Why Do Some Voters Support Donald Trump?
 
The Limits of Identity Politics: The Lies Trump’s Black Surrogates Tell
September 8, 2016

Photo by Reuters/ Carlo Aleggri

One aspect of identity politics (that is, political activity based catering to cultural, ethnic, gender, racial, or religious interests) involves the mechanics of campaigning.  It rightfully includes the candidate signaling various self-identified groups that they are recognized, their problems understood, and their votes wanted. 

Trump’s recent expedition to a black church has allowed Trump and his black surrogates to engage in a more insidious form of identity politics: proposing a solution to social problems specific to an ethnic community.  Trump and his surrogates, for example, have attacked Hillary Clinton and Democrats for ignoring the blacks, except when asking for their votes.  Specifically, Trump has hammered Democrats for failing to provide blacks with job opportunities, a grievance also voiced by many black leaders who are Hillary supporters. 
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When the campaigning aspect of identity politics is conflated with proposals for solving social problems, the proposals become rather ridiculous.  Consider one solution for reducing black unemployment in Chicago, Illinois: building an automobile manufacturing plant.  Automobile manufacturing provides an illustration of the impact of manufacturing on black employment.  Historically, automobile manufacturing played an important role in building a black middle-class and is the gold standard for black employment opportunity.  As an example, consider the automobile assembly and manufacturing plant BMW built in South Carolina in 1994, with government provided tax breaks and inducements.  The $7 billion dollar plant is located Spartanburg County and employs 8,000 people.

Photo by Motor Authority

Based on the BMW example, one can speculate about several outcomes of attempting to provide automobile manufacturing jobs for blacks in Chicago.  It is likely that (1) the funding for an automobile plant would be provided by the private sector only with substantial government incentives that would certainly strain a city’s finances; (2) a thousand acres of land would not be available and affordable to build an auto plant inside the city limits of Chicago; and (3) no more than 25 percent of the workforce would be African-American.  The notion of creating good jobs for the sole benefit of black communities is not viable, in the automobile or other industries, such as renewable energy, in Chicago or any other city.   

Nonetheless, there are some problems such as discriminatory hiring practices or access to suburban jobs from the inner city that are centered in the African American community.  The most important problem facing blacks has been and still is, racial discrimination. Discrimination, however, now is related to gender and sexual orientation, and thus, is not specific to the blacks.  Also, transportation is also an important issue in black neighborhoods because many jobs have fled to the suburbs surrounding the inner cities.  Expanding and improving transportation networks, by its very nature, will usually involve more than just black neighborhoods.
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Some problems may affect some groups more than others, but the solutions to these problems will usually involve many other groups.  Despite any promises to contrary, attempting to shape solutions for one group will undoubtedly fail.  As in other areas, Donald Trump’s attacks on Hillary Clinton demonstrate the extent of his ignorance.  He has discovered he needs the black vote.  But, because he does not understand the interrelatedness of the groups forming a society, his proposed solutions to problems would only create more severe harm.