The Evolution Process And Influence Of American Mainstream Racial Identity Politics

Racial identity politics is at the root of many of America’s problems.Since the 1970s,left-wing politics has led black groups to oppose discrimination and pursue normal political and economic rights and an equal social environment.With the rise of multiculturalism in the United States,black groups began to express black traditional culture.This expression caused panic among the white group,who formed a white identity based on Christianity and traditional white culture and hoped to maintain the status of mainstream culture through this identity.The formation of white identity politics means that there is a political confrontation between black and white racial identity in American politics.And this kind of confrontation is an important reason for the crisis of national identity and social tearing in the United States today.Under the influence of racial identity politics,it is difficult for the United States to get out of the predicament.This article sorts out the concept and characteristics of identity politics by using literature analysis,comparative analysis,and qualitative analysis,and explores the evolution process of racial identity politics and its impact on American politics.This article is divided into five parts.The first part,identity politics theory.Specific groups are the subject of identity politics,and their identity-based demands and expressions are the core content of identity politics.The recognition of politics and the difference of politics are important elements of identity politics.The politics of recognition and the politics of difference derive from modern identity.Modern identity holds that the concept depends decisively on the dialogue relationship between him(her)and the other and is partly constituted by the recognition of the other.Modern identity gets rid of the given external order and embodies distinct subjectivity and introversion.The difference between the politics of difference and the politics of recognition is that there are external norms in the politics of recognition,while the politics of difference do not.The politics of difference is manifested when there is a discrepancy between an individual’s self-identity and that of others.Identity politics is the pursuit of the group’s self-identity on an equal footing with the self-identity of others.The second part,the background of the evolution of racial identity politics in the United States.The United States has a long history of immigration,non-Hispanic white and black groups are the dominant races,and racial diversity has become the historical basis of American racial identity politics.Different from other nation-states,the United States does not rely on a certain ethnic identity to construct the national identity of modern nation-states but builds consensus by constructing "belief-based national identity".This national identity does not rank political values,which makes American political thought lacking the necessary theory to establish the relationship between different values.This also provides political foundations for the identity politics in the United States.The third part,the historical evolution of black identity politics.Although the American black community experienced the Civil War,it did not address the racial discrimination and segregation that the black community suffered in their daily lives.The civil rights movement is the starting point of black identity politics.In the early 20th century,black churches and the National Association of Colored People organized large number of blacks,in hopes of abolishing the segregation that existed in public places through protests and sit-in.After an arduous struggle,the American Congress enacted three civil rights acts in 1960s to 1970s to guarantee various rights for the black community.To deal with the vengeance of the white group,the black power movement is launched by the black community,led by the Black Panther Party,in the later period of the civil rights movement,led by the Black Panther Party.Through the use force,the Black Power Movement liberated the black mind to a certain extent,and the black group produced a sense of national pride,cultural self-confidence,and group self-identity.As the continuous expansion of the rights of black groups,this self-identity of black groups hoped to be recognized by white groups as others,but contrary to expectations,white groups begin to gather strength through Christian traditional values and launched a counterattack against black culture.The Fourth part,the historical evolution of white identity politics.White identity politics emerged into being in opposition to the self-identity of black groups.Christianity provided the identity of the white community.As the core religion of America,Christianity accompanied the European immigrants to America.At first,Christianity was once compressed to the southern countryside because it could not adapt to modernization and secularization.With the capitalism growing,international communism and domestic left-wing politics caused panic,Christianity shifted,which believed that individuals could change they’re through hard work.The combination of capitalists and Christianity became the beginning of the political evolution of white identity politics.In face of the triumphant advance of the black movement,the Republican Party provided a stage for the white identity politics to show,and the Nixon administration masked racism by opposing the violence in the black power movement.The Reagan administration changed the identity of Christian whites from invisible to explicit,promoting white group identity in various ways.White identity politics first emerged during the Reagan administration.White identity politics has officially entered the arena of American domestic politics.The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Gulf War interrupted the development of American white identity politics.The two Bush administrations have greatly enhanced the national identity of American citizens.However,with the disappearance of external pressure,white identity politics made a comeback.Under the leadership of Trump,a non-established white Christian,white identity politics has appeared on the world stage for the first time.The fifth part is the impact of the evolution of American racial identity politics on American politics.Racial politics has had a greater impact on American national identity.The impact of racial identity politics on the United States includes two aspects.On the one hand,it has a positive impact.Racial identity politics allows many cultures to influence each other and make mutual progress,which is conducive to the development of American culture.Racial identity politics has also allowed many minority groups to have a voice and channel,which has weakened the inequality in American society to a certain extent;on the other hand,it has negative effects,the national identity of the United States with the "gene" of white culture and the racial identity of ethnic minorities have caused American nationals to waver in their identity,eroding the "belief-based national identity" of the United States.Racial politics also has an impact on party politics.Political parties and racial identities have produced a high degree of integration,which has led to political parties beginning to rely on racial identities to gather voter groups and respond to their identity-based appeals,forming a polarization of party that tends to be difficult to reconcile.