When we were first introduced to identity politics I had trouble overcoming the urge to directly relate it to Politics and kept trying to understand how our government plays a role in these topics. The government definitely does play a role, but in the conversation of identity, we zero in on the groups created in order to move away or break free from societal norms and traditions. In The Power of Identity Politics, Garza thoroughly explains the experiences of those who do not fit the idolized image of a white man. They show us how exercising power within identity groups is stronger than an individual trying to have their voice be heard. Williams on the other hand gave a very personal example of how she was directly affected by the judgment of her identity. By standing her ground and not allowing these stereotypes negatively impact her, she was able to use her power in a positive and effective way.

I would love to dive into the topic of reproductive rights and trans rights regarding healthcare. I do not hear about these issues enough in mainstream media. Recently… as of yesterday, Oklahoma passed a law to make abortion illegal. It hurts my heart to see women’s rights yet again in the hands of white men who should have no say in what a woman is meant to do with her body. I think this also could relate closely to society’s standards of how women should look, filters and apps that completely distort the female face have a really negative impact on young and old generations. I feel that these are ways to barbarically enhance the natural features we are given at birth, without surgery, and set an unattainable standard of what men seek.

Identity is used as a tool to define political claims, promote political ideologies, or motivate and orient social and political action, typically in the context of inequity or injustice, with the goal of establishing group distinctiveness and membership and attaining power and respect. I believe that political education, organizing, and reading are the only ways for people to comprehend that this system does not serve the working class and poor. These individuals with a “seat at the table” have access to enormous wealth. They already have a lot of power. These individuals uphold and protect the interests of the ruling class. The dream they’re selling us is not the dream of the working class or the poor, and the only way to unlearn it is via political education. Alicia Garza, from what I gather, has a Marxist philosophy and aspires to work toward socialism, so how did we get to the point where Black Lives Matter has gone to the Grammys and become a co-opted capitalist thing was always another question I eventually had. Activists have used Tamir Rice’s name in advertisements and public performances, but his mother has come out to inquire and demand where the actual justice and discourse about police brutality and racial violence lies beyond the staged actions. There are activists profiteering from Black Lives Matter, which divides us and misses the entire objective of the liberation struggle.

In the reading “Too Latina to be Black, Too Black To Be Latina”, by Aleichia Williams it was clear that understanding your identity alongside how it is perceived in the light of social construct in highly fundamental, Williams speak about her in depth perspective on what is was like to sometimes feel locked into a specific box based off what she may look like and even speak like. In the reading “Too Latina to be Black, Too Black To Be Latina”, by Aleichia Williams it was clear that understanding your identity alongside how it is perceived in the light of social construct in highly fundamental, Williams speak about her in depth perspective on what is was like to sometimes feel locked into a specific box based off what she may look like and even speak like. But instead of allowing these mere minded factors negatively impact her she uses them with an emphasis on the amount of control every other individual who may be in the same situation has. Stating, “I’m learning to embrace every aspect of my identity and not let small minds put me in a box that just doesn’t fit. I’m Latina. I’m black. Also, I’m human. No one can take that from me.” (Williams) Instead of allowing these mere minded factors negatively impact her she uses them with an emphasis on the amount of control every other individual who may be in the same situation has and using that power correctly is what matters.

One aspect I’d like to look more depth of may be woman’s workplace equality. While women continue to strive for representation and acknowledgment in the workplace, there are difficulties that go beyond the office. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are overrepresented in businesses such as education, healthcare, and hospitality, while they are underrepresented in fields such as software development, law, and agriculture.

Garza’s chapter specifically, helped me tremendously in understanding identity politics since it was introduced in this course. I now understand that it is used to describe the lived experiences of those that are not white, heterosexual, cisgendered men and how important it has been for the Black Feminist movement to have been able to distinguish their extreme oppression in comparison to other groups and created a designated place to begin addressing their particular experiences and desire for their own liberation separate from the liberation of other aforementioned groups. “If we don’t acknowledge that power works to the benefit of white, Christian, heterosexual, cisgender men, we will continue to blame those who are subjugated by that power for being subjugated, rather than working together to uproot the legacy of unevenly distributed power” (Garza, 191/192). We all know and have associations with what having power means but through this chapter and quote, I felt the magnitude of importance white America has placed on attaining and maintaining it at essentially all costs neglecting human life drastically in the process. To top this disheartening realization, I was really affected by reading “For more than forty years, the conservative movement has been fighting to capture hearts and minds and align those hearts and minds with an agenda that benefits a few at the expense of many. The conservative movement in this country has invested more in obscuring disparities by race and class and gender than the progessive movement has invested in highlighting them” (Garza,192) because it helped me understand and name where my own conditioning by society arose from and that I allowed to tell me what is or isn’t of this world without me questioning it. 

