Of Merit and Melanin: Identity Politics and the Balkanization of America
On May 22, 2019, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams gave a speech at the Center for American Progress.
Ms. Abrams spoke out strongly in her defense of Identity Politics, stating that “Identity Politics is exactly who we are and exactly how we won,” and arguing that Identity Politics “brought new folks to the process.”
America is based on the idea of pluralism, the notion that, regardless of our race, religion, creed, or national origin, we would all co-exist within one nation.
Countless millions migrated here from every continent and continue to do so. They retained their ethnic, religious, and cultural identity, but regarded themselves as Americans.
This is the reason why protesters in Hong Kong wave American, not Chinese flags.
It is why, from Central America to China, families give all they have to smugglers, sometimes having to resort to selling themselves into virtual slavery in order to get here.
Many of them have come here not only for the opportunities and freedom, but to escape the endless cycles of violence and destruction caused by Identity Politics in their homelands.
Identity Politics strips away the idea that we are all Americans first. It places race, religion, creed, sexuality, and most importantly, skin pigmentation at the forefront of one’s identity.
This is a reversion to tribalism. It repudiates everything that America stands for and could ultimately have catastrophic consequences.
Identity Politics’ legacy is written in blood, not just in Europe, but across most of the world. From Africa to Asia to the Middle East, various ethnic groups, religious sects, and tribal entities wage war on one another to assert their dominance and control.
Identity Politics can only succeed when the “threads” that hold us together as a civilization slowly unravel.
In our case, these threads are the ideals expressed in our Declaration of Independence which states that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
Leftists’ will stop at nothing in their pursuit of a Marxist state. This idea has been tried many times around the world and failed everywhere.
Whatever our many problems, following in the footsteps of Cuba and Venezuela is not the solution.
As for what the future may hold, Abraham Lincoln’s sentiments probably expressed it best when he observed on the eve of the American Civil War that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
