Identity politics is a malignant plague killing society – in order for us to progress, it must stop.
In 2020, politics is no longer about one’s core beliefs, their fundamental values and how we should look to improve our society. It seems now that politics, according to some, should be entirely based on demographics – the most significant of these are race, sexuality and gender. These pigeon-holed ideas on how certain demographics should vote is an instrument predominantly used by the left.
I argue that this form of suppressing people’s views is more oppressive from the left – something they claim to be the reverse. This seems to occur more frequently on social media accounts of ethnic minorities openly supporting Donald Trump or Boris Johnson who are often shut down by racist ad hominems such as: “He [Trump] hates you” or “You aren’t really black”.
The irony is that these quite frankly racist remarks are often left by white liberals who are disgusted at the thought of BAME individuals thinking for themselves. How dare they? It’s the left’s job to speak for all ethnic minorities – a self-appointed position, of course!
I believe this is the sole reason that the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, receives so much vile abuse from the Labour benches and its supporters. As a BAME female on the Tory front bench, she ignores these futile stereotypes – women are also not allowed to be conservative (apparently).
When challenged by Florence Eshalomi MP on her experiences of racism, Patel bravely stood up in the Chamber and shared her experiences of growing up as a woman in the UK with an Asian background.
Unsurprisingly, the following day she received a letter signed by the controversial Naz Shah MP and other PoC Labour MPs. Effectively, it accused her of undermining black experiences of racism with her own. To the common-sense person, racism is racism. What purpose does it serve to segregate different ethnic minorities even further, which in itself is racist? This seems rather hypocritical.
A feeble attempt at party politics aside, Patel is accused constantly of being a fascist for being ‘obsessed’ with tackling crime. She is Home Secretary – it’s her job! I believe these unfair attacks on Ms Patel come down to the fact that she is a non-conformist to racist left-wing stereotypes – how dare a strong, independent BAME woman be a Conservative MP!
The main point I am trying to illustrate is: what purpose does identity politics serve? How dare any group of individuals tell different demographics how to vote? How dare they then condemn those for not conforming to their ideas on how they supposedly should vote? This may prove controversial, but I believe that everyone deserves to think for themselves – and yes, that includes ethnic minorities, women and LGBT people. Sorry, liberals!
Whether one believes that Trump is sexist, for example, is irrelevant. Some women may think he is and others may disagree. Why not allow women to decide for themselves, rather than a group of ironically illiberal autocrats doing it for them? For the record, though, I do not support Trump – I am merely using him as an example.
Though this malignant plague is often instrumented by the left, it cannot be denied that it is present on the right too. Around the time of the 2019 General Election, Conservative voters were outraged at Jewish people supporting the Labour Party, amid anti-Semitism claims. Whether you believe that the Labour Party is anti-Semitic or not, again, is irrelevant. Why not let people form their own opinions? Why not let members of the Jewish community decide who is anti-Semitic and which party to support?
Personally, I don’t understand how this is in any way progressive for politics. In fact, it’s the opposite – it is regressive. It seeks to segregate society more than we are now already, in our two-party state. I, therefore, condemn anyone who uses it for their own political gain, as it inherently suppresses other demographics’ views, which is arguably racist, homophobic and sexist in itself if you are to imply that others cannot think for themselves and that they need the saintly guidance of the totally intolerant yet ‘tolerant’ left.
