https://www.city-journal.org/tribalism-racialism

From Joel Kotkin:

"Perhaps nothing so animates the progressive Left today as the notion of an increasingly race-conscious society, segregated by ethnic identity and dismissive of the traditional ideal of assimilation. If this seems ironic, it should—in the not-so-distant past, this was a position embraced by the reactionary Right, particularly in the Jim Crow South. Today, however, progressives support separate dorms for African-Americans and promote restricted “safe spaces” for minorities and other designated victim groups....


Legal classification of people by their ethnonational background has a long history in Europe and Asia, though not necessarily to the long-term benefit of minority groups. Under the Ottoman millet system, for example, individual communities—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim—controlled their own internal affairs; not being forced to live together as a common culture, they could not, once that system broke down, find ways to live with diversity. Similarly, the Soviet system allowed each “minority” its own homeland, where local party bosses could hand out favors and rule their subjects in their native tongues. When the USSR collapsed, the newly liberated ethnic states were soon at one another’s throats.

Today, we’re witnessing what one scholar has called “the racialization of American politics and society.” Race, sadly, now separates the political parties more than ever....



Progressives assume that policies designed to help certain racial groups automatically benefit them, yet racial identity and economic empowerment are not the same thing. As Tavis Smiley has commented, black America got “caught up in the symbolism of the Obama presidency” but saw its economic fortunes decline under his administration. Indeed, it turns out that, for the most part, progressive politics do not especially help minorities. Due in part to economic and housing polices, notes researcher Daniel Hertz, some of the politically bluest cities— Milwaukee, New York, and Chicago—are also the most segregated. These places may boast socially aware political cultures, but minorities, particularly African Americans, are moving out.

Evaluating factors like income differentials, homeownership, business ownership, migration, and educational achievement, a study by the Center for Opportunity Urbanism (where I’m executive director) found that, ironically, 13 of the 15 best regions for African-Americans are today located in the old Confederacy, while the other two—Washington and Baltimore—were in border states. The worst performers were Democratic strongholds like Boston, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles. Blue-state policies—including environmental regulations and higher taxes—also drive out blue-collar businesses that tend to hire minorities and raise housing and other costs....



American society cannot heal its current divisions if a large portion of that society writes off another large segment as fundamentally racist. Racialism, whether from the left or the right, can only divide Americans and overwhelm any sense of common identity. In this sense, both the woke Left and the nativist Right are subversives, working to undo the inspiring racial progress of the past half-century."