America is built on Identity Politics. Black Americans should try it.

Consider the following: Since the first seated US congress in 1789, the United States has had—

45 of 46 US Presidents: White

45 of 46 US Vice Presidents: White

95.9% of US SCOTUS: White

93% of US Federal judges: White

95% of WH Cabinet Secs: White

97% of US Senators: White

96% of US House Reps: White

98% of US Governors: White

96% US Lieutenant Governors: White

91% Mayors US cities: White

Despite misty-eyed calls for colorblindness and disdain-filled snarks for meritocracy America has always run on "Identity Politics"—specifically White Identity politics.

Imagine if Black voters were as fixated on Identity-first politics as White voters were and are? Imagine if Black voters collectively said "We will only vote for Black candidates—the best Black candidates—but BLACK CANDIDATES ONLY. And if there are no quality Black candidates available we will collectively vote for a Candidate of Color most-willing to champion our issues and policies most beneficial to our communities regardless of others. PERIOD."

Sounds extreme, right? Sounds divisive. Sounds "un-American". Right? Well as you can see from the stats upfront, this approach is foundationally American, and has been effective for centuries.

Now let's talk business. We know the big stats—they're are boring at this point; but here's one: As of June 2023 there were only 9 Black CEOS of Fortune 500 companies. (Just 1.8% and an all-time high, if you're scoring at home.) The Black/White wealth gap remains obscene and widening. (By 2050 average US Black household wealth could effectively be zero!) Financial institutions' and venture capital support of Black businesses and homeowners remains rice paper-thin. Inequities in every sector of business and commerce are as entrenched as ever. DEI programs are being cut across at every level; not that they weren't largely performative misdirects to avoid police reform to start with, but still.

As of 2023 Black consumers have roughly $1.8 Trillion in annual spending power. What if every Black consumer said, "From now on I will ONLY shop at Black owned companies... I will ONLY support brands that use Black advertising agencies and promote on Black-owned media platforms... I will ONLY support Black content creators...I will only use Black-owned service providers. I will only back Black companies with good records on hiring and promoting and empowering Black employees."

Imagine if every Black American with a bank account said "I will ONLY bank with Black-owned financial institutions and financial institutions that support Black entrepreneurship, Black home ownership and Black financial empowerment."

Imagine if Black college students and Black college athletes acted like activist consumers and said, "I will only attend and play for HBCUs or PWI schools with Black leadership and quality tenured Black faculty."

Again, I know that all of this sounds extreme and divisive to many of you. But it's largely what's been done to us for centuries; and every step to show how destructive this has been has been met with moral legal and in many insatance physically violent resistance.

So in a capitalistic society where money talks loudest and trying to make moral cases while being patient and inclusive has largely proven to be useless for the bulk of Black Americans, maybe something more extreme is worth a try.

Because quite frankly, the bulk of our so-called allies have been selectively dismissive if not willfully obstinate. (But they always want our numbers and people power and cultural cache for their causes and issues. Hmmm.)

For Black people, our wallets and our votes may be the only real allies Black Americans have left. Might be time to center those and put our own identity politics first.

(*Stats from US gov employment/election data by dept. & office.)

#IdentityPolitics #BlackPolitics #Blackidentity #BlackConsumers #BlackHistory #EarnOurVote