The Crisis Of National Identity

The rise of identity politics in recent decades has greatly transformed the political environment.It has also become a very important theory for the left and minority groups based on ethnicity,gender and sexual orientation who struggle for rights and interests.However,the understanding of identity politics has shifted from the left to the right after the 2016 United States Presidential Election.The embrace of identity politics by white lower-middle class has been fiercely discussed since then,which has caused the rise of populism and the revival of conservatives.The thesis focused on why the white people use the discourse of identity politics.Literature review shows that there are few articles directly discussing the causes of the emergence of identity politics of the right.The explanation of the influence of tradition values is relatively ambiguous.American Creed – the core element of American identity should be considered.According to the data,more and more immigrants are flooding into the country,white feel their living space is being compressed.Meanwhile,the public sphere is full of phrases related with political correctness.The white people who dominated this country consider themselves as “strangers” in their own land.The data shows that America is experiencing dramatic changes.The proportion of white people and the Christian faith are both gradually declining.Low-income white people also lose their jobs due to globalization and the transformation of the economic structure.The loss of status make them feel resentful towards minorities and more easily mobilized by racism.After analyzing the 2016 ANES survey data,this paper finds that white people are also fear of the loss of national identity,which was defined by them in the past.The core element of American national identity — American Creed is challenged by the multiculturalism and the subcultural identity brought about by the demographic changes.Traditional values centered on American Creed,ideology and the feelings of being discriminated against influenced white’s political choices.Trump’s propaganda of an old,white-dominated America appealed to them greatly.The identity of “white” has become their most important identity,which is also the most distinguishable identity from those immigrants and minorities.A new form of identity emerged from the right and reflects the racism and xenophobia.The political mobilization based on identity politics can neither provide a good framework for the left to maintain the equality between the class and the ethnicity,nor can the right achieve a balance between globalization and nationalism.On the contrary,the ideological conflict is becoming even more fierce along with the polarization of American politics.How to ease the conflict of interests between white and minority groups is an urgent issue for America.