Prior to reading, I had never personally heard of the term ‘identity politics,’ but from the name alone I assumed it had something to do with the debate of how we as humans indentify ourselves via gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, etc. After reading, my understanding is that identity politics is “a politic based on their own experiences and the desire for their own liberation, as opposed to a politic that focused on the liberation of someone else” (Garza 188). It feels like a concept that even after reading is tricky to understand, but I believe it entails zoning in on the fact that even in oppressed groups, there are people who suffer more. The example in the reading that I grasped the best was how black people are oppressed but black women are more oppressed than their male counterparts and even when grouped with other women, they still end up getting the shorter end of the stick. Though it did seem difficult to grasp at first, when reading about identity politics multiple and complex definitions, I completely understood the example about America being based off white identity politics.
I’m not sure what topics I would want to explore during our final weeks of the semester, because I also can’t believe how quickly this semester flew by. I feel like I’ve learned a lot in this class and have actually been able to talk about it in real life to people because it just feels like one big mind opener after the other with each passing week. I honestly don’t feel educated enough to even recommend a topic I would want to take a deeper delve into because I’m not sure what would go best with our class flow.
Kayla,
Although you may not feel the most confident in deciding future topics, I found your observation about identity politics very well put. “Zoning in on the fact that even in oppressed groups, there are people who suffer more”- Excellent way to put it. I too, had that “aha” moment (and not in a good way) in reading the fact that America is based on white politics. It was like I knew this information but wouldn’t have been able to name it prior to reading.
I agree although black men suffer they dont have it as worse as the black women. I wonder what black men can do to help black women rise above. I cant believe how quickly this semester has passed by. We have covered many cool topics that have helped me futher my understanding on many things.
Hello Kayla,
I would like to mention that I enjoyed reading your response because it seems to be that we both saw the complexity of what identity politics is, and therefor the importance behind discussing it. I feel like every topic we have discussed thus far has been extremely helpful and insightful.
Thank you for sharing.
Hey, I don’t think you’d have to necessarily be educated enough to think about what you want to learn next. But I get that it is hard to come up something that you may not understand well.