The New York Magazine article

rmrd0000 — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 06:00:28 +0000

In reply to What the Right is Reading: A Different Way to Think About White Identity Politics

The New York Magazine article notes the following:

On identity politics used by minorities

What happens is that minorities set out identity-based concerns which many whites reject as divisive because they have been forced by left-modernism to repress their own ethnicity or because they can’t see that their ‘national’ interests may actually consist of sublimated ethnic desires. If whites set out some explicit identity interests apart from those of the nation, this could allow them to better appreciate minority claims and vice-versa, producing a shared understanding … The current dispensation in which white conservatives attack even moderate minority interests as ‘identity politics’ only leads to polarization.

On how whites should use identity politics

It would be easy to throw out some objections on behalf of my left-modernist readers here: What, exactly, are “white interests”? Even if they exist, who’s to say that they won’t inevitably be tinged with racism or feelings of superiority? And isn’t the whole weight of our country’s history already tilted toward the expression of whites’ “sublimated ethnic desires”?

This is is a glaring example of identity politics being a useless term. We need to know What specific grievances minority groups are addressing and why whites object. The article notes that whites have diversity anxiety so we need to know if there is anything that the white community can do to lower the anxiety in their community. It is very unlikely that they will be willing to listen to corrective measures offered by minority groups. The term identity politics as the author uses it does not aid the discussion. What do whites want? If the core issue is anxiety about diversity, we may not want to hear the answer. At CPAC, they are talking about AOC coming for all the hamburgers. Doesn’t bode well for dialog. Neither does the cover for Trump that went on at the Oversight Committee open hearing.

Rwanda happens when the group gets anxious and dismisses the other out of hand. So-called identity politics actually means groups looking out for what they think is in their best interest. The Right is looking like the Hutu.

Kaufmann is British--so there

artappraiser — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 07:23:56 +0000

In reply to What the Right is Reading: A Different Way to Think About White Identity Politics

Kaufmann is British--so there was this review/op-ed back in October already @ TheGuardian.com, by Kenan Malik:

White identity is meaningless. Real dignity is found in shared hopes

Demographics cannot make sense of unrest. Social context is key to understanding

But I also see that Thomas B. Edsall was already doing some deep diving into some of Kaufmann's ideas in this NYTimes op-ed way back in June as regards the U.S. angle:

Don’t Feed the Troll in the Oval Office, June 28, 2018

This commenter @ New York mag article sort of sums up what Edsall was trying to say pretty short and sweet, and needless to say it is connected to the whole Bernie thing (not to mention Brexit) thing as well:

Newcavenish 9 hours ago

The analysis may not be perfect, but it is a coherent challenge to the left: how to accommodate the traditional working class majority into what appears to be an identity-driven view of politics? Vilification will only reinforce Trumpism; finding means to be fair to all; to deliver needed services such as child care and health insurance to all; and giving a very large group of people a sense that they are respected and not disdained is the only way to go. But few seem to be going that way. Could a Sherrod Brown or Jay Inslee or Kristin Gillebrand pull it off? I'm not betting, but I hope so.

dagblog - Comments for "What the Right is Reading: A Different Way to Think About White Identity Politics"

The New York Magazine article

Kaufmann is British--so there