Identity Politics? Damn Right!

Joe Biden’s commitment to nominating a Black woman to replace Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court is drawing heavy criticism - from the right and left.

Readers may recall that he made this commitment initially just before the 2020 Democratic primary in South Carolina.  Representative James Clyburn (D-SC), a man of great influence in South Carolina politics, urged Biden to do so and the rest, as they say, is history.  Biden won the primary and the presidency in some or large part because of the Black vote.

The objections from the political right were predictable.  GOP leaders and their conservative media friends would have a hissy fit no matter the eventual nominee.  Slightly more surprising and far more discouraging is the response from so-called liberals and progressives.

This week the progressive, Black, New York Times columnist Charles Blow wrote a characteristically powerful column celebrating Biden’s commitment.  The Blow-back in readers’ comments was overwhelming.   As a comment junkie myself, I find the sentiments expressed in the comment section to be a reliable gauge of Democratic-leaning voter reaction.  Most objections followed the “identity politics will be the ruination of the Democratic Party” theme.  Many included "just appoint the most qualified person” advice.  Only a select few applauded the commitment.   Even many of those who think nomination of a Black women is a good idea, worry that announcing it looks like affirmative action and that a successful nominee will be forever tainted by that appearance.

The growing animus toward “identity politics” is baffling and infuriating.  The most vehement objections seem to come from those who have benefitted from their “identity” for all of American history - white men like me.  Women only gained the right to vote with passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, 72 years after the women’s rights movement began with the Seneca Falls Convention.  Even thereafter, Native women and Asian women were denied the franchise in many states based on “identity politics.”   Voting rights were consistently withheld from Black men and women until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.   Massive voter suppression is a cancerous feature of Republican politics today.

For decades, school and college admission was denied or limited based on applicants’ identity.  Same sex marriages were illegal for most of our history, everywhere in the fictional “exceptional” America.   For millions of women, Black, gay, native and minority groups , “American Exceptionalism” has meant “EXCEPT YOU!”

In the 231 year history of the Supreme Court, 5.3% of justices have been women or minorities.  51% of Americans are women, yet 24% and 27% of Senators and Representatives respectively are women.  I published these statistics a few months ago:

Black households have median family wealth of $24,100, according to the Federal Reserve. For white households the figure is $188,200.

Black incarceration rates are nearly six times that of whites, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

The Urban Institute finds 71.9% of white families own homes compared with 41.8% of Black families.

CBS News reported that Black executives hold only 3.2% of senior corporate leadership positions and only 0.8% of Fortune 500 CEO positions.

Black people are 12% of the population and comprise 5% of doctors, the Association of American Medical Colleges finds.

The Economic Policy Institute notes that 30.8% of Black children live in poverty compared with 10.8% of white children. 

In every dimension of our society, white identity predicts advantage.  Male identity gives even more privilege.  And now, when the president promises a nomination based partially on identity, we scream “NOT FAIR!”  I guess to many so-called liberals and progressives (and nearly all Republicans), it’s only consideration of someone else’s identity that’s a problem.  White men never have to reflect that it was often their identity that provided opportunity and experience, because it was never spoken out loud.  The privilege of a white male identity is something so deeply embedded in our culture and history that we don’t even recognize it.

The nomination of a Black woman will not be tokenism or political correctness.  It will be long, long overdue inclusion of an “identity” that has disadvantaged generations of women and girls.  It will  bring a set of values, perspectives and experiences to bear on American justice that no white man or woman can fully understand.  And it will give Black women and girls a powerful example to identify with.

Identity politics?   Damn right, and it’s about time.