Identity Politics and Biden Appointees

Before I start here, let me note that ALL politics are identity politics, including class-based politics. There are no “true” politics that are somehow pure unlike those identity politics that are about made up categories or something. The assumption that they are, which is as strong among some parts of the left as the right, is rooted in whites, especially white men, being unwilling to examine their privilege or talk about issues that might make them feel uncomfortable.

That said, watching the response to Biden’s appointees is like the right-wing stereotype of identity politics in action. The appointees themselves are….OK? Some are outright bad such as returning Tom Vilsack to Agriculture. Most are as uninspiring as we might expect from Joe Biden. A few have looked good. But that’s not really the point here. It’s that every time Biden names someone from one racial group or gender or sexual orientation, other racial groups, genders, and sexual orientations are actively upset about it. And moreover, this seems far more important to everyone involved than actual policies.

When Mr. Biden nominated the first Black man to run the Pentagon this week, women cried foul. L.G.B.T.Q. advocates are disappointed that Mr. Biden has not yet named a prominent member of their community to his cabinet. Latino and Asian groups are angling for some of the same jobs.

Allies of the president-elect note that he has already made history. In addition to nominating retired Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, to be the first Black secretary of defense, he has chosen a Cuban immigrant to run the Department of Homeland Security, the first female Treasury secretary, a Black woman at the Housing and Urban Development Department and the son of Mexican immigrants to serve as the secretary of health and human services.

…

Women’s groups were also disappointed by Mr. Biden’s decision to pick General Austin for defense secretary instead of Michèle Flournoy, a longtime senior Pentagon official who had been seen as the leading contender for the job for months.

It did not help Mr. Biden’s case with women that he also chose Xavier Becerra, the California attorney general, as the health and human services secretary over Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, who was singled out as a likely candidate for the job just days before she was passed over.

Picking General Austin also did not assuage civil rights leaders like the Rev. Al Sharpton, who is adamant about the need for a Black attorney general, or at least someone with a background on voting rights enforcement.

In an interview after his meeting with Mr. Biden, Mr. Sharpton was blunt about when he would feel satisfied that the president-elect had kept his diversity promise.

“If we get a genuine attorney general that has a credible background on civil rights and voting rights enforcement,” he said. “If we get a credible person with a genuine background in labor, and education, then I would be willing to say that I’m willing to accept some defeats or setbacks” in other positions.

Mr. Sharpton has also been clear about who he will not accept. He said Black activists would not support any position for Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff for President Barack Obama whose legacy as mayor of Chicago he condemns because of Mr. Emanuel’s handling of the killing of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager, in 2014 by a police officer.

…

Alphonso David, the president of Human Rights Campaign, a group dedicated to advancing the interests of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, said Mr. Biden assured him months ago that an L.G.B.T.Q. person would be named to a cabinet-level position requiring Senate confirmation — something that has never happened.

“That is an important barrier to break. we need to make sure that all communities are represented,” Mr. David said. Like other activists, Mr. David hesitated to pass judgment on Mr. Biden until he finished picking his cabinet.

“It’s too soon to tell yet,” he said. But he added a warning that Mr. Biden has heard all too often in recent days.

“If we don’t have the diversity of representation that Joe Biden has been pledging and that we are looking for,” he said, “there will be huge disappointment.”

Well, I do think that we should unite as a party to tell Rahm Emanuel to go to hell.

Now, some of this is policy oriented. We do need an Attorney General who is committed to civil rights and voting rights enforcement, as Sharpton says. But that’s a rare point in the conversation. For instance, I have absolutely no opinion whether Michele Flournoy or Lloyd Austin would make the better Secretary of Defense. It’s not my policy area, though I am uncomfortable with breaking the norm of not allowing recently retired officers into the position. But what I do want is a) a Cabinet that looks like America and b) really good people in it. Whether the Secretary of Defense is a white woman or a Black man seems largely irrelevant so long as there are plenty of women and Black Americans in the Cabinet and other high-level positions. And yet, none of this debate even discusses their relative merits.

I guess I’m more with AOC here, from the linked article:

On Capitol Hill, progressive Democratic lawmakers like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, are reserving judgment on Mr. Biden’s choices.

“I think one of the things I’m looking for when I see all of these picks put together is, what is the agenda?” she told reporters.

I mean, isn’t this actually the important piece here? Shouldn’t we be talking about what these people bring to the table in ways that aren’t only about their gender and race, even as those things remain important?