The in-group/out-group orientation varies strongly among American ethnicities and political groups. Skim down this brief article to find interesting charts. The wokeness of white liberals resembles that of strong conservatives only in an intense response to the sight of someone being taken advantage of because of his ethnicity. "Very strong" white conservatives light up on this score, but are as indifferent as white moderates or mild conservatives to the routine conscious empathy exercises often characterized as woke privilege-checking. They ignore that sort of thing unless they see active injustice, which registers weakly with moderates but stirs up strong conservatives and (even more) liberals.
White liberals are the only group who consciously identify more strongly with their out-groups than their in-groups. Otherwise the differences in in-group preference among other races and non-liberal whites are minor.
There are no charts here attempting to distinguish among political groups within any ethnicities but white.
"White liberals are the only group who consciously identify more strongly with their out-groups than their in-groups."
ReplyDeleteI suspect that this depends on HOW you identify their in-group. What if you identify it by class and profession, say, college professors or graduate students...or by identity markers, say, vegan yoga fanatics?
The amusing thing to me is the part of the study that shows that the white liberals don't actually care what the outgroups they identify with think.
ReplyDelete"Consider, for instance, that black and Asian Democrats and liberals are significantly more supportive of restrictive immigration policies and less positive toward racial/ethnic diversity than their white counterparts. Black and Hispanic Democrats and liberals are more sympathetic toward Israel than the Palestinians (likely due in part to the fact that they tend to be more religious). They are also more likely to part ways when it comes to contemporary social and gender-identity issues, including views of the #MeToo movement. In all, though they do converge on some issues, the attitudes and policy preferences of the woke white left are unrepresentative of the “marginalized communities” with whom they are supposed to be allies. And as woke liberals play a leading role in party politics, the Democrats, who are increasingly defined by their embrace of diversity and progressive stances on issues of racial justice, appear to do so, at least partly at the direction of a small white elite."
Yeah, that's how you show someone you identify with them: ignore their concerns and insist on having your way. For their own good, of course.
I have it on good authority that if a man says he loves God but hates his neighbor he's a liar.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a similar rule applies: if a "woken one" says it loves other tribes but hates its own...
It's interesting, isn't it, that moderates are the least moved by seeing injustice?
ReplyDeleteYet our system generally makes them the deciders in elections.
Whenever I threaten to cook and eat some group's Sacred Cow in front of them, they become angry and hostile towards me.
ReplyDeleteHeh.
I have to say I've never really understood where moderates are coming from. I know some, and while I don't cross-examine them, I do encourage them to express their views when I can. They don't really seem to have any views, exactly. They mostly don't want to be bothered by any high-voltage issues. They want to be left alone and are hoping that conditions will stay more or less OK nearby. They're a little baffled by why some people get so excited about things. Injustice more than 4 or 5 feet away may not engage their attention--it might be good for a Facebook like or two but nothing to drive them to the polls.
ReplyDeleteBut there's another kind of moderate who may have strong views that don't line up well with either party, so they pick and choose among issues. You can get social conservatives/fiscal liberals or fiscal conservatives/social liberals like this. I often fit in this category theoretically, though in practice it always works out that I vote Republican while continuing to argue against some Republican trends.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a good take on it, Tex. It makes sense that if you want to be left alone, you might also not want to get involved with others problems. I fight against that tendency in myself sometimes.
ReplyDeleteBut boy, is there a temptation to ride in on a white horse. There's nothing like the charge that you get from righteous indignation, especially if you can feel like a hero fixing the problem. As C.S. Lewis has the Mark Studdock character realize in "That Hideous Strength," the approval of one's own conscience is a heady draft.
ReplyDelete