Playing the identity card


Why did the mayor of Los Angeles give a response in Spanish to the State of the Union address?
Tunku Varadarajan criticizes identity politics.

America's Hispanics are a special problem in this regard, and the mulish adherence of their political leaders to bilingualism is ultimately damaging to the advancement of their children (not that our teachers will ever admit this). From this perspective, the Chinese in America, or the Indians, are more pragmatic. (Why can't we let more of them in?)

Of course, there are differences that are not of our election: We did not choose our name, native language, skin color or religion. But there are more potent differences that we do create and nurture, such as the ideologies that are attached to one or another of the former types of difference. When we choose to exploit the natural diversity within us and base political identities on them--as Mr. Villaraigosa has done (and as every Anglo politician does when he mangles Spanish on the stump)--we widen manageable differences into unbridgeable chasms. The Cambodian- and Iranian-Americans who live in Los Angeles are just as proud of their heritage as the Mexican-Americans. Now they, along with the rest of us, have been taught that their mayor is biased in favor of Spanish-speaking people. (What's "Take a hike!" in Hmong?)

Mr. Villaraigosa chose to emit his message specifically in Spanish, and by doing so he sent a clear signal of his chosen tribal identity (and not just the accident of his birth). That may help him with his vote bank, but it will not help his city. Ultimately, it will distance his primarily Mexican-American audience from their neighbors, including other immigrants. Is that what the mayor and his friends want? Perhaps.

Identity politics are the politics of divisiveness and exclusion. It's short term gains at the cost of long term progress. It reduces the leadership to little more than shakedown artists, and sets up the group to be exploited.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - February 3, 2006 at 04:41 AM  Tag


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