What happened this past election cycle? Why did the social justice movements that were at one time taking America by storm fracture and collapse into chaos and defeat almost overnight?
I have my own explanation, which I will share with anyone willing to listen. But be forewarned: it is not an easy message to hear. And it is also incidentally the reason why I have myself been hesitant to join the activism that once stood poised to overrun all of Western society.
To begin with, the social movements in question are at their core a quintessential example of identity politics: Person A identifies as a member of group X, and so becomes a tireless champion on that group's behalf. And when group X benefits, person A benefits in some small way as well. And yet, to those who have no real identity to grasp hold of, the flaws in identity politics become very clear. Those who are multiracial have such a perspective on racial politics, while those who are transgender have a similar perspective on gender politics. In particular, they see such political wars as being enshrouded in unquestioned and ultimately mythical beliefs about the nature of humanity.
I've personally met a great number of people throughout my years. Some good, some bad, but most just normal people trying to make the best of this difficult situation we call life. However, if I ever at one time believed that they could be thrown into moral categories based on their skin color, gender, religious beliefs, or any other metric, I really try not to believe it any more. I've simply seen too many diverse faces, and looked into too many people's eyes, to remain blinded by what for the most part are inconsequential physical features.
And therein lies the problem I and many others have with social justice movements: they, like the racist, sexist, and xenophobic systems they intend to topple, are founded on the principle that humans can be morally categorized along the aforementioned lines. I would very much like for such doctrines as the black liberation movement, feminism and Islamic activism to acknowledge that, yes, there are just as many racist blacks as whites, just as many sexist women as men, just as many sadistic gays as straights, just as many overzealous Muslims as Christians, etc. I would like for them to acknowledge that just because a group is unduly persecuted by society, that does not equate with their members having innate moral superiority above and beyond the rest of society. Because their logic, like that of their adversaries, is in many ways dependent upon the implicit denial of what to me are obvious truths.
Until that becomes a fundamental part of such ideologies, then they can never truly stand for equality, but can only stand for vengeful usurpation of power. And like a swinging pendulum, such hegemonic intentions will accomplish very little in the grand scheme of things, other than to create backlash among those they need as allies.
One reason why I voted for a person of color twice and a woman once over the past 12 years is because I wanted the world to see that everything a white person could do a black person could also do, and everything a man could do a woman could also do. But by "everything" I meant precisely that: everything. Both succeed and fail, both love and hate, both heal and kill, and ultimately both rise and fall.
The social justice movements that put such people into power have seemed more interested in building mythology than exposing the realities of life though. They treated their elected leaders like saints and angels incapable of doing wrong. The ground they walked on was holy. Their words were like gospel. And it eventually became the social justice movements' own death knell. Because the world saw flawed men and women being unduly deified, and was angered by the lies.
The beautiful truth is that identity politics is not nor has ever been synonymous with righteousness. We are all equally loved, equally blessed, and equally called upon to respect our fellow human beings. And we all just as equally struggle with that last commandment, because we want desperately to believe that the inconsequential somehow elevates us above one another. But truth be told, it does not.
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