now. Cheers.
Duly noted and well spoken criticism, I stand corrected and found the attached article very helpful tying both events together in my mind -- what was reported about advance intelligence regarding Hamas in 2023 and George W. Bush brushing off the "Bin Laden determined to strike the US" briefing in August 2001. In both cases, I don't feel W. or Bibi anticipated the attacks would be so massive and devastating, but it's still within plausibility they were hoping a very minor and isolated provocation would help justify military measures that could deflect political turmoil at home. https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-could-israeli-intelligence-miss-hamas-invasion-plans
Highly implausible for Israel, and in general 9/11 metaphors fail heavily. Israel is attached to Gaza, while the US is not attached to anyone but peaceful Canada and Mexico.
The only scenario remotely similar would be the following - assume a Mexican cartel has effectively taken over Baja California north and south. It tries to legitimize its kleptocratic totalitarian rule by wrapping itself in some bullshit decolonization narrative, the kind the left loves and progressives swallow up like gullible morons. Now, as a result of a US embargo on Baja California this cartel shoots rockets from inside Tijuana at towns and cities in Southern California. Assume it does this FOR 16 FUCKING YEARS on and off. Assume US presidents under international pressure and Mexican pressure allow for some trade and work visas for citizens of this cartel-run semi-state, but at the end a cross-border invasion into San Diego results in 1400 civilians and military personal tortured, raped, murdered and abducted.
Do you want to tell me that the US wouldn't be stomping on this criminal organization regardless of how many human shields it has on its side of the border? Do you think the US would refrain from invading for 16 years? Do you think the US, EU, UN would be allowed to pour billions of aid into that city, with billions of it funneled by a cartel into underground tunnels, rocket artillery depots and launch sites and manufacturing. BULLSHIT. The academic left and similar scum are useful idiots for Islamist terrorists, and progressives are the useful idiots of the left, and none of these arguments attempting to absolve the Palestinians of their own stupidity and sadistic murderousness have any merit.
I think you've just written a great film script and/or AMC+ TV series. But good points taken on putting things in perspective.
Had this comment up for a week now and just realized most of my story was cut off! It ended with me asking the room to share moments of trans joy and being run out of the room for making such a statement of white privilege, the consensus being since I did not have to do sex work to make ends meet, that I could not identify with the trans woman of color experience, something I never claimed to do.
It would seem to me that any group purporting to be a support group on any topic would not shame someone into leaving. That is the literal antithesis of what support groups are for.
I hope you find good people to support you.
Live your best life got you and never let anyone mind force you into anything g because if it’s important to you you’ll need no persuasion.
I totally agree with you and while I’m a democrat I sometimes piss people off that I’m not ultra extreme. Too bad.
Excellent, superb article, thank you very much, although it's plagiarism since you obviously somehow read my mind!
I first encountered such phenomenon in 1992, was repulsed by it, and at the time called it "reverse racism". Much later I realized that it was pure racism, just exhibited in a convoluted fashion.
Ultimately, humans are individuals, so I have always been interested in what motivates them, us, psychologically, in particular to assume a certain identity. Right and left differ in their individualism. Conservative people are drawn to authority and are less individualistic. Hence the notion of individual freedom is murky to them. Those with high individual independence are more drawn to freedom, more curious, and with aptitude, more educated. All that naturally puts them in the "left" camp just because they know that individual liberty is preserved in a liberal setting. Yet people have other psychological characteristics. Some are confident, others - not, some have a great deal of self respect, others - not. And so happens that victimizing someone else, then taking their side and cause, paternalizing, pitying that someone allows those who have little belief, confidence and respect for themselves feel better, validate and feel good about themselves. And from there, the fight for their own validity is same as on the extreme right, just more vitriolic and categorical because it's not a conviction, but self-respect is on the line. And this is also where the hidden racism comes out. It's hard to pity strong, assured and independent. But "poor" blacks/afgani/gazzans/muslims/etc. become the end all. And that's why no such passions boil over Ukraine, although they suffer no less, or Sudan, since it's unclear who to victimize.
Such people are no Left, just happen to vote for the Democratic party in the absence of an alternative. And now they are threatening to vote for someone else, or not at all. Since they are not fighters it'd be easier for them to tolerate fascism, no difference for them anyway...
Ok, sorry to spoil the message of intra-side peace.
✌️
Well said!
Your article got me thinking. I've always been perplexed by identity politics. I live in close proximity to a large public university. Most of the people that I know who are into identity politics are highly educated. Identity politics is rife with detail and protocol. To me, it seems immediately obvious that those details and protocol are not consistent with the observable whole (much like the rules in many religions). I'm curious how the highly educated get sucked into views that are intellectually dishonest. The only answer I can think of is that the desire to belong is a very powerful drug. I believe that the original goal of identity politics was inclusivity, but it now feels like the opposite.
Every generation looks for their Vietnam war and in its absence they must find their own in their eyes war to fight and in this gen it’s identity politics.
Yasha Mounk has written well in Persuasion Substack about this. I’d recommend it
https://open.substack.com/pub/persuasion1/p/mounk2
I finished watching The Munk Debate with Stephen Fry. The man's brilliance and wit are.off the chart. He shared basically the same ideas.
