Identity Politics: Dividing or Unifying?

Identity Politics is defined as "a tendency for people of a particular religion, race, social background, etc., to form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad-based party politics". Gaining strength in the 1980s, identity politics has increasingly dominated the political sphere in America. The Black Panther Party is the most common example when explaining identity politics -- Young, black, militant civil rights activists that united under a single name.

Amy Chua, Professor of Law at Yale and author of Political Tribes, asserts that all ethnic, religious, (really any social) groups are feeling more attacked in this modern day, regardless if they are a part of the majority or minority. The result of these groups feeling threatened is political tribalism and the use of identity politics. Amy Chua concludes that "almost no one is standing up for an America without identity politics, for an American identity that transcends and unites all the country’s many subgroups". In other words, identity politics serves as a way to unite specific social groups so that they can create political change, but also emphasizes the differences between each of these groups to the extent that it can be hard to unite nationally.

Christopher Hitchens, journalist and recipient of the Orwell Prize, echos a similar idea about identity politics. He warned about political alliances only based on social groups or a physical characteristic, saying "If I would not vote against someone on the grounds of 'race' or 'gender' alone, then by the exact same token I would not cast a vote in his or her favor for the identical reason. Yet see how this obvious question makes fairly intelligent people say the most alarmingly stupid things."

Through Chua's and Hitchens' interpretation, identity politics encourages people to vote for someone based on more physical attributes, not for their merits or actual policies. An example can be seen in this most recent election. While many voters of Hillary Clinton were supporters of her message and goals for America, a minority simply supported the idea of the first female president. Perhaps the clearest example of Hillary Clinton defining her campaign in terms of the female identity is seen in the 2015 Democratic Debate with Anderson Cooper. When asked, "Hillary Clinton, how would you not be a third term of President Obama?", Clinton responded "Well, I think that’s pretty obvious.  I think being the first woman president would be quite a change from the presidents we’ve had up until this point, including President Obama." Rather than defining differences in policies and appealing to people sharing the same political views, Clinton focused on aligning with a specific gender. *It is to be noted that the follow-up question is about policy differences. Clinton responds with how she will not only build upon Obama's legacy but also go beyond.

However, in sharp contrast to this negative view of identity politics, identity politics is also seen as empowering and unifying, specifically for minorities. Again, the Black Panther Party allowed black activists to meet other like-minded individuals that were struggling against racism and discrimination. The LGBTQ+ community banded together in the second half of the 20th century and was able to accomplish radical political change and eventually earn the right to marriage. Identity politics gave them a political voice and a community, despite being oppressed minorities. Others argue that you can't brand issues as "black issues" or "women issues" because all of these matters affect the nation as a whole -- identity politics is necessary in creating true equality. 

In conclusion, identity politics allows minorities to represent themselves and form coalitions to advance causes to create national equality. However, by campaigning specifically/targeting a particular demographic and ignoring actual policies, identity politics can alienate those not of that group and disregard a complete political platform. 

Sites

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/opinion/sunday/the-end-of-identity-liberalism.html
https://www.npr.org/2016/04/11/473792646/is-it-ok-to-vote-for-clinton-because-she-s-a-woman-an-8-year-old-weighs-in
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2015/10/13/cnn-democratic-debate-full-transcript/https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/10/opinion-how-identity-politics-hurts-democrats-national-hopes/

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/01/how-americas-identity-politics-went-from-inclusion-to-division