I love the way this course has been set up for us because literally every week has added to the last and because it has all been so new to me, I’m not sure how to follow all that we have done so far. I noticed a fellow classmate mention reproductive rights and abortion and I’d be very interested in this as well.

I want to start off by saying how much I enjoyed this week’s readings. Garza’s The Power of Identity Politics established excellent points and ideas about identity politics and helped me understand it a lot more. It’s interesting — white people were the ones who created race and gender classifications, and are the first to propose that we simply eradicate the concept in favor of sameness. But, we are not the same, because of the many obstacles we face compared to the overwhelmingly white, cisgender, heterosexual standards of our world. Simply ignoring this will create no change. As Garza put it, “Identity is the elephant in America’s room.” We need to discuss identity politics in order to dismantle our oppressors, and very systems that uphold bigoted standards.

I really enjoyed Williams’ story about coming to terms with her identity in a way that feels right for her. It’s important to acknowledge that we do not have to force ourselves to fit in a box — and the way we experience race, ethnicity, and culture is unique to each and every person.

As for what topics we should focus on moving forward, I read Aleah Alamo’s discussion post and agree that it would be great to focus on race’s impact on poverty. Systemic oppression has everything to do with the lack of available resources, education, and all opportunities for marginalized groups. The quote, “Sure, I am empowered to decide what I eat for breakfast today, but larger forces create the options I can choose from—or whether or not breakfast is even available to me,” from Garza, describes this perfectly.

Have a great spring break! =)

In this week’s reading of “The Power of Identity Politics” by Alicia Garza, she writes, “One can wake up in the morning feeling empowered–but empowerment is different from power” (186). This statement first confused me until she gave a great example that helped me understand the difference and better understand identity politics. She explained that by saying that we are empowered to decide what we eat for breakfast, but larger forces are actually the ones who hold power because they are the ones who create the options we choose from, or if breakfast is even available to us. She also mentions how the white people of our country and their culture and experiences are what the rest of us are compared to. They are the mold, the initial experiment. “Whiteness, white identity, is a core organizing principle for America.”
In “Too Latina To Be Black, Too Black To Be Latina,” Aleichia Williams writes about the first time she had a “race crisis.” She felt as though she couldn’t fit in with the Black students at her school because of her culture or the Latin students because of her skin color. “Even now as an adult I find people are constantly trying to restrict me into a specific mold and identity. My home language is Spanish so this must mean I eat tacos. I have kinky hair so this must mean I bang to Meek Mill. For many, I am too black to be Latin and too Latin to be black.” It is too common to feel that you can only really identify with one part of yourself because of society’s standards. As for topics I’d hope to further explore in this course, I think anything revolving around reproductive rights and abortion is always great to learn about.

As Garza said in her writing, identity politics is hard to understand and give meaning to because of the number of times it’s been tainted by society. I see identity politics as a form of politics set toward an individual. I like the idea of having identity politics. You have your own political views based on your personal values and identity standards. I find it hard to explain, but Garza explains here,” Identity politics was developed by Black feminists who refused to be defined personally or politically by a set of standards that were not their own.” This can relate to Williams’ “Too Latina To Be Black, Too Black To Be Latina,” “I’m learning to embrace every aspect of my identity and not let small minds put me in a box that just doesn’t fit. I’m Latina. I’m black. Also, I’m human. No one can take that from me.” Identity politics was corrupted by society, but as we learn more about our identities and flaunt them as we can because we are proud of who we are. For the remainder of the semester, I am not sure what we should do to be honest. Maybe it’d be more interesting in focusing on race, but mainly how race and inequality affects women of color in the workplace. As a woman of color, it’d be interesting to learn a bit more about that. Maybe also talking about the effects of motherhood on women, or something along those lines. We can also talk/watch movies with female leads that break societal stereotypes.