Recently I say Michael Moore speak on MNBC regarding the Palestinian's.. He spoke of how the Israelis (who he implied were white (many are of all races and nationalities; including Black;) should not be angry at the Palestines. He said that the Palestinians were attacked by Israel due to the Palestinians not being white. The Palestinians are more white in skin tone than most Israelis. It proves that this "racism" is quite closed minded.
OMG people try to nail down the most extreme ideas and I get tired of the continuous newest latest theory. It is what it is. We aren’t there
I suspect the popularity of identitarian explanations for the lack of racial economic progress (like critical race theory) arises from how it exempts affluent and wealthy liberals from acknowledging the role played by economic policy that has benefited them over the past half century.
https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/the-irrelevance-of-todays-left#:~:text=Progressives%20employing%20critical%20race%20theory%20suggest%20the%20lack%20of%20economic%20progress%20for%20working%20class%20African%20Americans%20was%20caused%20by%20systemic%20racism%20rather%20than%20the%20replacement%20of%20New%20Deal%20economic%20policy%20with%20increasingly%20neoliberal%20economic%20policy%20after%20the%20end%20of%20the%20Bretton%20Woods%20system%20in%201971.
Could you give me concrete examples of Black racism in the United States or United Kingdom? Not just someone talking to you about British colonialism but actual racism.
Identity politics is necessary for people of color as a way to survive racism and oppression we face as minorities. I don’t see it as harmful at all. It’s empowering. We have Black colleges because African Americans created them in the face of discrimination and they are still educating thousands of students who can’t get into majority White universities. If you want to call that identity politics, 🤷🏽♀️.
I've personally experienced overt anti-white racism from African Americans countless times in DC, and witnessed it against other minorities too. Does that count? I also have black friends who have told me about the horrible racism they've experienced from white/Asian/Indian people, and I believe them 100%. I'm not singling out any minority for being "the most racist". I'm just saying it exists across the spectrum and many on the left don't want to acknowledge this. As for the emergence of black colleges in response to systemic racism, I'm all for it. There is a power imbalance when it comes to racism in the US, and black Americans are far more vulnerable as a group than white Americans.
The very prevalent and well-documented anti-Semitic and anti-Asian racism among the black community in large sections of America.
Growing up, living and working in small town NC where the ratio of black to white, I can tell you what real black racism is. I’m a liberal Democrat now living in CA and I can go a month and not see one black person so when people here talk to me they know what “black Americans are like and what they need or want” and maybe there was a couple of blacks on their HS football team, then they go on to explain this happened because of that etc etc…I don’t even try to correct them.
It’s mostly ultra progressive guilt ridden whites that come up with all these different new terminology’s and identities and I’m here to tell you I’m not changing a thing if it’s already appropriate.
I asked a black girlfriend from Baltimore if she preferred me to say African American and she said hell no that she’s a black woman as always.
Our generation said “black” and we’re sticking with it.
All this ID stuff if too much. I respect everyone and their identities but I can’t remember all this new stuff.
As far as black racist believe me you would know it when you hear it-it wouldn’t be passive aggressive, it would be simple and to the point so there’d be know misunderstanding.
The black people I know didn’t mince words, didn’t pretend.
At Nestles Ice Cream outside Baltimore, Annapolis and DC employed people from all three places and it was like the United Nations but my best friend their and other black women didn’t get along with Africans who were there from several different countries for political reasons and they didn’t hide it, they let them know, so it wasn’t a color thing it was “I just don’t like you thing,” and that’s not racist.
The comment about by a Brit about black university’s being used because they can’t get into white schools. That might be true in some cases but these are prominent Black universities that maybe they’d rather go to. How do you know did you read it somewhere or you have plenty of black friends who experienced this kind of racism?
When you’re on the outside looking in it’s easy to point fingers as we all could do by bringing up the old British empires colonies all over the globe. So don’t pretend you know what black people want when you don’t know any well enough to be at the same backyard cookout or work with every day, plan baby showers, birthdays together etc etc…settle down and they will let you know when you’re stepping on their toes, otherwise don’t guess at it.
Ibram Kendi advocates for abolishing democracy and replacing it with a Supreme Council of Black Nationalists, so there's that.
A half baked theory I’m coming up with on why identity politics is failing
Identity politics is forever telling POC/Immigrants/Indigenous ppl they’re victims and the only people they’re prepared to outright say ‘you aren’t a victim’ are WCW, but look at a Trump rally, it’s full of ppl who see themselves as victims, but if you look at the average blank person or immigrant they don’t whine and carry on and call themselves victims every few minutes, they have too much self respect and pride so there is this massive disconnect
Like I say, half baked theory but I think there’s something there
Further to my half baked theory, the main chant of the civil rights movement was ‘we will overcome’ not ‘we are powerless we need you to hand it to us’
Alas, this warning comes years, perhaps decades, too late…
Ben, Really Great Writing.
I will pose this to you.
Both movements , meaning MAGA and The Theocratic Christian Right, Liberal Extreme Left, which includes CRT BLM Some Democrats are actually no more than gateways or pathways to Fascisim, or autocracy and dictatorships.
Both follow ideologies or dogma that lead me to this conclusion.
Another moron triggered by pronouns. Grow up sunshine.