patrick.net

When most conservatives consider identity politics they think of it as a creature of the Left and with good reason. The term “identity politics” was first used by self-proclaimed “Black feminists and Lesbians” in the 1977 Combahee River Collective Statement. The primary authors, Demita Frazier, Beverly Smith, and Barbara Smith believed that “racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression” formed an interlocking system that “Black feminists” were well positioned to oppose.

In their minds, black liberation and feminist movements stood against certain kinds of oppression while reinforcing others. Though the Statement authors were socialists they did not believe socialism itself was capable of destroying “capitalism and imperialism as well as patriarchy.” Therefore, their revolutionary task was to work within various identity-based movements on the Left to finally accomplish an ultimate liberation from white Christian males and the system they created to benefit themselves.

Essentially, the Left’s identity politics acknowledged the myriad of ways a dominant majority suppressed victim minority groups. It also sought to mobilize these victim groups into an alliance capable of competing against the majority. We can see the effectiveness of this strategy over the past two decades as Left-wing institutions concentrated their resources on different issues from same-sex marriage to firearm restrictions. Their coordination represents an unofficial political spoils system where resources are routed to various causes in exchange for participation in other progressive efforts. Activists for racial justice are expected to support feminists who are in turn expected to support LGBT+ causes, etc. As momentum begins to fade with one cause, another is brought to the forefront. This works well politically not just because it maintains constant pressure on the Right, but also because it weaponizes a communal aspect of human nature that modern conservatives, broadly speaking, refuse to acknowledge.
https://americanreformer.org/2024/05/the-inescapability-of-identity-politics/

It's great, but gets really going in the second half.