Your Identity and the Confusing Narratives About It

Over the weekend The Wall Street Journal published this opinion piece: “The Inauthenticity Behind Black Lives Matter” by Shelby Steele¹. What struck me about this article most is the way Steele dismisses Black Lives Matter (BLM) as identity politics:

Even today, almost 60 years beyond the Civil Rights Act, groups like Black Lives Matter, along with a vast grievance industry, use America’s insecure moral authority around race as an opportunity to assert themselves. Doesn’t BLM dwell in a space made for it by America’s racial self-doubt?²

On the conservative side of things, it’s common to group people together and dismiss them out of hand as demonstrated by Steele. When the group collectively stands up, “identity politics” is used to undermine their issues and their value as people.

While Steele is no stranger to controversy³, this article isn’t about him. I want to focus on the language of identity and