I'm a Black pastor and I hate identity politics with a passion. Let me tell you why

Faster than a whiplash, identity politics returned to the forefront of the political culture wars the moment the Democrat Party anointed Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee for president of the United States. Identity politics never went away; it’s always been there, the grease in the machine of America racial politics. But this time it returned to the forefront with such a ferocity and level of absurdity that it left me somewhat jaded.

I hate identity politics with a passion because it’s never done anything for the people in my community on the South Side of Chicago. All it does is emphasize and stress our Blackness while leaving too many of us underdeveloped to compete in today’s economy. It has left us with the label of inferiority, that we are a violent people, and that we need to be pitied or saved. I know this because when I travel around America and tell people where I’m from, I get a certain reaction that I know someone from Poughkeepsie doesn’t.

I also hate the idea that my skin color is supposed to determine who I vote for. That is why when I saw #BlackWomenForBiden trending on X right after the Harris announcement, I felt disappointment. Harris has not been the best public servant to Black men and women and she should be judged for her public record. Yet Black women, under the theory of identity politics, are supposed to ignore her actual deeds and vote for her because they share a similar pigmentation of skin color? My city of Chicago is run by a Black mayor, a Black District Attorney, and countless other Black officials and yet the violence and corruption remain. Don’t get me started on Baltimore and other Black-run cities.

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By contrast, the mayor of Dallas, Eric Johnson, is Black but you wouldn’t know it. That’s because he governs as a mayor, not as a Black mayor. He governs in reality, not Black politics. He governs for all and that is how it should be in today’s America.

Then I saw "White Women for Kamala Harris" trending and wondered are white women really this sad? Shannon Watts, one of the leaders of this movement, preached how it was the responsibility of white women to elect a Black woman. She excoriated White women to check their White privilege, to do "the work," and to never talk over or contradict a Black person. She didn’t mention anything about Harris’ qualifications. It was just White this and that and Black this and that and nothing but good old racism. We need to start calling these white women the racists they are and shame on any Black that feeds off their noblesse oblige.

I think you know who’s up next in my rant. Yep, "White Dudes for Harris." Wow. I didn’t watch it but I heard it was a pity fest about how dudes need to check their toxic masculinity and do the right thing. All I have to say here is where were you in the 1960s when it counted? When Blacks really needed help being part of America? The 70s? 80s? Even today for crying out loud. We can always use volunteers in our community to expose our people to new thoughts, pathways, and opportunities. I’ve never seen them around — because they were on a Zoom call preaching their goodness in voting for a Black woman. White Dudes for a Black Woman — that’s all I have to say about that.

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It’s not just the Democrats that play hardcore identity politics. Last week, I was scrolling on X when I came across a post by DailyWire’s Matt Walsh that read, "Almost everyone is afraid to tell the brutally honest truth about the crime epidemic." 

I immediately knew who he was talking about: Blacks. He then went on to describe in his video segment how politicians and activists are blaming gas stations and cars for the violence instead of putting the blame directly on the criminals.

All I have to say to this is that I’ve been saying this long before Walsh. He acts like he’s some brave soul willing to speak the truth when we’ve been speaking the truth all along — we’re not afraid to speak with brutal honesty about the root causes underlying the problems in our community.
But Walsh would never know about that. He’s never been here. 

The furthest he’s been is his podcast studio, where he plays identity politics and stigmatizes entire races for cheap clickbait. And if he thinks this is solely a "Black" problem, he needs to get out more. I’ve been to "White" towns destroyed by lack of jobs, drugs, violence, and, yes, increasing fatherlessness. It’s time for Walsh and other Republicans to stop using Blacks as their whipping boys. But White identity politics doesn’t sell as well as Black identity politics.

Most of all, what I hate about identity politics is that it puts the focus on racial tribalism instead of our greater humanity. That is why I’ve disciplined myself to see beyond race to the harsh realities that trouble my neighborhood. 

It is only by seeing reality and all its complexities that I can begin to formulate answers to the problems. And none of these answers are race-based. They are all about developing oneself to one’s best abilities, increasing pathways to opportunities, and instilling the infallible all-American principles of merit, responsibility and accountability.

Shame on all those on the left and the right who lack this discipline and exploit identity politics for votes and clicks. They are our number one problem today and America will not get better as long as we keep giving power to these racial fools.

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Pastor Corey Brooks, known as the "Rooftop Pastor," is the founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and the CEO of Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny), the church's local mission. He gained national attention for his 94-day and 343-day rooftop vigils to transform the notorious "O-Block," once known as Chicago's most dangerous block, into #OpportunityBlock. Learn more at ProjectHOOD.org.