Those who use the term “identity politics” may be the least aware of its true meaning, or otherwise they would have retired it by now. It’s the American translation for “blacks should be blamed or at the very least, bare the brunt of the responsibility for white racism”.
Before you start to scream with the sheer insanity of what I’m saying, please hear me out. The term’s actual meaning is not obvious to those who misunderstand the nature of American society. Some folks believe that if blacks would just fade into the woodwork, then they could get on with the serious business of organizing the white working class and inviting them back into the Democratic Party. While blacks are not blamed for working class whites having fled, they are blamed for maintaining too high a profile in the current Democratic Party, and thus scaring these people away from giving any thought to rejoining. This fantasy is played out under the masquerade of economic populism.
America’s history of slavery is not our fault. The fact that 36 million black people live in this country because of that history is not our fault. The deeply-entrenched psychology of racism, where poor and working class whites will endure any discomfort so long as they’re on a higher rung than blacks, is not our fault. But it certainly belies the notion that our nation is even capable of uniting workers under a single banner in this generation. “Identity politics” is saying that blacks are to blame. Of course, there are gays and white women in the Democratic electorate as well. But blacks are the most visible bloc. If we could just shove them aside, make them less visible, maybe even make them invisible, then. . .
Remember, America is not Sweden and it is not our fault.
