ABSTRACT
"Identity politics" is a subcategory of multiculturalism, and both of those terms have diverse meanings. This chapter focuses more narrowly on the role of cultural identity groups in electoral politics. There is widespread worry among the public about social fragmentation, the growing social, physical, economic, and cultural separation of Americans from each other. That worry is exacerbated by identity politics. It is easy to recognize why black Southerners might view identity politics as a natural mode of promoting self-interest; the attitude of Southern whites takes a little thought. Southern whites shared the fact that they lived in a slave society before the abolitionist movement, but it was that movement that created a consciousness of commonality because it was perceived by whites as a threat. It prompts us to think of white Southerners as an identity group, just like African Americans. African Americans see identity politics as a natural extension of interest-group politics.
