Presidential candidate Andrew Yang (D) believes doubling down on “identity politics” will only separate Americans more instead of bringing people together.
In an interview with Boston 25 anchor Kerry Kavanaugh for the outlet’s “Coffee with Candidates” series that aired on Tuesday evening, Yang said he believes that “identity politics, at this point, is separating us from each other more than it is bringing us together.”
“As the son of immigrants and the first Asian American man to run for president as a Democrat, I’m acutely proud of my heritage, but I think we have to bring people together,” Yang said. “And leaning into identity politics does not strike me as a very productive way to do to that.”
Other Democrats like failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams have urged Democrats to double down on identity politics while Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has said this week that “identity politics” is brought up to marginalize issues like civil and to try to silence activists.
“It’s a term that, I find, is raised whenever we’re talking about issues that are essentially civil rights issues,” Harris reportedly said. “About race, gender, orientation, religion — things of that nature. And it is raised with the intention of marginalizing the issue. Or shushing or shutting us up. And here’s the thing about it: When we talk about where America stands on these issues, that’s not about identity politics — someone’s identity. It’s about America’s identity. Where America stands on those issues is about America’s identity.”
Abrams claimed that the 2018 “blue wave” occurred because of identity politics and doubling down on identity politics is the best way for the Democrats to continue to win elections.
Yang said he is trying to “balance it out for this campaign” and added: “I’m running in the way that’s most natural to me. And to the extent that I can bring Americans together, that’s the goal.”
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