The recent convention of the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) became a microcosm of the inanity of identity politics found in forums ranging from politics to higher education. Participants were given familiar “equity cards” as literal card-carrying members of groups demanding preferred treatment. The problem is when one identity group demands preference over another. The result, as seen in Winnipeg, was calamity and quickly became comedy.
Many in education have long pushed equity cards and “identity markers” to get students to define themselves by their race, disability, gender, or other criteria. Even computer science teachers are told to tailor their lessons to identity markers. Such markers are treated as essential to creating “Identity safe classrooms.”
There are even DEI games where children are encouraged to “match” their identity groups.
At the NDP convention, people were given equity cards to give preference to certain identities over groups such as males or whites. The problem is that the cards create an entitlement that can clash with others’ claims to speak first.
The cards were based on identity categories, including gender, race and ethnicity, LGBTQ+ status, and Indigenous status. You were supposed to be able to jump ahead of others because of your priority identity.
One video shows a person holding up their green gender equity card to claim the right to speak first as another woman waves her pink race equity card to speak. What followed were objections to people not yielding to those with greater priority or right to speak with one noting that cards for people who identify as Black women “have no value outside of this space.”
Then there was the speaker who called out another delegate for the sin of misgendering the speaker who identified as “non-binary.”
The collapse of the equity house of cards is due to the inherent myth that identity politics produces equity. It is, in fact, a separate system of privilege and entitlement. It is used to marginalize other voices in the name of amplifying other voices.
The greatest impact is to balkanize a population or party rather than emphasize common identities. The alternative is to enforce uniform treatment of any speakers based on such novel devices as a line to speak.
Under this cutting edge approach, people are guaranteed to speak in the order in which they line up to speak. It may be a radical experiment for the NDP, but it has been shown to have some success in other areas.
The salient point here is that identity politics is about asserting privilege for favored groups. In this way identity politics serves as a primer for socialism, which necessarily entails government grants of privilege to favored groups. The most disfavored group in both cases is the one that foots the bill.
This became clear to me in a small matter when I bought a monthly bus ticket in Florence. As I remember, there are favored groups such as 1) Handicapped; 2) Senior citizens; 3) School children; 4)Everyone else.
More recently, the bus company has moved to disfavor non-residents (i.e., tourists) by making the monthly bus ticket unavailable to them.
It may be difficult to disagree with these categories of privilege. However, when it comes to money, there is no reason to assume that handicapped individuals or elderly people are less able to pay than, say, an unwed mother. It is more a question, though, of where the votes come from.
Grander systems of socialist privilege, such as medical care for the elderly, or free education for all children, operate on the same broad principles. Socialism is not concerned with the welfare of all; it focuses on favored groups. The unresolved debate necessarily is about who qualifies for favor, and who for disfavor. The lucky ones are those who are tasked with deciding, and being rewarded for their decisions.
OK, am I the only one that saw the humor of Governor Gavin Newsom of California used an exclusive interview with THE TORONTO SUN to sound out his run for President of the United States? Welcome to the intellectual capability of the “average voter” in America’s decision process through information Sources.
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/exclusive-interview-gavin-newsom-presidential-launch
“Participants were given familiar ‘equity cards’ [. . .] *demanding preferred treatment*.” (JT, emphasis added)
You, because of your ethnicity, go to the front of the bus.
You, because of yours, go to the back.
I thought that the Left was against such racism.
It’s nice to read something by Professor Turley I can fully agree with. I am an ex Trump supporter. But the Democrats seem unable to actually create a positive platform that benefits all Americans. They are hypnotized by division.
Professor Turley has said that there are good faith arguments for and against birthright citizenship.
Surely he is correct.
Yet when the law is ambiguous but must be decided one way or the other it seems the rational course would be to settle the matter with the least harm one may foresee.
Birthright citizenship, just go.
Lol none of this stuff is true of education in Canada 😆
“The alternative is to enforce uniform treatment of any speakers based on such novel devices as >>>>a line to speak<<<<<.
Under this cutting edge approach, people are guaranteed to speak in the order in which they line up to speak. It may be a radical experiment for the NDP, but it has been shown to have some success in other areas.
