White Privilege And Identity Politics: A Look At "Indian Extermination" And The Civil War

Alan: This is my reply to Fred Owens' Facebook "thread" located at the bottom of this post.

The essence of "white conservatism" is revealed by the "extermination of Indians," an actual phrase mouthed by post-Civil War politicians including General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Similarly, Sherman's friend, General Philip Sheridan, is remembered for his murderous motto: "The only good Indian is a dead Indian."

Men, women and children.

The "Trail of Tears" was not just a path between North Carolina and Oklahoma.

The "Trail of Tears" was everywhere.

And it originated in the heart of white America.

Along with The Civil War itself, these two all-white initiatives comprise the Twin Pillars of America's original "identity politics."

"We are white, Christian, civilized and blameless. And it is our divinely-ordained mission -- our Manifest Destiny -- to take this land from the savages and put it to good use."

Now, finally, we see the face of white identity politics leering from behind America's curtain of persistent platitude.

It is true that identity politics on "the left side of the aisle" has the very downside you describe.

But I agree with Michael Hood.

Identity politics "put heart in the law" and now "The Pharisee Party" -- alas, the Pharisees are always with us! -- wants its privilege back.

And to that end, white, "Christian" "conservatives" intend to rip the heart out.

Consider America's defining moments:

The Civil War - White Christians Killing One Another On A Scale ISIS Can Only Dream Of

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/10/reprise-civil-war-white-xtians-killing.html

The Origin Of "White Supremacy": "An Indigenous Peoples' History Of The United States"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-origin-of-white-supremacy.html

Alan: The above post was my contribution to the following Facebook thread:

Fred Owens: Democrats, many of them, insist on putting people into categories and dividing the electorate by age, race and gender. This kind of discrimination is wrong and it is also a losing strategy for 2020. I like to think that the American people can judge a person by their character and behavior and not by their age, race and gender.

• Fred Owens I look in the mirror in the morning and see an aging white male. Is that who I am to you? You can tell a lot about me that way. That is my category. Identity politics is such a short cut. You don't have to bother getting to know somebody, you can just tell by looking.
• Michael Hood: when i hear kamala or mayor pete speak i forget their racial and sexual identities; identity politics is not about them; they’re successful and elite. it’s for the not-so-accomplished or privileged of their tribes who suffer discrimination. 
  ID politics attempt to assure that minorities are acknowledged equal under the constitution. 
  sad we have to list them in the law, but it’s the nature of humans (especially the right) to not accept that many people of different
  races, gender, disabilities and economic needs may not be able to bootstrap their way past discrimination and poverty. ID politics put heart in the law