The Roots of Identity Group Politics

Writing at Power Line, Steven Hayward quotes Harvard historian Jill Lepore on the antecedents of identity-group politics.

The whole Lincoln-Douglas debate in 1858 comes down to Douglas saying, Our forefathers founded this country for white men and their posterity forever. And Lincoln, following on the writings of black abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and David Walker and Maria Stewart, says, No, that’s just not true! (snip) Anyone who makes an identity-based claim for a political position has to reckon with the unfortunate fact that Stephen Douglas is their forebear, not Abraham Lincoln or Frederick Douglass.

Martin Luther King, Jr. understood this truth, and often said as much with vigor and force.