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This ⬆ is why I LOVE this website. It reinforces in me my own set of values.
The problem is when one identity group demands preference over another. The result, as seen in Winnipeg, was calamity and quickly became comedy.
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Nailed It ⬆
It would be comedy, and funny, if it were not so serious. Fact is so many minorities really believe that they are somehow going to get preferential treatment in life,and THAT TREATMENT is going to make them whole, and happy. So sorry. Not happening. I agree that MANY minorities in America have faced tough battles, tougher than the average white male, but this is NOT how it will get fixed. Fixing it will require minorities to push themselves harder, and be better, than the average white male at whatever it is they want to succeed in. Is that fair? Of course not, but it is the only way that the minorities are going to legitimately get ahead, AND in the process develop a sense of self worth that THEY THEMSELVES are the one responsible for their success. That they THEMSELVES overcame great obstacles and odds to achieve such success. Success that THEY THEMSELVES OWN… And trust me, once they get that self worth instilled into them it may be hard to hold their ego in check (the next big problem that ANYONE who makes it on their own faces- checking the ego that is going to arrive with that success).
I am 90 years old and all of this strikes me as pure BS. Sorry, I don’t understand how reasonable people can worry about trash like this.
JUST BE YOURSELF!!! Live your life to the fullest!! You can’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders!! Be happy!!
MY ADVISE!!
John, perhaps it’s parody. It does have the feel of an SNL parody skit.
OTOH, if it’s real, then it’s full-on mental illness. A convention of the mentally ill where each person gets brownie points for parading how very mentally ill they are.
I swear to Jesus these idiots are going to say birthright citizenship is just anyone without any restrictions.
Hear ye hear ye, it’s wrong.
I’m through commenting at the good professor’s site. I renounce it all including Rachel Levine.
^^^ A tourist gives birth, gets Willy Wonka’s golden ticket cert, automatically has dual citizenship. The citizenship of parents and the chocolate factory.
All birth certs from this day forward shall be in gold paper and comes with a chocolate bar.
My nationality is formally the chocolate factory 🏭 where everything is free and everyone can maim, rob and kill. YAY! FREE AT LAST.
Try this there’s the 14th applicable during reconstruction. Then there are immigration laws. The laws became strict after WWI. They are and have been for national security. Immigration is federal law. This is about federal immigration law. It’s similar to owning guns and gun registration, felons can’t own guns etc.
Sure, citizenship via tourism. It yields dual citizenship. Why not.
Gbye, just register your babies at birth. Scott Bessent and husband have. Marriage and you have become one means the child,become one child.
I deny any association.
Nevermind the Civil Rights Act 1866 said “having no other allegiance” as freed slaves were the only group having no other nationality were born in the jurisdiction of the US isn’t RELEVANT at all, Justice Roberts.
Bessent is married to the mother of his child. Tax deduction? They became one? She needs alimony.
^^^ The dem scam? Bypass immigration laws and other and go directly for a misreading of 14A.
That’s the scam.
Justice Thomas, what portion of 14 is about immigration ? The naturalization process at the time existed. It was a 5 year process. The birth portion is freed slaves having no other allegiance are citizens. The remainder are citizens by birth with due process and equal protection of the law within the borders of the United States and parents were citizens or naturalized and passes to our posterity as an inheritance.
The 14th is narrow. Isn’t immigration in other places as powers etc.? As policy due to national security the president uses that basic understanding. This is about presidential powers?
What a joke.
I deny association
No subject can have legiance to two lieges.
No citizen can have allegiance to two nations.
Dual citizenship is impossible fraud, likely actionable.
Mexican illegal aliens and their illegal alien fetuses and babies across the border in America are considered Mexican nationals by Mexico, as one example.
O T – President Trump has fired Pam Bondi, after recently firing Kristi Noem. There is also a headline saying he asked the cabinet if she should fire Tulsi Gabbard. A few weeks ago, he called a female reporter “piggy”. Some might accuse him of misogyny. But I think he is looking for scapegoats for the political and legal problems he has unnecessarily created for himself, esp. the attack on Iran, which is a cul-de-sac he can’t get out of.
Let’ see… the misogynist hired women so he could fire them…. sneaky bigotry