It would not be an exaggeration to state that individuals classified within a specific range of identity encounter incidences which deprives or reduces their senses of dignity and pride. Identity politics consists of composite situations that builds upon its comprehension. In our current community, there are people who perfectly fit the norm, whereas others must somehow denounce or change who they are to be accepted in such category. What it is to be black and/ or a person of color, a woman, a member of the LGBTQ community and so on. For instance, miss blonde lady at the bar who was not in agreement of “diverse group”, and very much did not appreciate the fact that an actor was identified as nonwhite. In many circumstances, there have been people with characteristics like our said female who have more or less failed to acknowledge that different groups continue to experience varying influences. we subsequently reside in a society so many enforced and or implemented laws have been segregated and only benefits certain individuals whilst others indeed suffer from them, protects some and directly or indirectly puts the rest in danger. Garza Alicia simultaneously concurs identity politics to power and authority as she furtherly explains that in as much as society degrades people of color, they regardless possess “power” to make certain decisions although larger forces and/ or people with higher positions in society create those options from which we choose from.

 “Too black to be Latina” has similarities with assuming an Arab cannot be Christian, or a Muslim cannot be black. Countless people on a daily basis experience such blatant ignorance in accordance with the race or inclusively the identity of a person. Nevertheless, when it came to matters like this, people were always faced with the hard on decision to pick an identity over the other. For instance, “you cannot be Latin and black”, “you are either black or Latin”. People are expected to deny a part of their identity and fully embrace the other. According to the article, the author states of an incidence where two different groups were going head-to-head with one another, she stated that during the she was very perplexed as to which group to side on. There are moments where people receive unnecessary complements for not being “normal”. In a posted YouTube video, a black girl shared her experience of how different she is treated whenever she tells people she is Hispanic. 

I liked how Garza in “The Power of Identity Politics” discussed “interlocking oppressions” in her explanation of identity politics. Her explaining the power imbalance between White Americans and everyone else expanded my understanding. Garza gave and analogy of white people being the control/standard in America that everyone else is judged based on. Because of this and white superiority, people of color, specifically women, face  “interlocking oppressions” like racism, sexism, capitalism, and heterosexism combined. This is where identity politics come into play, when fighting for freedom for women, the movement was only for the freedom of white women, not all women. There is the social/political issue of inequality and opression for women but white women are the only ones who are sympathized for and recive the benefits of the movement. Identity politics has to do with opressed groups like women of color being excluded from gaining the rights and freedoms they were fighting for along side white people. Being considered less-than in America causes their role in a movement to be overlooked or bashed as if they are undeserving of gaining rights and freedoms nonmatter the effort. In order to understand identity politics, you need to understand “interlocking oppressions” and the social/political hierarchy of white America and Garza’s article provided a great explanation of that.

In the remaining weeks I would love to further explore the impacts race has associated with gender. My aunt is a social worker and she just recently went back to school, one of her classes are discussing race’s impact on poverty. She was reading a study that compared the rate of poverty based on age, race, and gender. It was interesting to hear that there is a higher poverty rate for people of color, especially women. It’s sad that this information isn’t very surprising. I would want to explore this more and what could be, or is being done to address these statistics.

Identity politics is not a complex concept; however, it has become somewhat of a “hard-to-define” concept due to how it has been corrupted by “American conservatives.” Identity politics stems from power, which as Garza states, is truly not at all on par with what feeling empowered is. As I was reading Garza’s reading, I came to realize the reality of the disparity between power and what it means to feel empowered. Garza made a concise and appropriate analogy that truly hit the nail: he compared empowerment to one’s freedom to choose what to eat for breakfast, whilst power belongs to those who are in charge of making these options available to us (or not available.) This expands what I thought power was, bringing to light that identity politics is vital because our power is not as profound as I thought it to be and as Garza states in her article, “A lack of understanding of power is central to how power operates.”        In Garza’s reading, she made a powerful statement that made me pause and think about where power lies in our day to day, personally speaking as a woman of color. This is the statement, “Power prefers to operate in obscurity; if how power operates was fully transparent, I suspect many of us would rebel against it.” Is all of what we know to be power, more-so a fabricated and controlled illusion? Do we truly have the power to make choices that benefit us, and only us? This is why identity politics is so important. This is why conversations like the blonde’s infuriate me, because as a woman of color, no one can speak my truth for me and certainly no one can boil down my identity to an inability to identity with a nation and not my race.