identity politics

The phrase identity politics is heard more frequently in this era of division and it deserves some explanation. People are divided up into groups most of the time based on something they have no control over. It is not unusual for a person to belong to more than one group. An Hispanic gay female illegal immigrant who is disabled and lives in the wrong zip code is a member of several groups. The individuals in each of these groups are considered by many as a victims of white privilege or more precisely white males. Even members of the white privilege are divided by those who were born wealthy and have good formal educations and those who were born poor and have little education. When viewed in this way it is not far from the plantation owner who provides food, clothing and shelter for his slaves and there are some who make this connection. One wonders what the long term implications of this behavior will have on society.