We think of identity politics, defining a group based on its race, religion, or sexual orientation

as a new development, something that recently emerged out of academia. The truth is, identity politics

has a long history in the United States. You could fairly say it was the basis of the Civil War.

Ultimately, this obsession with group identity was rejected.

It is fundamentally a primitive concept and not an American one.

The American ideal, as stated in the Declaration of Independence

and later reaffirmed in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s,

has always been a colorblind society in which

people are judged based on merit and character. But toxic ideas have a way of resurfacing. Identity

politics is one of those ideas. The overriding question for those who embrace identity

politics seems to be,

Who am I? On its own, the question is perfectly legitimate,

but it easily becomes destructive when it demands that one's group identity be recognized in law,

corporate hiring, and other areas of public policy. Once government begins handing out benefits, protections or status,

on the basis of group identity, politics becomes a competition among tribes. Every group is encouraged

to see itself not as a collection of individuals, but as a block with claims on the state. This

is not a recipe for national unity.

It is a recipe for endless conflict.

In the 19th century, the country was torn apart by racial ideology.

That claimed white people were inherently superior and therefore entitled to rule over others.

That belief helped justify slavery and the denial of basic human

dignity. Even after the Civil War and the 13th Amendment ended slavery, it took a century of hard-fought

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